Confederate States Marine Corps
The Confederate States Marine Corps (CSMC), a branch of the Confederate Navy, was established by the Confederate Congress on March 16, 1861. The CSMC's strength was authorized at 46 officers and 944 enlisted men; its enrollment never approached that number; the figures for 30 Oct. 1864 lists only 539 officers and enlisted men. Though the officers mostly were former U.S. Marine officers, the Head of the Corps, Commandant-Colonel Lloyd J. Beall, was a former U.S. Army paymaster with no Marine experience.
The CSMC was modeled after the United States Marine Corps, but there were some differences: the Confederates organized themselves into permanent companies, replaced the fife with the light infantry bugle, and wore uniforms similar to those of British Royal Marines. Ashore they provided guard detachments for Confederate naval stations at Mobile, Savannah, Charleston, Charlotte, Richmond, and Wilmington; and manned naval shore batteries at Pensacola, Hilton Head, Fort Fisher, and Drewry's Bluff. Seagoing detachments served aboard the various warships and even on commerce destroyers.
Confederate marines saw their first naval action aboard the CSS Virginia (USS Merrimack) off Hampton Roads, Virginia, March 8 to March 9, 1862, and near the end of the war were part of the naval brigade that fought at Sayler's Creek, Virginia.
Despite desertions and even near-mutinies, most marines served well and deserved Navy Secretary Stephen R. Mallory's praise for their "promptness and efficiency." The corps weakness was due largely to internal squabbles over rank, shore duty, and administrative assignments. And, with no funds for bounties, the corps could not easily enlist recruits. Until 1864 the monthly pay of enlisted men was $3 less than that of equivalent Army grades. Only late in the war were the marines allowed to draw from Army conscripts to augment their ranks.[1]
Organization
The Confederate States Marine Corps was formed in the early days of the Civil War from three sources:
- Officers (but almost no enlisted men) resigning from the US Marine Corps
- The amalgamation of state organizations such as the Virginia State Marines
- Active recruitment
Lloyd J. Beall, former paymaster in the U.S. Army, was appointed colonel of the CS Marine Corps on May 23, 1861. Colonel Beall served throughout the war as the first and only commanding officer of the corps.
Confederate States Marine Corps units were stationed at Confederate naval bases, as well as helping garrison shore fortifications such as Fort Fisher in North Carolina. Marines also served on Confederate warships, such as the CSS Alabama. In the famous battle between the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia, Company C of the Confederate Marines served aboard the CSS Virginia, helping to man several of her guns.
With detachments spread at every major Confederate naval installation, Headquarters for the Confederate Marines was established at Fort Darling and Camp Beall, located at Drewry's Bluff on the James River in Virginia. Three companies, A, B, and C, were stationed semi-permanently at headquarters. There the Marines helped repulse the attack made on the Bluff by US naval forces including the USS Monitor and the USS Galena in the summer of 1862.
Service during the War
From the Drewry's Bluff and other major posts (Wilmington, Charleston, Pensacola, Norfolk, Galveston, and Savannah), Marine detachments were parsed out to serve on major warships and for special operations, including the cutting out of the USS Underwriter and the USS Water Witch as well as an attack to free Confederate prisoners of war being held at Point Lookout, Maryland.
The end of the war found the majority of the Confederate Marines on land in support of the last desperate defenses of the South. Marines in Virginia were part of the forces which fought with distinction at the Battle of Sayler's Creek, the last major battle before the surrender of Lee's Army at Appomattox.
Uniform
Their uniform resembled that prescribed for the Confederate Army, but since the CSMC was not as big and many of its records were destroyed in 1865, there is controversy about the exact details of the uniform. It is clear, however, that the Marines were often equipped out of the stores of whichever garrison they were located near. One description has the Marines dressed in frock coats of a particular (and undetermined) shade of gray and dark blue or black trousers. It appears that Confederate Marines wore forage caps although it is unclear if there was any ornamentation on the cover. Much of the gear worn by CSMC was imported from Great Britain and its empire, namely Canada, and Russia creating a fairly unique look for a North American unit.[vague] .
References
- Donnelly, Ralph W., The Confederate States Marine Corps: The Rebel Leathernecks, 1989.
- CSMC at HOTMCL
See also
Notes
- ^ Historical Times Encyclopedia of the Civil War