Send Me Thirty Marines

Borderruffian

1st Lieutenant
Joined
Aug 4, 2007
Location
Marshfield Missouri
Part 1:

Although small, the Corps had men at every post and station of the Union Navy
While it was Ulysses S. Grant's star which shone the brightest following the battle of Vicksburg, his great victory in the west would not have been possible but for the brilliant naval tactics of Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter. A grateful Congress lauded Adm Porter for "opening the Mississippi river."
In November 1863, Adm Porter was commanding the Union's Mississippi Squadron at Cairo, Ill., holding responsibility not only for the tactical operations of that fleet, but also for the logistical welfare of his command. Huge stockpiles of war materials were cached up and down the rivers, one and all of which required the services of a professional group of men to safeguard them. His experience and serenity of mind were evidently shaken by the sorry stature of the volunteer militia provided him for this purpose.
In desperation, he wrote to Colonel Commandant John Harris in Washington, pleading ". . . if you will send me by hook or crook, thirty Marines I shall be your debtor."
Despite the critical shortage of even enough Marines to satisfy the requirements of the Secretary of the Navy to man major vessels of the fleet, Harris' vanity must have been touched, for within two months, two lieutenants and 40 Marines were dispatched to Mound City, Ill., to guard stores of the Mississippi fleet.
Primarily, Marines of the Civil War era were automatically destined for duty with the fleet, manning the secondary guns in battle, and maintaining order and discipline at all times within the crew. Total strength of the United States Marine Corps in this conflict never exceeded 3800 officers and men. Yet, this strength was thinly spread to the four corners of the world, as well as in nearly every naval post and station in the Union, and many were in the hold-out forts of the hostile Confederacy.

http://www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck/send-me-thirty-marines-part-i

Part 2:
29 Apr 1862:
A Battalion of Marines, numbering approximately 250, under the command of Captain John L. Broome, disembarked and took possession of New Orleans facilities.

At the Custom House, he detailed Captain Alan Ramsay and a detachment to occupy it and hoist the American flag upon it. Here they were joined by a force of seamen from the USS Hartford with two howitzers, whereupon those left marched to the City Hall in the center of the city. Second Lieutenant John C. Harris, nephew of the Commandant, was ordered to occupy the building and haul down the Confederate flag. The remainder of the force marched back to the fleet anchorage. Upon the arrival of General Benjamin Butler on 1 May, the Marines evacuated the city.
8 May 1862:
Marine Detachments of the USS Dakota, USS Mount Vernon, USS St. Lawrence, USS San Jacinto, and USS Susquehanna participated in the bombardment of Sewell's Point, Va.

15 May 1862:
The Marine Guard of the USS Galena, together with crews of the USS Aroostook, USS Monitor, USS Naugatuck, and USS Port Royal, participated in the bombardment of Confederate defenses on Drury's Bluff, eight miles below Richmond on the James River.

Cpl John F. Mackie, USMC, a member of the Galena Guard, was cited in a letter to the Secretary of the Navy for his gallantry in the bombardment. Colonel Commandant Harris promised a correspondent that he would try to procure a medal for him. In Department of the Navy General Orders #17, issued on 10 July 1863, Mackie was awarded the first Medal of Honor authorized a member of the Marine Corps.


http://www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck/send-me-thirty-marines-part-ii
 
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