CSMC History
By Land or
Sea, the Confederate States Marine Corp
Was a Force to Reckon With
There has been much written about the United States Marine Corps
throughout its history, yet, not much is known, let alone written, about
the Confederate States Marine Corps. Historians that research the
Confederate Marine Corps have to go back to the US Marine Corps for
comparisons because the Confederate Marine history has deep roots with
the United States Marines.
On March 16, 1861, just one month after the creation of the Confederate
Provisional Government, the Navy Department was authorized to create the
Confederate States Marine Corps. Initially intended to be a battalion of
6 companies commanded by a major, this organization benefited by "old
corps" officers who resigned their U. S. commissions and offered their
services to the South. An amendatory act was passed on May 20, 1861 to
enlarge the Corps to 10 companies commanded by a colonel with an end
strength of 1,072 Marines.
It's leadership for a great majority of the war
consisted of the following:
Commandant - Colonel Lloyd J. Beall
Asst Commandant - Lt. Col Henry B. Tyler
Quartermaster - Maj Algernon S. Taylor
Paymaster - Maj. Richard T. Allison
Adjutant - Maj. Israel Greene
SgtMaj of C.S.M.C. - SgtMaj Edwin Wallace
This is in comparison with the size of the USMC at the opening shot of
the Civil War was 1,768, which included the President’s Own (Marine
Band). The peak strength of the US Marines would reach 3,881 in February
1865 whereas the Confederate Marines mustered less than 600 at its
zenith. Despite its relatively small size, the CSMC distinguished itself
in many ways throughout the war by defending shore installations,
embarking on ships, and engaging in numerous battles with enemy land
forces when the need arose. Due to a lack of able-bodied seamen in the
Confederate Navy, rebel Marines were called upon to maintain discipline
and man the deck guns of the ship more so than in the US Marines. In
addition, the CS Marines was seen as a unique organization that could be
relied upon to take on special assignments when the need arose and
carried out these varied duties with a high degree of success despite
its small numbers.
Origins of the CSMC
The bulk of the Confederate Marines officer corps were seasoned veterans
from the USMC who tendered their resignations in order to offer their
services for the cause of the South. Fifty-six officers were appointed
to the CSMC throughout the Civil War and 19 of these were former USMC
officers. An interesting note is that the Confederate Commandant was
actually a former U.S. Army officer.
Col. Lloyd J. Beall, a West Point graduate, was a paymaster in the U.S.
Army stationed at St. Louis, MO when he tendered his resignation and
headed south. Although born at Fort Adams, RI, he was a Marylander who
married the daughter of a South Carolina senator, and his loyalties were
with the South. On May 23, 1861, Confederate Secretary of the Navy,
Stephen R. Mallory, appointed Beall a colonel in the Confederate States
Marine Corps and served in that capacity throughout the war. An
administrator during the Civil War, Beall’s military knowledge and
experience remained an untapped resource. Beall worked hard to have the
Confederate Marine Corps receive the personnel, supplies and other
benefits accorded to other branches of the military. The training of
officers and enlisted Marines took place at the Marines’ barracks named
Camp Beall in honor of the Commandant just a short distance to the south
of Richmond at Drewry’s Bluff overlooking the James River. By the end of
the war, he had succeeded in helping improve the resources available to
the Confederate Marine Corps and established separate marine training
camps in Charleston, South Carolina; several permanent stations on the
Mississippi River and Atlantic Coast. Thanks, in part, to Beall’s
efforts; the Confederate Marines gained a reputation for distinguished
combat service, on the sea and land. After the Civil War, Beall lived in
Richmond, Virginia, and kept most of the Confederate States Marine Corps
records at his home. Much of this history, along with Beall’s personal
history, was destroyed in a fire. Perhaps a final irony of Beall’s life
was his death on November 10, 1887, the official birthday of the United
States Marine Corps.
The organization of the CSMC into companies under the nominal control of
a regimental headquarters was different from the organization of the
USMC at that time. The USMC was organized under Marine barracks, and
ship detachments and were sent out accordingly from those barracks near
the ship’s homeport. The intent of the CSMC was to train officers and
enlisted Marines at Drewry’s Bluff (similar to the USMC training at
Marine Barracks, Washington DC) and then send them out to man ship
detachments or “barracks” at designated ports or installations. The
captains were responsible for recruiting their own companies and not
until later in the war were recruiting offices established throughout
the South. Initial enlistment’s were for 4 years, but later changed to 3
when recruiting goals were not met.
By late April 1861, when war was declared and new states were joining
the Confederacy, Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory reported to
President Davis that Marine Corps recruiting stations were—“looking for
a few good Southern men” in the capital city of Montgomery, Alabama, and
in the bustling port of New Orleans, Louisiana. Most of the new
detachments went first to Pensacola, Florida, where Southern forces were
besieging a Union garrison in Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. On July
26, 1861, the 300 man Marine battalion, made up of 3 companies, was
attached to the 3d Brigade of the Army of Pensacola and a fourth company
of 150 Marines was sent to New Orleans in defense of the harbor. Upon
the Federal bombardment of Pensacola, the battalion transferred its
companies piecemeal to Virginia and completed the movement, with a small
detachment remaining at Mobile, AL around February 24,1862. Other Marine
detachments served with the Naval battery attached to General Johnston’s
army at Centreville, Virginia, and scattered stations along the coast of
Georgia and South Carolina.
