Back to this historical reform piece...part 3 out of 5.
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Another drawback upon the seaman is, that, when shipping at the rendezvous he receives three months advance, to fit himself out, but there is generally standing by him some evil specimen of a land-shark, who caters for his depraved appetite until he filches from him nearly every cent of the advance, and then sends him on board the receiving-ship, to work out what is termed the dead horse, with hardly a change of dunnage in his bag.
This is not invariably the case, but it often happens, and is beyond the control of the shipping officer.
When a Marine enlists, no money is advanced him, but he is immediately sent to the Marine Barracks, supplied with all necessary clothing, bed, bedding, and furniture for the mess-table, and forthwith put on drill. In three weeks he can be made perfectly an fait with the exercise of small arms ; and it would not require any very great exertion, or longer time, to make him as good a Sea-Artillerist as ever planked the deck of a ship.
In making up the crew of a Steam-Frigate, what can be the objection to sending on board of her a large guard of Marines, to take the place and do the duty of landsmen X In the afterguard, on the quarter-deck, and in the waist of a large ship, the Marines are generally quartered, and every candid, unprejudiced naval officer will readily admit that they are ever ready, able and willing, to perform any duty which may be assigned them. Besides, a Steam-Frigate, or steamer of any class, is not the vessel wherein the landsmen can learn the trade of a seaman ; that is, to hand-reef, steer, heave the lead, strap blocks, &c, &c, inasmuch as very little of such work has to be done on board those vessels. The sails are all light and seldom used, especially in a time of war, when rapid movements are imperatively requisite, and the expense not quite so much of an item., A steamer of the size of the Mississippi can employ, advantageously, a crew of three hundred men. Suppose the number composed of petty-officers, seamen, ordinary seamen, firemen, coal-heavers and Marines—without a landsman or boy on board of her—would not that ship be well manned.
I can point out several officers in the service who will agree with me, unconditionally, as to the fact—and even go farther, in asseverating that if one-third of the whole number was made up of Marines, it would bo preferable far, beyond the present arrangement. Shoveling coal, keeping up the fires, and fighting guns, can be as well done by Marines as seamen. The proposition herein advanced will, undoubtedly, be objected to by a few of our gallant old Commodores. But if, as in the British service, they were complimented with the rank and titles of Major General, Brigadier, and Colonel of Marines, in conjunction with that of their naval rank, beyond peradventure, they would advocate the experiment.
But all must allow that lancemen and apprentices will obtain a superior nautical education, both in theory and practice, on board a square-rigged sailing Cruiser, than a fore-and-aft Steamboat.
" English seamen are not, like soldiers, bound to serve for life ; and it " is notorious that the American Navy is manned with sailors educated u on board the Excellent. The inutility as well as the danger of this establishment cannot be make too public, or be too strongly urged on the * notice of Parliament. It is useless, because a Steam Navy will, ere " many years elapse, be the main Navy of England; and then the bat" teries of our ships of war will be, as in the Turkish Navy, served by " soldiers, whilst a few sailors will suffice for the purpose of navigation.
" Prejudice and professional pride will be slow in acknowledging this ; "but I am not singular in the belief that the sailor's occupation, as a " warrior, will soon be only a matter of history."
The above extract is from the " United Service Journal," a British paper, published exclusively to chronicle all matters of importance transpiring in the Naval and Military Services of Great Britain.
Here we have an article, evidently written by a naval officer, reprobating, in strong terms, the folly of educating seamen in the practice of ]VIarine Gunnery on board the Excellent—a three-decker attached to the Portsmouth station. His object is, to show that those erratic subjects of the British Queen who have adopted the ocean as their home, do not regard her as Queen of the seas; and therefore, after having been taught the art and mystery of fighting a gun to perfection, by her most loyal naval officers, at a home station, betake themselves to whichever country they please ; but most generally prefer the Naval Service of the United States. But it will be seen that this writer's argument runs in favor of a Steam Navy, and Sea-Soldiers—-id est, Marines. He coincides with, and, in laudatory terms adopts, the theory of the Prince de Joinville—which is, that ere the lapse of many years, steamers will entirely supersede sailing vessels for naval purposes.
If Great Britain and France should thus rear up an immense Steam Navy to be manned by Marines, principally, for the defence of their seacoasts, and other service, in naval operations, why should not our Government pursue the same course, or at least attempt the experiment.
We have aa area of sea-cost comprising some thousands of miles— from Passamaquoddy, in Maine, to the Rio Grande, in Texas; and a more defenceless coast is not to be found in the Map of the World. And for our Home Squadron, every vessel should be a steamer. Events are daily portraying that sailing vessels, as cruisers, in the Gulf of Mexico, are not comparable with steamers, for comfort, safety and efficiency, in time of peace or seasons of warfare.
