Dead Confederates, A Civil War Era Blog

Friends and Colleagues:

On Saturday, February 17 at noon, I’ll be presenting “First Ashore: The Continental Marines at New Providence, March 1776” at the monthly meeting of the Bernardo de Gálvez Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution at Galveston, at Landry’s Restaurant on Seawall Boulevard. I hope some of my Galveston-area friends will be able to attend.

The Marines are well-known as the primary amphibious fighting force in U.S. history, but in fact their service in that role is older than the nation itself. When the Continental Navy was faced with a growing conflict with the United Kingdom and the Royal Navy, it (together with the Continental Marines) adopted an aggressive, preemptive posture and set about to seize British munition stores in the Bahamas. This first action helped set the stage for the coming conflict, and established a military tradition that remains central to the Marines’ role right down to the present day.