Age of Archibald Henderson, 1816-1859

Extracted and revised from: Captain William D. Parker, USMCR, A Concise History of the United States Marine Corps, 1775-1969 (Washington: Historical Division, U.S. Marine Corps, 1970) pp. 15-21)

An "Act for the Better Organization of the Marine Corps" was passed by Congress on 30 June 1834. This Act firmly established that the Marine Corps would be a part of the Naval Establishment, ashore or afloat, except when detached for service with the Army by order of the President. Such an order was issued by President Andrew Jackson during the Indian Wars (1835-1842).

Shortly after the transfer of Florida to the United States (Transcontinental Treaty with Spain in 1819), land-hungry emigrants from the near-by states began to move into that new territory and encroach upon the domains claimed by the Seminole Indians. With this development, the Seminoles soon began to retaliate by attacks on the settlers. Arrangements had previously been made to transfer all Indian tribes from the southeastern states to reservations west of the Mississippi River, and the Seminoles in Florida finally agreed in 1832 to move. Attempts to carry out this emigration scheme embittered the Indians. After two years' delay, General Wiley Thompson went to Florida with a force of troops to ensure removal of the Seminoles. During the negotiations with Osceola, the Seminole leader, General Thompson imprisoned him and put him in irons for a day. Osceola, enraged by this act and seeking revenge, incited the Seminoles to such an extent that they started a war which lasted for nearly seven years.

Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 306073

The Florida War, 1835-1842. Marines battle Seminole Indians.

The actual fighting between the military forces and the Seminoles broke out in December 1835. At that time, the West India Squadron, under Commodore Alexander J. Dallas, was ordered to cooperate with all available men and ships and help suppress the Seminole uprising. The Marines of the ships of the squadron soon became engaged in many phases of the war. A detachment of Marines and sailors from the Constellation and St. Louis were put under the command of Lieutenant Nathaniel S. Waldron and sent to garrison Fort Brooke, which was located at the head of Tampa Bay, Florida, until additional Army forces arrived. Lieutenant Waldron and his men arrived at the fort just in time to help ward off a serious Indian attack (22 January 1836). During the early months of 1836, General Winfield Scott arrived in Florida and assumed command of the military forces. In one of Scott's operations along the Withlacoochie River during March 1836, the Marines under Lieutenant Waldron took part in several fights with the Indians. During the same year, other Marines on board vessels of the West India Squadron were called upon many times to support the Army and to protect settlements along the coast of Florida.

The Creek Indians, with whom arrangements had also been made for transfer to the west, went on the warpath in southern Georgia and Alabama in an effort to avoid moving and to help the Seminoles in Florida. With this outbreak, General Scott was ordered from Florida to conduct the war against the Creeks. This necessitated the Army shifting its main effort from the Seminole to the Creek country around Columbus, Georgia. With the Army being hard pressed for men to fight Indians in both areas, Colonel Commandant Archibald Henderson volunteered the services of a regiment of Marines for duty with the Army in the operations against the Creeks. This offer was immediately accepted, and on 23 May 1836, President Jackson issued orders for all available Marines to report to the Army. Although Colonel Henderson was Commandant, he did not hesitate to personally lead his Marines in action against the Indians, and did so quite successfully.

With the assistance of the Marines and other volunteer forces from the States, the Army was able to bring the Creek Indian War to a successful termination during the summer of 1836. Shortly after the close of the Creek War, Marines and sailors search made their way into Florida to help the Army fight the Seminoles. Upon their arrival in Florida, the Marines continued to serve with the Army until the close of the Seminole War. The vessels of the West India Squadron also continued to support the Army throughout the closing phase of the war. Finally, after long years of battle with the Indians, the Florida naval expedition was gradually disbanded between May and August 1842, and the Marines returned to their respective ships' detachments and other commands. During these operations against the Indians, the Marine Corps and the Army gained valuable field experience which would later prove useful in the far-flung operations of the Mexican War.

The Mexican-American War

Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 521395

A 1847 historic painting of the storming of Chapultepec.

During the war with Mexico, which began in May 1846, there were several geographically distinct campaigns. General Scott's conquest at Mexico City ended the war, but the campaigns against California and the west coast of Mexico gave the United States one of its last major domestic territorial acquisitions-California and the Southwestern States. Along with these engagements, the Navy waged a campaign against the Mexican Gulf Coast. During all of these campaigns, Marines saw service both ashore and afloat.