And if England and France should find it advantageous to make up the complement of a steamer's crew with a large proportion of Marines, certainly our Government should not for a moment delay following the example, for the difficulty of obtaining seamen for our vessels of war is rather increasing as the call far them becomes more importunate. The Steam-Frigate Mississippi, with a Commodore's pendant, has a Marine guard of 19 privates, with 4 non-commissioned officers. The steamers Vixen and Spitfire, with Commanders as their Captains, although adverse to sailing without a proper guard, are without any; and the Princeton may have five or six ; and there is not one ship of the Gulf Squadron having more than half a guard of Marines on board her. In boat expeditions, in cutting out vessels, or attacking any fortified place on shore, the British mainly depend upon their Marines; but in taking possession of Tampico, the small squad of Marines of our Squadron Was Hardly Discernible in the arrangements for the attack.
Good and efficient men, who have served in the Army and the Corps, would gladly re-enlist, but they cannot be taken, because an order from \ the Department prohibits the opening of a rendezvous, as there are now S a larger number enlisted than the law allows. • • A rendezvous might be opened at New Orleans, and other ports where steamers resort, and companies of Marines enlisted in a very short time, composed of men who have been in steam vessels the standing part of their lives, on the Mississippi and other rivers, and with musket or Paix han on board a steamer, they would make themselves the principal feature of the war.
A short time prior to the adjournment of the last Session of Congres*, J the Hon. George Bancroft submitted a report on the Re-Organization of the Marine Corps. It wa3 very evident that the Hon. Secretaiy had some idea of a plan, but the mathematical demonstration was not so clearly developed as to satisfy the sagacious wisdom of the concentrated Congress of this great Nation. His proposition was, to establish two principal Depots, at which the Marines, formed in two divisions, should be quartered. , New York and Washington, or Norfolk, were the places recommended J for the Northern and Southern Stations. Now, this was admirably con" ceived ; and herein I will endeavor more fully to illustrate the views of I others—men of military education—on this subject.
In the first place, it will be necessary, to meet the exigencies of the Naval Service, to make an addition of one thousand men to the Corps, and then form i^ as a Brigade, composed of two Regiments.
Secondly—The Brigade to be commanded by a Brigadier-General, and the two Regiments officered precisely according to the Infantry regulations. For each Regiment—1 Col.; 1 Lieutenant-Col.; 1 Mojor; 10 Captains ; 10 1st Lieuts., and 10 2d Lieuts.—and this would involve but a trifling addition to the number of officers attached to the Corps.
Thirdly—The first Regt. should be stationed at Washington, which is, and should be, the Head-Quarters of the Commanding General—where are now erected Officer's Quarters, Barracks, Hospital, and all other buildings for the accommodation of over a thousand men.
The second Regt. might be quartered at Brooklyn, where land can be purchased, for a Parade and the erection of the necessary Buildings, at a very cheap rate. Thus would the U. S. Marines be concentrated in two divisions—a miniature representation of a more gigantic system, to be sure—at two given poirrts, North and South. The first division, at Washington, would furnish Marines for vessels fitting out at the Navy Yards at Philadelphia, Washington, and Norfolk.
The second division, at Brooklyn, might furnish Marines for ships, &c, commissioned at the Naval Stations at New York, Boston, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Fourthly—There should be a battery of about ten 32 pounder guns on carriages such as are used at sea, mounted on a platform, fashioned so as to represent the half deck of a ship, with ports, eye-bolts, ring-bolts, guntackle, and, in short, all the appendages of a Man-of-War's broad-side, at which tha Marines might be daily exercised, after having attained a thorough knowledge of Infantry tactics, &c. The construction pf this platform, for a battery, would be attended with but little expense, 4nd the guns, carriages, rigging, and all other articles requisite, might be/oorrowed from the condemned lots in the Navy Yards, which, for the purpose, would be admirably adapted.
By the adoption of this system of artillery exercise, a well-instructed Company of artillerists would be ever ready to go on board a sea-steamer or sailing vessel, and the officers be relieved from the onerous duty of constantly exercising them at the guns, which constant exercise has a tendency to rack and weaken the ships, from the effects of running the guncarriages with tremendous force against the waterways and bulworks, which, if the ship be rolling in a rough sea, it is impossible to avoid.
Fifthly—A detachment consisting of the rank and file of about a Frigate's guard, commanded by a Captain, with two Lieutenants, should be detailed for duty at each of the several Naval Stations, where their services would be far more efficient, and less expensive, than the present arrangement for guarding the vast amouat of public property deposited within the Naval Depots.
Not only would this Marine Guard perform its duty with the strictest integrity, for which the officers are held accountable, at the Navy Yards, but, as a company of United States troops, the local authorities might avail themselves of their assistance on any emergency—on any sudden outbreak, riot, fire, or execution of piratical offender against the laws of nations. For the accommodation of such detachments, ample quarters are provided at all the Naval Stations in the United States.
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In a few days I'll have the final pieces up.
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