Gilded Age Marines

 Review:  Military Landing Operations by Major Dion Williams      In July of 1906 , the  Journal of the U.S. Infantry Association , (presently  INFANTRY) , published an article written by Major Dion Williams, USMC, titled “Military Landing Operations”. The article shows a certain level of sophistication in amphibious doctrine of the time. Williams had his own experience with landing parties — he led Marines ashore at Cavite following Dewey’s victory at Manila Bay and was an instructor on landing operations at the Naval War College. But his writing reflects the experience of the landings at Guantanamo, the Army’s experiences in Cuba and Puerto Rico, and in various fleet exercises conducted since then. They also reflect the decades of “corporate knowledge” gained by Marines and Bluejackets in executing landing parties the world round since 1775. What may be most interesting in his piece, and when it was written, is that in putting pen to paper on this s...

Addendum: “The Marines Have Landed at Nantucket, and the Situation is Well In Hand.” Marine Corps Gazette, May 2025.  I recently wrote a piece that wound up in publication, unfortunately sans photographs. We couldn’t find who held the copyrights for images used in the Nantucket Historical Society’s magazine in 1981, but I thought it might be interesting to review the photos here. In this photo we see Marines in 1901 setting up bivouac amongst the dunes of the east end of Nantucket. They landed as part of the Atlantic Squadron’s summer exercises, with the mission of setting up an “Advanced Base” where the Navy could anchor, refuel, rearm, and treat the wounded, without interference from a foreign navy.  The Marines, first under the command of Captain C.G. Long, and then Major Charles Doyen, are erecting circular section tents; at the upper left you may spot a rectangular tent, possibly for headquarters, or an officer. I believe ships’ whaleboats can be seen at the left edge of ...

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 as a central figure in the 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, photos, maps, charts, official accounts, and courts martial testimony.  Waller was born in 1856 to a Virginia family descended from governors and representatives. His upper-cla...

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...

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...

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 ...