Marines in the Frigate Navy

The first half of the 19th century saw little dramatic change in military technology or in military and naval tactics. Marines, formally organized by an act of Congress in 1798, would perform the same functions they had assumed during America's fight for independence. In May 1798, in response to the depredations of French privateers, President John Adams instructed American frigate captains to make reprisals upon the commerce of France. Initially, Marine units were based upon the size...
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The first half of the 19th century saw little dramatic change in military technology or in military and naval tactics. Marines, formally organized by an act of Congress in 1798, would perform the same functions they had assumed during America's fight for independence. In May 1798, in response to the depredations of French privateers, President John Adams instructed American frigate captains to make reprisals upon the commerce of France. Initially, Marine units were based upon the size of the ship and appointed directly, but on 11 July 1798, an act of Congress authorized "establishing and organizing a Marine Corps." American ships with Marine detachments soon set sail, landed, and captured a shore battery at Puerto Plata, Santo Domingo, and participated in the capture of more than three-score French vessels before the Treaty of Peace brought an end to the undeclared war. The renewal of the Barbary Wars in 1801 resulted in orders to the Mediterranean Squadron for many Marines, where they fought alongside sailors at ships' great guns. In 1805, near the war's end, Marine Lieutenant Presley N. O'Bannon, with six privates, and a motley force of Arabs and Greeks, marched 500 miles across the desert from Egypt. Reaching Derna, the Marines led a charge through the town, captured its fort, and raised the flag for the first time over Old World territory. From 1806 to 1811, Marines served with small detachments scattered throughout the world on board ship, guarded naval yards, harassed the Spanish in East Florida, clashed with hostile Indians, and landed on distant shores to defend American diplomatic missions and endangered citizens. In the second war with England, first priority was given to providing Marine detachments for ships of the blue-water Navy. There were not enough Marines to do even this, let alone provide Marines for the equally critical Great Lakes squadrons. Company-sized Marine units fought heroically at Bladensburg, on the land approach to the nation's capital; at Craney Island, near Norfolk, Virginia; and at New Orleans, but apparently no thought was given to forming an amphibious force or even a permanent battalion structure. Nor, indeed, did the nature of the war offer any particularly inviting amphibious targets. During the next 20 years, the Corps, under the able leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Commandant Archibald Henderson, established its place within the American military system by "showing the flag" in punitive actions against pirates and hostile governments from the West Indies to Sumatra, in suppressing the illicit slave trade, on the ships and shore stations of the Navy, and in handling domestic disturbances. The small Corps repeatedly demonstrated its efficiency, discipline, and usefulness. The artist, Colonel Charles H. Waterhouse, United States Marine Corps Reserve, is a World War II veteran and noted illustrator. As a combat artist, he depicted scenes in Vietnam, Alaska, the Western Pacific, and the Atlantic which resulted in two published works. Returning to active duty in 1973, Colonel Waterhouse began work on a series of paintings of Marine Corps activities during the American Revolution, conquest of California, and the federal period, 1798 to 1835. The paintings highlighting Marine activities from 1798 to 1835 form a part of a larger project now underway which will result in the publication of a definitive history covering the period. The history is to be written by Charles R. Smith, author of Marines in the Revolution and a forthcoming volume dealing with Marine activities in Vietnam, with the research assistance of Richard A. Long, who also assisted in the preparation of Marines in the Revolution.