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Review: Empire Marine - General Littleton W.T. Waller and the Growth of American Imperialism, 1856-1926 by Vernon L. Williams

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Review:  EMPIRE MARINE – General Littleton W.T. Waller and the Growth of American Imperialism, 1856-1926 Vernon L. Williams. Fort Worth, Texas: TCU Press, 2024. Maps. Photos. Charts. Chronology. Notes. Bibliography. Index. 270 pages.   Outside the annals of Marine Corps history, Littleton Waller Tazewell Waller doesn’t garner much attention. Icons, such as John Lejeune, Smedley Butler, and Dan Daly, receive the lion’s share of the attention for doctrinal innovation, leadership, and heroism. Waller is relegated to the shadows, despite nearly forty years of service during the formative years of the 20 th  century Marine Corps. Vernon Williams’ biography of Waller, EMPIRE MARINE, may help to correct this. Williams lays out the events of Waller’s life in standard fashion, using personal and Marine Corps correspondence and photos, maps, charts, official accounts, and courts martial testimony.  Waller was born in 1856 to a Virginia family descended from governors and repre...
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The Stranding of USS MONONGAHELA, November 18, 1867 - Frederiksted, St. Croix

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The Stranding of USS MONONGAHELA November 18, 1867 Frederiksted, St. Croix   On November 20, 1867, Commodore S.B. Bissell, USN, wrote Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells the following;   Sir: I have to state with deep regret that the Monongahela, under my command, is now lying on the beach, in front of the town of Frederiksted, St. Croix, where she was thrown on the 18 th  instant by an influx of the sea, the effect of the most fatal earthquake ever known here.    USS MONONGAHELA was built in 1862, and commissioned in January of 1863. Barkentine rigged, she was 2078 long tonnes, 227 ft long, 38 ft broad, and drew 17 ft. Built in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, at the foot of Broad Street, MONONGAHELA served as Farragut’s flag ship for a short time, and rammed CSS TENNESSEE at the Battle of Mobile Bay. Like many of the ships of the era, MONONGAHELA had a steam plant for auxiliary propulsion, but in keeping with post war Navy policy, spent most of her time under sail t...
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Colt Machine Gun at Guantanamo, June 1898

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During a recent search for Marine Corps related Spanish American War photos, I found this.   It shows a M-1895 Colt Machine Gun at Guantanamo in June of 1898. Upon further review, it may be of more significance than I first thought. My conjecture is that the gun and 0331 sitting on the chassis seat are reinforcements from USS TEXAS, and that the other men in the photo are Marines from Huntington’s Battalion, and Cuban rebel forces wearing Navy whites.    IMHO, this is the assembly area for the attack on Cuzco Wells on the 14 th  of June, 1898. Cuzco Wells was the pivotal battle in the After the Marines drove the Spanish from Cuzco, fighting for Guantanamo ceased.  Analysis : Location: Fisherman’s Point. Guantanamo, Cuba.  Date: 14 June, 1898.   Description: Staging area, Captain George Elliott’s attack on Cuzco Well.   Searching the internet a few years back, I found this photo from the Marines battle for Guantanamo in June of ‘98 interesting. Fur...
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Review: THE NEPTUNE FACTOR - ALFRED THAYER MAHAN and the Concept of $EA POWER by Nicholas A. Lambert

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Review: THE NEPTUNE FACTOR – ALFRED THAYER MAHAN and the Concept of $EA POWER  Nicholas A. Lambert. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2024. Kindle Edition. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Reviewed by John S. Naylor   “In most books, and not just books on naval history, Mahan is presented as a theorist of naval power who preached a crude gospel about the paramount importance of battle, battleships, and battle fleets. Too often his concept of sea power is reduced to, or rather conflated with, his advocacy for securing command of the sea. Parts of his argument are mistaken for the whole, and his ideas are critiqued before they are understood. Confirmation bias and the rush to judge thus have fed each other in a vicious loop.” -         Nicholas Lambert   Mr. Lambert’s thesis is that students of Mahan, and historians, have failed to accurately identify his focus on the destruction of an adversary’s commerce as the key to sea power. In ...
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CUTTING OUT ON THE NIAGARA OCTOBER 1812

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CUTTING OUT ON THE NIAGARA RIVER OCTOBER 1812     The enemy is making every exertion to gain a naval Superiority on both Lakes which if they accomplish I do not see how we can retain the Country.  – Major General Isaac Brock, October 11, 1812 THE NIARARA REGION Ever since Europeans began exploring the interior of the American continent, the straits between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario were a crucial choke point to communications, navigation, and commerce.  The significant interruption to movement posed by the cataracts at Niagara Falls forced establishment of portage points, routes over-land, the creation of boat building yards above the falls [1] , and attendant trading outposts. Alternative routes were few, as roads from the east to west, in either Canada or the U.S., were scarce, largely undeveloped, and vulnerable to the muddy seasons at either end of brutally cold winters. Boat traffic up the St. Lawrence, across Lake Ontario, and on the Niagara, gave th...
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