Evening star., 1925-11-08
j. s. MARINE CORPS |
HAS RICH HISTORY.
Soldiers of Land and Sea
Have Fought Brave|y in
All American Wars.


hrate their sesulli-Centennial and IN
all parts of the world vher" the, are
stationed members Of the corps TO-DAY
will paw tribute to the traditions OF
his famous service and to those who
have served il faithfully III the pass
ing years.
AS the Nation was horn in Phlladel'
phia. so the Marines there were born,
and il is III the Quaker City the rrin-
'clpal celebration of the event will he
held. Centerins around Tun Tavern.
long since razed. But the Marines
of today will there unveil a tablet TO
mark the site of this birthplace,
where the recruiting sergeant carried
out the stipulation of the Continental
Congress, by taking particular care
that no persons 10 be appointed to
office, or enlisted in the said battal.
ions, but such as are good seamen. or
so acquainted with maritime affairs
as to be able to serve to advantage
by sea when required"
Tun Tavern. now the site of a ware
house, was the meeting place of one
of the first Masonic lodges. Close TO
the waterfront as it was, II was
lounging place for seafarins men of
all lands. Prominent men OF the day
also stopped there but accurate rec
ord was kept Is atteSted by The
Diary of the Tun Tavern now in
possession of the PENNSYLVANIA His
torical Society. From this much of
the early history Of the Marine Corps
has been culed.
First Court Martial.
In this book Is found the muster
roll. pay roll. and the copy Of a court
martial proceeding Of tha first COM
pany of Marines. as we'll as the story
of the first delinquent marine who
received 10 lashes well laid on for
carelessness in carrying out his
orders. There was short period of
about three months during which re-
CruitS were attracted to the new corps
by the parading around the streets, in
the distinctive uniform of that day, OF
a squad OF marines beating on drums
on which was a snake and the motto
Don't Tread on Me
February l.. 1916. the marines de-
parted on their first expedition. Then
sloops OF war Ia" in the Delaware,
and they We're distributed among
them. The fleet vas commanded by
Commodore Esel: Hopkins. and the
marines by Cap Samuel Nicholas.
Eheir mission: To meet British men-of-
war who We're causing disturbances
off the coast of Virginia. But they
didn't meet the enemy there. and con
tinued to the Bahamas. They sur
prised the British detachments there.
and the marines soon had flying on
the British forts the Commodore's flag.
at that time bearing the crosses of
It. George and St. Andrew. with IL
stripes representing the colonies. The
Stars ana stripes even was yet un.
born.
The Job done. the feet sailed north
ward again in A few hours. carrying
as SpoilS 100 cannon. and a large sup
ply of much-needed ammunition. And
so they nave continued such jobs
throughout the Nations history. II
was a marine. so the records tell, that
brought the fight to a climax when
the Bonhomme Richard commanded
by John Paul Jones, clashed with the
British ship Scraps in the naval bat
tie Of 1779. This sea fighter crawled
out on the yardarm of the Richard
and dropped a loaded grenade into
the hold of the Scraps. forcing the
surrender of the latter vessel. Forty
nine marines were killed or wounded
In that fight.
Fighting in Tripoli.
In Tripoli hand-to-hand fights were
a matter OF course, and when Lieut..
Trippe of Marines was hard pressed
by native. Sergt. Meredith bayon-
cited the man and saved his com
mandins officer.
1t was the Marines, too, their his
tory tells US, who first planted the
Stars and Stripes in the Old World. \
small party of Marines, led by Lieut..
Presley y. OBannon. accompanied
Gen. Eaton, who was leading an eN-
pedition TO the assault on the
Tripolitan stronghold at Derne. From
Alexandria. Egypt they marched 600
miles across the desert. Stormed the
Notifications and forced its surrender.
Lieut.. O'Bannon led the assault. and
when he reached the battlements
hauled down the Tripolitan lia=. and
hoisted the Stars and Stripes
The Marines were with Commodore
Perry when he opened Japan to the
commerce Of the world in 1858 and
50 on through history. Since 1899.
there has hardly ycar gone by that
they have not been in a scrap some
where. protecting American interests
and scuff1inE with revolutionists. In
1899 they were in the Philippine In
surrection and Samoan Uprising: 1900,
the Boxer Rebellion in China and
troubles in Panama: 1901 dispatched
to quell the Samar Uprising: 1902. an
other landing q Panama: 1903. SantO
Domingo. Korea and Abyssinia: 1904,
a gain at Panama; 1905. troubles in
cuba; 1906 part of the Army of
Cuban paCitication: 1907, Honduras
and Jamaica. 1908. Panama again:
1909 and 1910. Nicaragua; 1911 and
1912, duty in China following the
overthrow of the ManChu Dynasty;
1872. Nicaragua: 1914, Haiti. Santo
Domingo and Vera Cruz: 1915. oCcu-
pied Haiti: 1916, occupied Santo Do
mingo; 1917. TO Cuba, and then. of
course, follows Belleau Wood, with
which almost every one is familiar.
During the years there have been
many changes in dress. customs and
mode of living. but it is the same old
spirit of fighting that is shown when
aver they are called upon. as when
they were first modified. The llnick
erbockers of Washngton's time We're
superseded by the shapeless trousers
Of the Civil War. Much of the gold
braid and other furbelews we're dis
pensed with early in the last century.
The three-corner hat has worked into
the snappy visored cap of today. Hell
NETS. both of cork and of steel came
and went, and now only the broad
hrimmed campaign hat and the Wis
ored dress cap remain.
disappeared 1t was this part Of the
uniform which won the Marines the
name "Leatherneck.
Corps Now Has 19.000 Men.
A. the present time the Marine
Corps is body of troops composed of
900 officers and $4,000 enlisted men.
Some of them serve aboard ship. A
larger part is stationed ashore. but
so trained and SO organized as to
enable it to operate in close conjunc-
ton with the Navy. The work which
in recent times the public has become
accustomed to associate particularly
with this service is perhaps the eN-