Corps of Colonial Marines
Encyclopedia
Corps of Colonial Marines were raised from former slaves
as auxiliary units of the Royal Marines
for service in the Americas
: Two of these units were raised and subsequently disbanded. The first was a small unit which existed from 1808 to 12 October 1810, the second was more substantial and existed from May 1814 to 20 August 1816.
while commander-in-chief of British
naval forces on the Leeward Islands
station during the Napoleonic Wars
. The British had captured the island of Marie Galante earlier that year but the French Governor of Guadeloupe
attacked the island on hearing that illness had weakened its British garrison. Marie Galante slaves assisted the British on being promised that they would not be returned to their proprietors and by this means the island was preserved until the arrival of three companies of the 1st West India Regiment
. Cochrane embodied the ex-slaves as a Corps of Colonial Marines, which was subsequently enlarged with fugitive slaves who came over from Guadeloupe. The Corps was paid from Marie Galante revenues, clothed from Royal Navy
stores and commanded by Royal Marine officers. Following the re-possession of Guadeloupe, Cochrane kept up the Corps, and on 12 October 1810 redistributed the men: 70 among the ships of the squadron, 20 to 30 to the battery at the Saintes
(a group of small islands to the south of Guadeloupe), and 50 remaining in the Marie Galante garrison. They saw no further action as a distinct body but were subsequently listed in ships’ musters among the supernumeraries for wages and victuals under the description of Colonial Marine until mid-1815. Cochrane’s second Corps of Colonial Marines was a separate entity.
, as Commander-in-Chief of British forces on the North Atlantic Station, ordered the recruitment of a body of Colonial Marines. Rear Admiral George Cockburn
, Cochrane's second in command on the Atlantic coast, implemented the order, recruiting the second Corps of Colonial Marines from among the four thousand Black refugees of the War of 1812
. They served as part of the British forces on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States during that war.
The main part of the Corps was embodied in the Chesapeake
on 18 May 1814 and made its combat debut in the raid on Pungoteague. The Corps then participated in actions in the Chesapeake campaign.
On 3 September 1814 three companies of the Corps were to join with the three remaining companies of the 3rd Battalion Royal Marines
(which had been established in 1813) to make a new 3rd Battalion Royal and Colonial Marines. The Corps conducted further recruitment on the coast of Georgia
in the first quarter of 1815.
The Corps served in many actions in the Chesapeake during 1814, with losses at Pungoteague and Baltimore. Greater losses to the Corps occurred from an outbreak of dysentry in January 1815, which killed the surgeon and 69 men of the battalion.
The Corps's last combat during the War of 1812 took place in January 1815, when members of the Corps formed part of the British land forces in the attack on the fort at Point Peter
. Members of the Corps were involved in the occupation of Tangier Island, and Cumberland Island
off of the coast of Georgia, where they assisted the emigration of several hundred slaves up to the time of the promulgation of the Peace Treaty.
After the end of the war, with the departure for Britain of the three European companies, the 3rd battalion was reformed as the 3rd Battalion Colonial Marines to do garrison duty in the Royal Naval Dockyard
then under construction on Ireland Island, Bermuda
, and was finally disbanded in Trinidad
in August 1816 to form a free Black farming community which still retains its identity, carrying the name of The Merikens.
A detached company, recruited by Captain George Woodbine in the Gulf of Mexico
under the direction of Colonel Edward Nicolls
, remained at Apalachicola
in Spanish East Florida
after British left at the end of the war. Those members of the detached company who survived the destruction of Fort Gadsden
(or the Negro Fort) in July 1816 joined the southward migration of Seminoles and Blacks in the face of American advance, and probably were among the group that escaped to the Bahamas in 1822 and founded, on the west coast of the island of Andros
, a community that similarly retains its identity.
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
as auxiliary units of the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
for service in the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
: Two of these units were raised and subsequently disbanded. The first was a small unit which existed from 1808 to 12 October 1810, the second was more substantial and existed from May 1814 to 20 August 1816.
The First Corps
The first Corps of Colonial Marines was raised in 1808 by Rear Admiral Sir Alexander CochraneAlexander Cochrane
Admiral Sir Alexander Forrester Inglis Cochrane GCB RN was a senior Royal Navy commander during the Napoleonic Wars.-Naval career:...
while commander-in-chief of British
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
naval forces on the Leeward Islands
Leeward Islands
The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...
station during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. The British had captured the island of Marie Galante earlier that year but the French Governor of Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
attacked the island on hearing that illness had weakened its British garrison. Marie Galante slaves assisted the British on being promised that they would not be returned to their proprietors and by this means the island was preserved until the arrival of three companies of the 1st West India Regiment
West India Regiment
The West India Regiment was an infantry unit of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. The regiment differed from similar forces raised in other parts of the British Empire in that it formed an integral part of the...
. Cochrane embodied the ex-slaves as a Corps of Colonial Marines, which was subsequently enlarged with fugitive slaves who came over from Guadeloupe. The Corps was paid from Marie Galante revenues, clothed from Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
stores and commanded by Royal Marine officers. Following the re-possession of Guadeloupe, Cochrane kept up the Corps, and on 12 October 1810 redistributed the men: 70 among the ships of the squadron, 20 to 30 to the battery at the Saintes
Îles des Saintes
The Îles des Saintes , also called simply Les Saintes , is a small archipelago of French Antilles located in the South of Basse-Terre Island, on the West of Marie-Galante and in the North of Dominica in the arc of Lesser Antilles...