Prior to the outbreak of hostilities with Mexico, President James K. Polk, late in 1845, sent Marine First Lieutenant Archibald Gillespie on a secret mission to the west coast of Mexico. Upon arrival, Gillespie reported to Commodore John D. Sloat, who commanded the Pacific squadron, and gave him the In 1847, during the Mexican War, Marines and sailors under Commodore Perry stormed ashore on the Tabasco River to capture the town of San Juan Bautista should war break out. He then proceeded to find and deliver similar instructions to two of the President's trusted agents in the west, Consul Thomas Larkin at Monterey, and Captain John C. Fremont, who was heading a mapping expedition In California. Gillespie's mission was undertaken because President Polk was concerned about the possibility of British designs for furthering territorial claims along the western coast of North America. With war brewing with Mexico, it was felt that the British would try to capitalize on the situation by strengthening their claim over Oregon and establishing a claim on California.

The invasion of Mexico began on 18 May 1846, and Marines were among the first to set foot on the soil of Mexico proper. This occurred when Marines serving on board vessels, commanded by Captain John H. Aulick, USN, fought a minor skirmish at Burrita, some 15 miles up river from the month of the Rio Grande. This action was soon overshadowed, as Marines from the Gulf Coast Squadron, under the command of Commodore David Connee, began operations to establish a blockade to support General Zachary Taylor's march south from the Rio Grande. Captain Alvin Edson, the senior Marine officer of the squadron, organized a Marine battalion of about 200 men by combining all of the ships' detachments. During October 1846, the battalion, augmented by sailors and supported by guns of the squadron, conducted successful raids against Frontera and San Juan Bautista. On 14 November of the same year the squadron's landing party, including Edson's Marines, secured Tampico. Although these raids were temporarily interrupted with a major landing at Vera Cruz, they were resumed when Commodore Matthew C. Perry took command of the Gulf Squadron in March 1847. Perry organized a large landing force and with help from the Army secured Alvarado on 1 April and captured Tuxpan on 18 April 1847.

Shortly after the Tuxpan operation, Commodore Perry set out to close the one important port remaining open at Frontera and to occupy San Juan Bautista on the Tabasco River, through which Mexicans were receiving supplies from Central America. Employing his landing force with skill, Commodore Perry was able to accomplish his objective by early June. Having defeated the Mexicans at San Juan Bautista, Perry's force hoisted the colors over the plaza and occupied the town. A shore detachment of 115 Marines and 60 sailors, supported by 3 gunboats, held the town until 22 July 1847. On that date, as a result of the yellow fever season approaching, the colors were hauled down and the detachment returned to the squadron. The capture of San Juan Bautista represented the last important amphibious operation of the Gulf Coast Squadron since it closed the last port of entry remaining to the Mexicans.

Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 515225

On March 1854 at Yoku-Hama, Japan the landing of

Commodore Perry, officers and men of the squadron

to meet the Imperial Commissioners.

General Taylor, in his southward advance from Texas, was unable to reach the central part of Mexico due to terrain difficulties. This resulted in General Winfield Scott being put in charge of organizing an expedition to capture Mexico City. Throughout the entire operation, which ended with the capture of the city, Marines played an important role and were praised by General Scott for their gallant efforts.

On 9 March 1847, Marines under the command of Captain Edson assisted the Army in the capture of Vera Cruz. Later, Marines serving under Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Samuel E. Watson were assigned to the Army's 4th Division, commanded by Brigadier General John A. Quitman, and participated in the assault and capture of Mexico City. During the assault on Chapultepec and Mexico City, many Marines performed heroic deeds. When General Quitman's advance was halted by heavy enemy fire, Marine Captain George H. Terrett, whose Company C formed the right flank of the support, moved forward without orders and sliced through enemy batteries, pursued the fleeing artillerymen, and broke up a counterattack being by Mexican lancers. With the fall of the stronghold at Chapultepec and one more day of fierce fighting by Marines and soldiers, Mexico City was taken by General Scott's forces on 14 September 1847. With the city secured, Marine Lieutenant Augustus S. Nicholson cut down the Mexican colors and ran up the Stars and Stripes. As a result of the Marines' participation in the Mexican War, the citizens of Washington, D.C. presented Commandant Henderson with a blue and gold standard which bore the motto, "From Tripoli to the Halls of the Montezumas."

