Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1914-07-03
No VALIANT SERVICE
veteran" Writes Interestingly OF
United States Marines.
Gallant Corps 10 Older Than the Re
public Itself, Having Been Organ
lied by Act Of Continental
Congress In ITS.
BY q Veteran.


paign of the Allies against the Boxers
IN 1900. They had captured Tientsin
By hard three-day battle. A confer.
sncs had been called Of all the COM
handlers to discuss the question Of
advancing or waiting for reinforce
nsnts. Gen. Robert Meade. In COM
nand Of the United States marines.
vas III and Col. Lttleton T. Waller.
then . major. was the Junior ofncer
Of the representatives Of many ma
ions 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
q rscuperating. Finally. Major Wal
Ier's opinion was asked and he stood
~ and said:
Gentlemen, don't know just what
ne rest Of you mean to do. but the
marines start for Picking 1t six o'clock
n the morning."
The marines did start 1t six o'clock
n the morning. taking the allies
alone
This incident was recalled to my
: MAD on seeing that Colonel Waller
had been ordered East from the coast
I'D 10 likely to get mixed up in the
deings In Mexico. walters reply was
typical Of the gallant little corps
which u older than the republic It.
sslA An act Of the Continental con-
sress in ITS. . year before the Dec
larstion Of Independence. organized
he corps along the lines Of . similar
British body.
Just one hundred years before the
marines battered at the gates Of the
Forbidden city they did . heroic feat
h Tripoli. In 1903 q detachment of
these soldiers of the sea marched $50
Niles across the African desert to
subjugate the insolent tyrants of the
Mediterranean. They pulled down the
nalodorous nag Of the Tripolitans and
hoisted the Star Spangled Banner
over an ancient fortress before q
horde which had In large number
never seen It before.
The marine a. q fighting man
aboard ship IL said by one historian
b date back to the Persian empire.
Marines are mentioned In connection
With the battle Of Lade. In the time
: q Darius I. king Of Persia. about
ts5 B. C.
In the old days of engagements at
close quarters the marines were the
'cutlass crews" The fighting of ma.
vi battles At q range Of i've to ten
niles has destroyed the usefulness of
ne slashing boarder. but there 10
Dsenty Of work left for the soldier of
- and land. As Josephus Daniels.
secretary Of the navy. said recently:
The marines and bluejackets have
rsndered valiant service at Vera Cruz.
Inc marines as well as the blue
hekets have proved their caliber. al.
vays understood by our own people
q we'll a. those Of other nations. 1t
the marine who is always called
upon to form the entering wedge, to
blaze the trail In sanding on foreign
shores"
To illustrate the manifold services
q the marine. let us take the example
It haggerty. one Of the three marines
Who fell in the first days fighting at
Vera Cruz. He had been under fire ut
eamar and again at Picking. He had
sooe into action twice in Nicaragua
and had had rifles aimed in his direo.
Don In Hayti.
Just one hundred years after their
oarch to Tripoli the United States
narines touched again on African soil,
sat on the peaceful mission of es-
eorttng a representative Of the state
Separtment to the court of King Meme
~ OF Abyssinia. They took q camel
eeck ride Of several hundred miles.
Between the Picking expedition and
uas they also had a touch of excite
oent at Samar. Panama and Colon.
ID even while the detachment was