Marine battalion in front of Commandant's House

tmh10

Major
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Location
Pipestem,WV
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[Washington, D.C. Marine battalion in front of Commandant's House at the Marine barracks].
OTHER TITLES
Battalion of Marine Corps, Washington Navy Yard, April 1864
CREATED/PUBLISHED
1864 April.
SUMMARY
Photographs of the Federal Navy, and seaborne expeditions against the Atlantic Coast of the Confederacy -- the Federal Navy, 1861-1865.
NOTES
Reference: Civil War photographs, 1861-1865 / compiled by Hirst D. Milhollen and Donald H. Mugridge, Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1977. No. 0540
Title from Milhollen and Mugridge.
Alternate title from caption on corresponding print.
No. 698.
Corresponding print is in LOT 4190-F.
Forms part of Selected Civil War photographs, 1861-1865 (Library of Congress)
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Very nice photo, not too many of Civil War era Marines out there.
 
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The United States Marine Corps in 1861 consisted of 1,892 officers and men; about half of whom were stationed aboard U.S. Navy vessels in small ship’s detachments. They were mostly used for guard duty aboard ships, service as sharpshooters and in repelling boarders. Ashore, the Corps provided the guards for the principal Naval Stations and Navy Yards. At the outset of the War, Congress authorized an increase of the Corps’ strength to a total of 3,167 officers and other ranks. At no time during the Civil War did the Marines strength exceed 3,900 men, with which they had to provide detachments for a constantly expanding U.S. Navy.

One of the only major battles US Marines actually fought in on the ground was First Manassas. There was a US Marine Corps Battalion in Porter's 1st Brigade, Hunter's 2nd Division of McDowell Department of Northeastern Virginia, commanded by Colonel John Harris.
Here's a very good article on that
http://www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck/marine-battalion-battle-bull-run-emending-record
 
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The house still stands today, although it's been extensively expanded in the years since. It's still the Commandant's official residence, and stands at the north end of the parade ground at the Marine Barracks in southeast Washington, known throughout the Marine Corps simply as "Eighth and I," for the street intersection nearest the gate.

Archibald Henderson, who served as Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1819 until his death in 1859, also lived in the house. It is popular lore that Henderson lived there so long that he forgot the house wasn't actually his, and included it in his will to bequeath to his heirs.
 
Thanks AUG351, I have done a lot of reading on the civil war and have not seem much on the marines.
Several years ago, White Mane Publishing put out a series of books by David M.Sullivan that covered the United States Marine Corps year by year during the Civil War and they also published a book by Ralph W. Donnelly that covered the Confederate States Marine Corps-if these are still avilable they are good reads.
 
The house still stands today, although it's been extensively expanded in the years since. It's still the Commandant's official residence, and stands at the north end of the parade ground at the Marine Barracks in southeast Washington, known throughout the Marine Corps simply as "Eighth and I," for the street intersection.


My wife spotted that immediately; when I showed her the photo and said that I wasn't clear if it was taken at the Washington Navy Yard or at the Marine Barracks, she immediately confirmed that it was "Eighth and I," to which she has been a number of times (being a Marine who has been done duty a number of times at both Quantico and in Alexandria).

Sullivan's books are terrific. Donnelly's book is more of a collection of research; I remain hopeful that Sullivan may take a stab at it (he contributed an excellent chapter on the Confederate Marine Corps to The Confederate Navy 1861-1865: The Ships, Men, and Organization).

If I haven't done so already (I'll have to check), I ought to post the text of the talk I gave on the USMC in the Civil War to my wife's Women Marines Association meeting.
 
Mackie.jpg

On 24 April 1861, John F. Mackie, the first U.S. Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor, enlisted in the Marine Corps for a period of four years. He was twenty-five years of age when he took the oath for enlistment at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York.​
Born in New York City, New York, on 1 October 1835, John Freeman Mackie was a silversmith by profession prior to joining the Corps. In 1861 he served aboard the USS Savannah, but on 1 April 1862 he was transferred to the USS Galena as corporal of the Marine Guard. He served aboard that vessel until 10 November 1862, and it was while a member of that detachment that he displayed his gallantry which earned for him the nation’s highest military decoration.

During the attack on the Confederate Fort Darling on the James River at Drurys Bluff (near Richmond, Virginia) on 15 May 1862, Cpl Mackie rallied the Marine Guard after the entire Third Division of the four IX-inch Dahlgren Guns and 100 Pound Rifle was killed or wounded. He cleared the deck and resumed the action without awaiting orders. Capt John Rodgers, commander of the USS Galena recommended Cpl Mackie to the Secretary of the Navy during a visit he made to the ship in November 1862.

Upon recommendation to Marine Headquarters in Washington, D.C., Col John Harris, Commandant of the Marine Corps, authorized Capt Rodgers to advance Cpl Mackie to the rank of sergeant, to rank from 1 November 1862.

He was then transferred to the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, and in June 1863, he was ordered to the USS Seminole as Orderly Sergeant in Charge of the Marine Guard. It was while serving aboard this ship as part of the West Gulf Squadron in the fall of 1863 that he was presented the Medal of Honor by Commander Henry Rolando. During the presentation Commodore Percival Drayton stated, “Sergeant I would give a stripe off my sleeves to get one of those in the manner as you got that.”

In January 1864, Sgt Mackie narrowly escaped death when helping to suppress a riot at Sabine Pass, Texas, when a rioting fireman hit him in the head with a chain hook and fractured his skill.

Sergeant Mackie was discharged from the Marine Corps, after having served four years and four months, at the Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts, on 23 August 1865. He later became active in the Grand Army of the Republic, while residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He passed away on 18 June 1910 and was buried in Arlington Cemetery in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.
 
US-Marine-Band-1859.jpg


The Marine Band appears at left in the image at the top of the thread; black-and-white photography doesn't do justice to their scarlet frock coats. A modern recreation of the CW-era Marine Band makes a brief cameo in one of the first scenes in Spielberg's movie.
 
Anyone interested in the uniforms of the Civil War United States marines should consider the book The Civil War Uniforms of the United States Marine Corps the Regulations of 1859 by Charles H. Cureton and David M. Sullivan. It contains much detail and you will see another 150+period photos on U.S. marines of the Civil war era.
 
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The house still stands today, although it's been extensively expanded in the years since. It's still the Commandant's official residence, and stands at the north end of the parade ground at the Marine Barracks in southeast Washington, known throughout the Marine Corps simply as "Eighth and I," for the street intersection.

Archibald Henderson, who served as Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1819 until his death in 1859, also lived in the house. It is popular lore that Henderson lived there so long that he forgot the house wasn't actually his, and included it in his will to bequeath to his heirs.
That is a great looking house, Andy. It is good to know it is still around and in tip top shape.
 
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