While Marines were fighting with General Scott's army other Marines were committed on the west coast of Mexico and in California. Between the ports of Mazatlan, Mexico and Yerba Buena (later to become San Francisco), California, Marines from the Pacific Squadron made several landings and helped to take control of such settlements as Los Angeles, San Pedro, and San Diego. With these areas in hand, Commodore Robert F. Stockton appointed Gillespie, who had stayed on in California and was by then a captain, as Military Commandant of the Department of Southern California. Another Marine officer, Lieutenant William A. T. Maddox, was made Commandant of the Middle Department with headquarters at Monterey. Other Marines in the area saw action under the leadership of Marine Lieutenant Jacob Zeilin who later became the 7th Commandant of the Marine Corps. Although lack of rapid communications with the United States Government in Washington caused numerous difficulties during the western operations, an estimated 400 Marines who saw service on the Pacific Coast performed courageously and successfully fulfilled their assigned missions.

During the period between the close of the Mexican War and the outbreak of the Civil War, Marines served on board vessels of the Navy and participated in many diverse and worldwide activities. American involvement in foreign commerce expanded rapidly during this period as the nation rapidly built up its merchant Marine and became a sizeable maritime power. With the growth of merchant shipping, the Navy was called upon to support the expanding commerce and to protect the lives of Americans and their property in those areas of the world which were torn by internal dissension or political revolution. In protecting American interests, Marines performed duties ranging from landings in Nicaragua to diplomatic ceremonies with Perry in Japan, and from suppressing the African slave trade to storming the Barrier Forts at Canton, China.

In order to suppress the African slave trade more effectively, the United States and Great Britain agreed to the Webster-Ashburton Treaty in 1842. This treaty provided that the United States would keep ships along the western coast of Africa to operate with British vessels against the slave traders. From 1843 until the outbreak of the Civil War, the United States provided an African Squadron for such duty as well as other vessels off the waters of Brazil and Cuba for the same purpose. In November 1843, Commodore Perry, then in charge of the African Squadron, landed in Liberia with a force of Marines and sailors to check into the reported murders of Americans. During the investigation, Perry was physically attacked by one of the local chieftains. A Marine sergeant shot the chieftain, and a fight started between the natives of the village and Perry's force. The fight ended with the natives fleeing and the village being put to the torch. Other Marines, at different times, performed similar duties on board vessels of the African Squadron in an attempt to break the slave trade. The last landing from the squadron took place in 1860, when Marines and sailors from the sloop Marion went ashore to guard American lives and property on the west coast of Africa.

During the 1850s, Marines of ships' detachments made several landings in diverse areas of the world. Marines on board the Congress and the Jamestown went ashore in 1852 at Buenos Aires to protect American lives and property against rioting Argentineans. A few days later, Marines of the Albany were dispatched on a mission of mercy to hell put out a fire which was sweeping San Juan del Stir (Greytown), Nicaragua. During the following year (1853), Marines made two more landings in Nicaragua to protect American lives.

In 1852, Commodore Matthew C. Perry was selected to command the East Indian Squadron. Perry was given some of the new steam vessels which had been commissioned and was ordered to organize an expedition for the purpose of establishing trade relations with Japan. All of Perry's ships had Marine detachments on board when the expedition began. Major Jacob Zeilin was the senior Marine officer of the squadron and was on board the Mississippi with Perry. After arriving and spending a brief period at Hong Kong and in the Loochoo Islands, Perry set out for Japan. On 2 July 1853, the steamers Susquehanna (flagship) and Mississippi, and the sloops of war Saratoga and Plymouth, sailed for Yedo (Tokyo) Bay. Although Perry's squadron did not receive an immediate welcome from the Japanese when it arrived at Yedo Bay on 8 July, pageantry and ceremony soon followed as Marines and sailors landed. After presenting President Millard Fillmore's request to Japanese officials, and telling them that he would return early the following year for their decision, Perry sailed from Japan on 17 July.

