Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1914-06-13
DO VALIANT SERVICE
veteran Writes Interestingly Of
United States Marines.
Gallant Corps is Older Than the Re-
public Itself, Having Been Organ
lied by Act of Continental
Congress in 1775.
BY a Veteran.


Washington, ID. Cit was the cam
paign of the Allies against the Boxers
in 1900 They had captured Tientsin
by hard three-day battle. A confer
ence had been called of all the COM
manders to discuss the question of
advancing or waiting for reinforce
ments. Gen Robert Meade, in com
mand OF the United States marines.
was i'll and Col. Littleton I. Waller,
then a major, was the junior officer
of the representatives OF many ma
tons In the conference.
One by one the elder men gave
their opinions that there was no press
ing need of an advance and that the
troops must have several more days
of recuperating. Finally, Major Wal
ler's opinion was asked and he stood
up and said:
Gentlemen, don't know just what
the rest of you mean to do, but the
marines start for Picking at six o'clock
in the morning"
The marines did start at six o'clock
IN the morning, taking the allies
along.
This incident was recalled to my
mind on seeing that Colonel Waller
had been ordered East from the coast
and is likely to get mixed up in the
doings in Mexico. Walters reply was
typical OF the gallant little corps
10 oil fhA, h.
self. An act Of the Continental con-
gress in 1775, a year before the Dec
laration of Independence. organized
the corps along the lines of a similar
British body.
Just one hundred years before the
marines battered at the gates of the
Forbidden city they did a heroic feat
in Tripoli. In 1903 a detachment of
these soldiers of the sea marched $50
miles across the African desert to
subjugate the insolent tyrants of the
Mediterranean. They pulled down the
malodorous flag of the Tripolitans and
hoisted the Star SpangIed Banner
over an ancient fortress before a
horde which had in large number
never seen it before
The marine as a fighting man
aboard ship Is said by one historian
to date back to the Persian empire.
Marines are mentioned in connection
with the battle of Lade. in the time
Of Darius /. king of Persia, about
495 B. c.
In the old days of engagements at
close quarters the marines were the
"cutlass crews" The fighting of ma
val battles at range of five to ten
miles has destroyed the usefulness of
the slashing boarder, but there Is
plenty of work left for the soldier of
sea end land. AS Josephus Daniels,
secretary of the navy, said recently:
The marines and bluejackets have
rendered valiant service at Vera Cruz.
The marines as we'll as the blue
jackets have proved their caliber, al
ways understood by our own people
as well as those of other nations. 1t
is the marine who is always called
upon to form the entering wedge. to
DldIe TIE tIdH III OH foreign
shores"
To illustrate the manifold services
of the marine. let us take the example
of Haggerty, one of the three marines
who fell in the first days fighting at
Vera Cruz. He had been under fire ut
Samar and again at Picking. He had
gone into action twice in Nicaragua
and had had rifles aimed In his direc-
ton in Hayti.
Just one hundred years after their
march to Tripoli the United States
marines touched again on African soil,
but on the peaceful mission of es-
corting a representative Of the state
department to the court OF King Meme
Xix of Abyssinia. They took a camel
back ride of several hundred miles.
Between the Picking expedition and
this they also had touch OF excite
ment at Samar. Panama and Colon,
and even while the detachment was