The Marine Corps Birthdays – Fact and Legend
BLUF: On 10 November 1775, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia authorized the raising of two battalions of
Marines to serve “for and during the present war between Great Britain and the colonies.” Shortly after this resolution,
Marines were recruited and served aboard ships, notably as sharpshooters taking out enemy officers. What many do not
know, however, is that the Continental Marine Corps was disbanded after the Revolutionary War in 1783 and ceased to
exist for the next 15 years. It was not until 11 July 1798, however, that Congress established the United States Marine
Corps.
SETTING THE STAGE: The official birthday of the Marine Corps is on 10 November 1775. That was the day when the
Second Continental Congress established the Continental Marines with the following decree:
That two battalions of Marines be raised consisting of one Colonel, two lieutenant-colonels, two majors and other
officers, as usual in other regiments; that they consist of an equal number of privates as with other battalions, that
particular care be taken that no persons be appointed to offices, or enlisted into said battalions, but such as are good
seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve for and during the present war with Great Britain
and the Colonies; unless dismissed by Congress; that they be distinguished by the names of the First and Second
Battalions of Marines.
Tun Tavern, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is regarded as the birthplace of the Corps as the location of the first Marines
to enlist under Captains of Marines Samuel Nicholas and John Mullen. However, it is disputed if a recruiting drive may
have occurred earlier at Nicholas’s family tavern, the Conestoga Waggon. When the Revolutionary War ended in 1783,
the Continental Navy was disestablished, and with it, the Continental Marines. The Corps was re-established on 11 July
1798, when President John Adams signed the Act of Congress for establishing and organizing a Marine Corps.
THE STORY: Before 1921, Marines celebrated the recreation of the Corps on 11 July with little pomp or pageantry.
On 21 October 1921, Major Edwin North McClellan, in charge of the Corps’s fledgling historical section, sent a
memorandum to Commandant John A. Lejeune, suggesting the Marines’ original birthday of 10 November be declared a
Marine Corps holiday to be celebrated throughout the Corps. Lejeune so ordered:
MARINE CORPS ORDERS No. 47 (Series 1921)
HEADQUARTERS U.S. MARINE CORPS
Washington, November 1, 1921
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The following will be read to the command on the 10th of November, 1921, and hereafter on the 10th of November
of every year. Should the order not be received by the 10th of November, 1921, it will be read upon receipt.
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On November 10, 1775, a Corps of Marines was created by a resolution of Continental Congress. Since that date
many thousand men have borne the name “Marine.” In memory of them it is fitting that we who are Marines
should commemorate the birthday of our corps by calling to mind the glories of its long and illustrious history.
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The record of our corps is one which will bear comparison with that of the most famous military organizations in
the world’s history. During 90 of the 146 years of its existence the Marine Corps has been in action against the
Nation’s foes. From the Battle of Trenton to the Argonne, Marines have won foremost honors in war, and in the
long eras of tranquility at home, generation after generation of Marines have grown gray in war in both
hemispheres and in every corner of the seven seas, that our country and its citizens might enjoy peace and
security.
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In every battle and skirmish since the birth of our corps, Marines have acquitted themselves with the greatest
distinction, winning new honors on each occasion until the term “Marine” has come to signify all that is highest
in military efficiency and soldierly virtue.
National Museum of the Marine Corps For Internal Use Only
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This high name of distinction and soldierly repute we who are Marines today have received from those who
preceded us in the corps. With it we have also received from them the eternal spirit which has animated our
corps from generation to generation and has been the distinguishing mark of the Marines in every age. So long
as that spirit continues to flourish Marines will be found equal to every emergency in the future as they have
been in the past, and the men of our Nation will regard us as worthy successors to the long line of illustrious men
who have served as “Soldiers of the Sea” since the founding of the Corps.
JOHN A. LEJEUNE,
Major General Commandant
moar…
https://www.usmcmuseum.com/uploads/6/0/3/6/60364049/usmc_birthday.pdf
https://www.mca-marines.org/resource/marine-corps-birthday/