During March 1854, Perry returned to Yedo, Bay with his squadron. After elaborate ceremonies and negotiations, Perry and Japanese officials signed the Treaty of Kanagawa which opened trade relations with Japan. During both of Perry's visits to Japan, Marines played a major role in all of the ceremonies performed by the squadron and were commended for their military bearing.

Hong Kong, Shanghai, the Fiji Islands, and Uruguay were the sites of Marine landings in the year 1855. In all of these areas, American property and lives became endangered and required protection from rioting and rebellious inhabitants. Marines and sailors of the St. Louis had landed in Canton, China during 1844, at the request of the American consul, to protect Americans from a Chinese mob. During 1856, a more serious situation in Canton required the Marines to land again.

On 22 October 1856, the sloop Portsmouth, under the command of Andrew H. Foote, was lying off Whampoa (in the Canton area) when it received a message from the American consul at Canton that American interests were in imminent danger. Commander Foote responded to the message and sent a landing force, including Lieutenant William W. Kirkland with 18 Marines, to assist the consul. On 27 October, Marines and sailors from the Levant were sent to reinforce the Portsmouth's landing force. Later, on 12 November, Commodore James Armstrong arrived in the area on board his flagship, the San Jacinto, and sent additional reinforcements to the detachment in Canton, under the command of Captain John D. Simms. Shortly after Simms arrived at his destination and assumed command of the entire Marine force, Armstrong withdrew his flagship and left Foote in command at Canton. With warlike acts on the part of the Chinese increasing and negotiations deteriorating, Foote was given authority to proceed with operations against the hostile forces. During the engagement, which began in the early morning on 20 November 1856, a force of approximately 287 officers, sailors, and Marines met more than 4,000 Chinese troops and defeated them in every action. After three days of hard fighting, the Marines and sailors under Foote's command had captured four strongly defended forts, killed an estimated 500 Chinese, and routed an army of thousands. American losses were recorded at seven killed and 32 wounded or injured. As a result of this engagement against a numerically superior Chinese force, the Secretary of the Navy in his Annual Report for 1857, gave praise to all of those who had fought the "Battle of the Barrier Forts."

In the latter part of the 1850s Marines serving at home were called upon to suppress domestic disturbances. In June of 1857, the President ordered out two companies of Marines to restore civil order during election riots in Washington, D.C. In 1858, a detachment of 65 Marines from the barracks at the New York, Navy Yard and from the Sabine was sent to occupy and protect government buildings on Staten Island. During the same year, Marines of the St. Lawrence landed in Uruguay to protect American property and other Marines landed in the Fiji Islands to punish natives for the murder of American seamen.

In the fall of 1859, John Brown, the militant leader of the abolitionist movement, established himself at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and attempted to incite armed revolt among the Negro slaves. With some of his followers, Brown occupied the United States Arsenal at Harper's Ferry and obtained arms and ammunition for his band. The situation being too serious for local civil officials to handle, federal assistance was requested. The Navy Department ordered all available Marines in Washington to the scene of the disturbance to quell the reported insurrection.

Under the command of Lieutenant Israel Greene, 86 Marines proceeded to Harpers Ferry by rail on 17 October 1859, and reported to Colonel Robert E. Lee, USA. Brown had established a fortification in the engine house by the time Marines occupied the arsenal grounds. The next morning, Greene was ordered to prepare a storming party which was to be used against Brown's fort. At the appointed time, Lieutenant J. E. B. Stuart, USA, approached the engine house with a demand for Brown to surrender. Brown refused and Greene and his Marines attacked the position. Upon gaining entrance to the fortress, Greene confronted Brown, but not before he had fired a shot which killed one of the Marines. Greene struck Brown with his sword and knocked him to the ground, which ended further resistance. When Brown had sufficiently recovered from his wounds, Greene and his detachment escorted him to Charles Town. Brown was later tried and hanged by the State of Virginia for treason.

On 6 January 1859, Brigadier General Archibald Henderson, who had been Commandant since 17 October 1820, died while still in office. Death came to Henderson at the mature age of 76. Henderson had always given his best for the Marine Corps and was well recognized for his leadership and foresight. With his passing, the Marine Corps lost one of its greatest Commandants. Henderson was succeeded in office by Lieutenant Colonel John Harris, who was given the rank of Colonel Commandant.