Marines 1798 - 1835

Marines in the Frigate Navy 1798-1835 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 com- merce 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 Mediterra- nean 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'Ban- non, 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.