Continental Marines

Common card · No. 288152

The Continental Marines were the infantry marines of the American Colonies (and later the United States) during the American Revolutionary War. The organization was formed by the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775, and was disbanded in 1783. Their mission was multi-purpose, but their most important duty was to serve as amphibious warfare, onboard security forces, providing security at naval base or shore stations, and protecting the captain of a ship and his officers. During naval engagements, in addition to manning the cannons along with the crew of the ship, infantry marine sharpshooters were stationed in the tops of a ship's masts specifically to shoot the opponent's officers and naval gunners. In all, there were 131 Colonial Marine officers and probably no more than 2,000 enlisted Colonial Marines. Though individual Marines were enlisted for the few U.S. Naval vessels, the organization would not be re-created until 1798. Despite the gap between the disbanding of the Continental...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Christopher Gadsden (1724–1805), Lexicon, Vikrum, Public domain