During the Union offensives in the spring of 1862, the Southern Marines
were involved in a battle on the Mississippi River. The Yankees sailed
up the Mississippi on April 24th to challenge Forts Jackson and St
Phillip with their ocean going warships; they ran into John Mitchell’s
River Defense Flotilla, which included the ship, McRae and her Marine
detachment. During the swirling river fight, the McRae took on four
enemy vessels at once, including the USS Iroquois which suffered
twenty-six casualties among her own Marines. This was the first face to
face fight between Northern and Southern Marines.
The bulk of the CSMC remained in the Richmond area at Camp Beall on
Drewry’s Bluff and at the Navy Shipyard, Norfolk, VA with smaller units
deploying to Wilmington, NC; Charleston, SC; and Savannah, GA. From
these locations, rebel Marines formed ship detachments and embarked on
numerous vessels that included ironclads and cruisers to prey upon
northern shipping. The largest Marine contingent that served onboard a
ship was the detachment of 55 officers and men who served on the
ironclad CSS Virginia. Marines served aboard the CSS Sumter, CSS
Shenandoah (recruited from Australian stowaways while visiting
Melbourne, Australia), CSS Alabama, CSS Atlanta (rechristened the
Tallahassee and also known as the Olustee), CSS Tennessee, CSS
Chickamauga, and the gunboat Gaines, to name a few.
Roles of Marines
CS Marine regulations prescribed that Marines could be employed on board
ship as gun crews under their own officers, or even as individuals
assigned to regular gun crews. But such assignments were to be made only
in case of necessity. It was pretty well understood that many Marines
had been trained as artillerists and many served in heavy fortifications
manning the shore battery guns guarding Wilmington, Charleston,
Savannah, New Orleans, and Mobile to name a few major Southern ports.
As the war progressed, another function of the Marines developed.
Confederate Marines were used as a type of Special Forces unit.
Confederate Marines were called upon many times for special missions
such as the plan to capture Federal ironclads anchored off of Charleston
Harbor in 1863. This plan called for the Marines to board the ships at
night and disable the engine by dropping sulfur, gunpowder, and wet
blankets down the smokestack. Once this was completed, the Marines would
wait for the gassed victims to emerge and surrender or die from
suffocation. Training was conducted and the Marines were ready, yet the
Union armada of nine ironclads that sailed into Charleston Harbor on
April 6, 1863 received such a terrible shelling that the fleet withdrew
and the mission was scrubbed when the threat vanished.
Confederate Marines were instrumental in the special operation to
take-out the USS Underwriter from the flotilla anchored at New Bern, NC
on 2 February 1864. After a brief but violent hand-to-hand fight, the
Marines and sailors were successful in capturing and destroying the
ship. Their commander commented afterward on the bravery displayed by
the Marines that, “as a body they would be a credit to any organization,
and that I will be glad to be associated with them on duty at any time.”
The rebel Marines were also successful on June 2, 1864 in capturing the
USS Water Witch near Savannah, GA in a 10-minute bloody battle on her
decks and adding her to the Confederate Navy complement.
In July of 1864, General Robert E. Lee devised a plan where a battalion
of Marines were to slip through the Federal naval blockade and make a
amphibious landing at Point Lookout above Washington D. C. to free the
Confederate Prisoners of War there. This was to be done in support of
General Jubal Early’s raid on Washington. The force was led again by
Thomas S. Wilson and included 2nd Lt. Henry H. McCune of Missouri. But
because of fear that the plan was leaked out, the ships carrying the
Marines were called back and the mission aborted.
Exploits of the CSMC
One of the most notable events of the war involved a duel off Hampton
Roads, VA between the Union ironclad Monitor and the Confederate
ironclad Virginia on March 8-9, 1862. Marines manned several guns during
the standoff and performed well enough to be mentioned in Admiral
Buchanan’s report where he commended the coolness of the Marines that
manned the guns on the Virginia. Although the Marines were not able to
perform their traditional role of sniping and boarding enemy ships or
repelling boarders, their skill and daring behind the deck guns was
exemplary and showed that the Marines were an integral part of the
ship’s complement. This type of action would be repeated throughout the
Confederate States Navy wherever Marines were present. The Marines
redeployed to Drewry’s Bluff when the Virginia was trapped in the James
River by Union forces and she was scuttled to prevent her capture.
After the Virginia had to be destroyed on May 11, 1862, her crew
transferred to the shore defenses at Drewry’s Bluff on the James River
just in time to battle five Union warships which attempted to ascend the
river to Richmond. On May 15,1862, a Federal flotilla comprised of the
ironclad USS Monitor, the armor-plated gunboat USS Galena, and the
wooden gunboats Aroostook and Port Royal tried unsuccessfully to run the
gauntlet at Drewry’s Bluff. Along with the accurate cannon fire, Marine
sharpshooters were very effective as evidenced by wounding the
commanding officer of the USS Port Royal and trading heavy volume of
fire with the U.S. Marines embarked on the ships. The Marine battalion
at Drewry’s Bluff would remain until fighting late in the war caused
them to retreat with General Robert E. Lee’s army.
