- Joined
- Aug 25, 2012
I posted a question on another thread about the uniforms worn by these "Marines" and then started thinking about the four gunboats these 75 men manned and if the gunboats had names. So were these Baltimore naval vessels named?
I posted a question on another thread about the uniforms worn by these "Marines" and then started thinking about the four gunboats these 75 men manned and if the gunboats had names. So were these Baltimore naval vessels named?
Post the URL of this thread so we can see what context you're talking about.
Trimble apparently was appointed to command "the un-uniformed volunteers of this city. That phrase "un-uniformed" is used repeatedly. How long they remained without uniforms I don't know.
Here's from the Sun of April 25: View attachment 316849
From The South (Balt.) of the same date: View attachment 316852
From the Sun of April 29, we see that one boat was the steam-tug Ajax, which appears to have had a less than spectacular career:
The main purpose of the harbor police was to prevent the removal of goods from Baltimore. Given the speed and ease with which Butler effected the occupation of the city on May 13th, those gunboats probably benefited the Union more than the Confederacy.
May 9th:View attachment 316855
None of the newspaper accounts I've seen ever use the term 'marines' at all.Very interesting. I think these "harbor police" could only be considered Marines in the most general way.
None of the newspaper accounts I've seen ever use the term 'marines' at all.