![]() After the founding of the Corps in 1775 during the Revolutionary War, Marine battalions fought in the assault on the Bahamas and with General George Washington's army in the battles of Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey. The Marine Corps had a minor history of battalion-level land combat operations prior to the American Civil War. ![]() These formations in no way resembled official codified, regimental units common from the twentieth century onward, but rather were collections of Marines from other assignments gathered into a more special-purpose task-organized or provisional type of formation. ![]() While semipermanent battalion-size formations were created, they generally were not deliberately employed in large-scale ground combat. Ad hoc formations assembled temporarily from ship crews and put ashore for duty is the primary example for the study. The focus of this study is on large-scale Marine land operations, involving battalion-size (defined as multicompany) elements. Army force, regardless of size or composition, the Marines and their officers' performance notably improved, when compared to fighting alongside an inexperienced Army force. However, when incorporated alongside an experienced U.S. In an overall assessment of Marines' performance ashore, when led by naval officers-as was often the case-Marines performed poorly. The Marine Corps' lackluster battlefield performance ashore during the Civil War is best understood by examining their poor organization in officer selection, recruiting and retention, ad hoc formations larger than company size, limited collective tactical training, and experience in large-scale ground combat. On rare occasions, extremely small-scale and short in duration and distance, Marines engaged in land operations, and on even rarer occasions they conducted land-based or amphibious operations involving more than one company. ![]() Navy, both guarding shipyards and protecting naval crews from hostile boarding, as well as serving as backup gun crews or as boarding parties and deck sharpshooters during close fighting, while enforcing discipline when afloat. Marines served primarily in a security role for the U.S. ![]() Marine Corps' role in the American Civil War largely followed that of its previous service, lacking much distinction in new roles or tactical application. ![]()
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