(a group of small islands to the south of Guadeloupe), and 50 remaining in the Marie Galante garrison. They saw no further action as a distinct body but were subsequently listed in ships’ musters among the supernumeraries for wages and victuals under the description of Colonial Marine until mid-1815. Cochrane’s second Corps of Colonial Marines was a separate entity.
The Second Corps
Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander CochraneAlexander Cochrane
Admiral Sir Alexander Forrester Inglis Cochrane GCB RN was a senior Royal Navy commander during the Napoleonic Wars.-Naval career:...
, as Commander-in-Chief of British forces on the North Atlantic Station, ordered the recruitment of a body of Colonial Marines. Rear Admiral George Cockburn
George Cockburn
Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet GCB was a British naval commander of the late 18th through the mid-19th centuries. He held important commands during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 and eventually rose to become Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord.-Naval...
, Cochrane's second in command on the Atlantic coast, implemented the order, recruiting the second Corps of Colonial Marines from among the four thousand Black refugees of the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. They served as part of the British forces on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States during that war.
The main part of the Corps was embodied in the Chesapeake
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
on 18 May 1814 and made its combat debut in the raid on Pungoteague. The Corps then participated in actions in the Chesapeake campaign.
On 3 September 1814 three companies of the Corps were to join with the three remaining companies of the 3rd Battalion Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
(which had been established in 1813) to make a new 3rd Battalion Royal and Colonial Marines. The Corps conducted further recruitment on the coast of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
in the first quarter of 1815.
The Corps served in many actions in the Chesapeake during 1814, with losses at Pungoteague and Baltimore. Greater losses to the Corps occurred from an outbreak of dysentry in January 1815, which killed the surgeon and 69 men of the battalion.
The Corps's last combat during the War of 1812 took place in January 1815, when members of the Corps formed part of the British land forces in the attack on the fort at Point Peter
Battle of Fort Peter
The Battle of Fort Peter, or the Battle of Fort Point Peter or Fort Point Petre, was a successful attack by a British force on St. Marys, Georgia and a smaller force of American soldiers at Fort Peter, a small fort protecting the town. Point Peter is located at the mouth of Point Peter Creek and...
. Members of the Corps were involved in the occupation of Tangier Island, and Cumberland Island
Cumberland Island
Cumberland Island is one of the Sea Islands. Cumberland is the largest in terms of continuously exposed land area of Georgia's barrier islands. It is located on the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia and is part of Camden County...
off of the coast of Georgia, where they assisted the emigration of several hundred slaves up to the time of the promulgation of the Peace Treaty.
After the end of the war, with the departure for Britain of the three European companies, the 3rd battalion was reformed as the 3rd Battalion Colonial Marines to do garrison duty in the Royal Naval Dockyard
Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda
HMD Bermuda was the principal base of the Royal Navy in the Western Atlantic between American independence and the Cold War. Bermuda had occupied a useful position astride the homeward leg taken by many European vessels from the New World since before its settlement by England in 1609...
then under construction on Ireland Island, Bermuda
Ireland Island, Bermuda
Ireland Island is the northwesternmost island in the chain which comprises Bermuda. It forms a long finger of land pointing northeastwards from the main island, the last link in a chain which also includes Boaz Island and Somerset Island. It lies within Sandys Parish, and forms the northwestern...
, and was finally disbanded in Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
in August 1816 to form a free Black farming community which still retains its identity, carrying the name of The Merikens.
A detached company, recruited by Captain George Woodbine in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
under the direction of Colonel Edward Nicolls
Edward Nicolls
General Sir Edward Nicolls, KCB was an Irish officer of the Royal Marines. Known as "Fighting Nicolls", he had a distinguished career, was involved in numerous actions, and often received serious wounds. For his service, he received medals and honours, reaching the rank of General...
, remained at Apalachicola
Apalachicola, Florida
Apalachicola is a city in Franklin County, Florida, on US 98 about southwest of Tallahassee. The population was 2,334 at the 2000 census. The 2005 census estimated the city's population at 2,340...
in Spanish East Florida
East Florida
East Florida was a colony of Great Britain from 1763–1783 and of Spain from 1783–1822. East Florida was established by the British colonial government in 1763; as its name implies it consisted of the eastern part of the region of Florida, with West Florida comprising the western parts. Its capital...
after British left at the end of the war. Those members of the detached company who survived the destruction of Fort Gadsden
Fort Gadsden
Fort Gadsden is located in Franklin County, Florida, on the Apalachicola River. The site contains the ruins of two forts, and has been known by several other names at various times, including Prospect Bluff Fort, Nichol's Fort, British Post, Negro Fort, African Fort, and Fort Apalachicola.Listed...
(or the Negro Fort) in July 1816 joined the southward migration of Seminoles and Blacks in the face of American advance, and probably were among the group that escaped to the Bahamas in 1822 and founded, on the west coast of the island of Andros
Andros, Bahamas
Andros Island is an archipelago within the archipelago-nation of the Bahamas, the largest of the 26 inhabited Bahamian Islands. Geo-politically considered a single island, Andros has an area greater than all the other 700 Bahamian islands combined...
, a community that similarly retains its identity.
See also
- Colonial Marines (disambiguation)
- Marine
- Black SeminolesBlack SeminolesThe Black Seminoles is a term used by modern historians for the descendants of free blacks and some runaway slaves , mostly Gullahs who escaped from coastal South Carolina and Georgia rice plantations into the Spanish Florida wilderness beginning as early as the late 17th century...
- Royal Marines Battalions (Napoleonic Wars)Royal Marines Battalions (Napoleonic Wars)Three battalions were raised from among the Royal Marines during the Napoleonic Wars; seeing combat in Portugal, Northern Spain, the Netherlands and North America.-The First Battalion:...