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The history of the U.S. Marines traces back to 1739 when the 61st Foot was raised in the Colonies for the War of Jenkins Ear. This was
an American regiment which served side by side with British Marines. It was disbanded in 1742 and meerged with another regiment in 1746. When the
Continental Marines were raised in 1775 they had five companies of about 300 men. In December 1776 the Marines joined George Washington at Trenton
to slow the progress of British troops. They did not arrive in time to help at Trenton, but assisted in the decisive American victory at Princeton.
The last official act of the Continental Marines was to escort a stash of French silver crowns from Boston to Philadelphia to enable the opening of
the Bank of North America.
Though individual Marines were recruited for duty on the few American naval vessels, the organization was not re-created until 1798. Despite this gap
between the disbanding of the Continental Marines and the formation of the U.S. Marine Corps in 1798 the Marines celebrate November 10, 1775 as the
official Marine Corps birthday.
Under an "act for establishing and organizing a Marine Corps" signed July 11, 1798 by President John Adams both the United States Navy and the United
States Marine Corps were created. Initially the Corps consisted of 500 privates led by a major and a compliment of officers and NCOs. Among the equipment
the Corps inherited was a stock of leftover blue uniforms with red trim, the basis for the modern day "dress blues". During this period the Marines
most famous action occurred during the Barbary War when eight marines and 300 European mercenaries attempted to capture Tripoli. Though they only made it
as far as Derna, Tripoli has been immortalized in the Marine Hymn and the Mameluke sword carried by Marine officers.
The Marine Corps participated in the War of 1812 after which the Corps fell into disarray. However, with a new commandant in 1820 named Archibald Henderson
the Marines were revived and took on a number of expeditionary duties including the Seminole Wars and the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. However, during
the Civil War the Marines played only a minor role by providing blockade duty. The first and last failed landing by the Marines took place on September 8, 1863
when they attempted a landing at Fort Sumter in Charlestown harbor. With the Navy's transition from sail to steam the role of the Marines was put into question,
future of the Marine Corps was put into question; however, they participated in some 28 interventions from the end of the Civil War until the end of the 19th
century.
Between 1900 and 1916 the Marine Corps participated in many foreigh interventions, and was the best prepared force when the United States entered WWI. Following
this the Marines played a major role in the Pacific campaign during WWII as well as in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. In the Persian Gulf War the Marines were
responsible for liberating Kuwait. The Marines were the first conventional forces into Afghanistan in November 2001 and remain there fighting the
remnants of the Taliban and Al Queda forces. Recently the Marines have served prominently in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Today the Marine Corps had about
180,000 members serving.
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