Another interesting footnote of history involves Confederate Marine Sgt.
George Stephenson of the infamous commerce raider CSS Sumter. After a
long career the CSS Sumter was abandoned at Gibraltar and a small force
was left behind including a Marine Guard commanded by Sgt. Stephenson.
The Commanding officer Midshipman Williams Andrews was killed in October
1862 by a seaman and Sgt. Stephenson became the only Marine Federal or
Confederate to command a ship of war in the War for Southern
Independence.
The Eclipse of the CSMC
In December 1864, the Confederate Marines were caught up in Sherman’s
capture of Savannah, Georgia. Most of the station’s Marines went ashore
to reinforce the army and remained with the army in its retreat to the
north. With the South’s Atlantic ports now falling like dominoes, Fort
Fisher was next. After a three-day bombardment, Union Forces were landed
on January 15, 1865, and grappled with the defenders at close range.
They overran the main fort, capturing Battery Buchanan and the Mound
Battery. In true Marine Corps tradition, the fifty-man company fought a
bayonet last stand from gun to gun until they were “all killed or
captured.”
The Marines who came north from the fallen port cities took post in
Richmond’s shore defenses, and were overlooked during the first
evacuation. Along with displaced and shipless seamen, the Marines were
organized into a naval brigade under the overall command of Captain
Tucker, CSN, and attached to Custis Lee’s division of the Army of
Northern Virginia. On April 6, 1865, the Yankees overwhelmed the
Confederate rearguard, General Ewell’s Corps, at Sayler’s Creek, but the
Marine brigade fought so hard that the enemy bypassed them to pursue
other routed army units. The core of this brigade was a battalion of
some 200 marines. It was reported that the Marine battalion fought
courageously in savage hand-to-hand combat with the 37th Massachusetts
and 121st New York Regiments in rain-swollen marshland and repulsed the
attack of the Federals. The 37th Massachusetts regimental commander
credited his unit’s use of Spencer repeating rifles as the only reason
they were able to avoid disaster at the hands of the Marines. Fifteen
minutes after General Ewell surrendered, the brigade was still firing
away. The remnants of the naval brigade were surrounded at day’s end.
Only after massed batteries were trained on the Marines did they yield
forcing Capt Tucker to surrender his forces. Their conduct in the face
of disaster was worthy of the Corp’s heritage.
The remains of the Confederate Marines withdrew to Appomattox and
surrendered with General Lee on April 9, 1865. Twenty-nine Marines were
present when General Lee surrendered Appomattox Court House. 1stLt
Richard Henderson (former USMC Commandant Gen. Archibald Henderson’s
son) was the senior Marine present on that day when the Confederate
Corps capitulated alongside the Army of Northern Virginia. The last
Confederate Marines to surrender in the war were north of at Hanna
Bluff, Al, just north of Mobile on May 10,1865.
Multiple times Confederate Marines were involved
in land engagements or land to ship engagements including:
Bombardment of Ship Island, Mississippi - July 9, 1861
Battle of Port Royal, SC - November 7, 1861
Bombardment of Pensacola, FL - November 22-23, 1861
1st and 2nd Battles of Drewy's Bluff - May 15, 1862/May 9-16, 1864
Defense of Charleston - 1863 to 1865 and the fall of the city
Defense of Mobile Bay - 1864
Siege of Savannah - 1864
Battle of Fort Fisher - Dec 64-Jan 65
Battle of Sayler's Creek - April 6, 1865
Battle of Fort Blakely - April 2-9, 1865
Conclusion
By coincidence, the first recruiting for the Confederate Marine Corps in
1861 and the last surrender of an organized unit of the Corps took place
in Alabama. Based on the principle laid down by USMC Commandant Gene
Archibald Henderson prior to the Civil War, the USMC was to be ready to
respond instantly to any emergency. To the credit of Col. Beall and his
experienced officers, the CSMC abided by the same principle. With a
battalion-sized unit close to the CSMC Headquarters, the Marines were
ready and capable of responding in short notice to emerging threats and
special operations. Despite its small size, the CSMC distinguished
itself numerous times and was constantly called upon and in demand not
only by the Confederate Navy, but by the Army as well. On four separate
occasions throughout the war, the CSMC received official thanks from the
Confederate Congress. Even in the Confederacy’s waning days, the rebel
Marines did not give up without a fight. One Union soldier after the
Battle of Sayler’s Creek stated; “Those Marines fought like tigers and
against odds of at least ten to one.” Whether on land or sea, the rebel
Marines fought with valor and tenacity only expected of an elite
fighting force.
The CSMC, although short lived, carried itself notably and could be seen
as an implicit extension of the principle of a force in readiness as
espoused long before the Civil War.