The history of sea-soldiers is very ancient, dating back to at least five centuries before the Christian Era, when there was a class of soldiers which constituted the fighting men of a war-ship, while an entirely different class navigated, managing the oars and sails. Some of the most gallant acts which have distinguished our own navy have been performed by the marines, who have served without blemish in every quarter of the world, and in all the wars in which we have been engaged. The marines have generally manned some of the broadside guns whenever hard fighting was going on, and have always been relied upon under the most desperate circumstances; nor have they failed to justify that reliance.
U. S. S. Texas.
Battleship. Twin screw. Main battery, two 12-inch and six 6-inch breech loading rifles. Secondary battery, twelve 6-pounder and six 1-pounder rapid fire guns, one Hotchkiss revolving cannon and two Gatlings. Thickness of armor 12 inches. 30 officers, 362 men.
Our own Congress has nineteen times, by joint resolution, tendered thanks to the marines for their gallant behavior, and some of the greatest generals have added their tributes to those of naval commanders. Napoleon Bonaparte, when viewing the marines of the English ship Bellerophon, where he took refuge after his downfall, exclaimed: “What might not be done with a hundred thousand such men?” General Winfield Scott, when commanding in the Mexican War, said of our marines that he “put them where the heaviest work was to be accomplished, and had never found his confidence misplaced.” General Grant, on the quarter-deck of the Vandalia, which man-of-war was taking him to Egypt, on his voyage round the world, remarked of the marines at their exercise, that they were “as fine soldiers as he had ever seen.”
In our own service the marine corps is as ancient as the navy. In Revolutionary days they wore green coats with white facings, but their uniform has from time to time become more and more assimilated with that of the infantry of the army.
REVENUE MARINE.
Another branch of the public service connected with the sea is the Revenue Marine, of which very little is known outside of maritime States, although it is one of the most important and hard-working branches.
This sea force was organized in 1790, more than a century ago, for the protection of the revenues of the General Government from duties upon imports. The Act of Congress provided for the building and equipping of the revenue cutters, “to be officered and manned by one master and not more than three mates, who should be appointed by the President, and be deemed officers of the customs.”