Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2013
Summary
Why study the Marines? In the years I have been researching and writing this work I've been asked this question countless times. It is usually quickly followed by, ‘You mean the US Marine Corps, right?’, which make sense being that I am an American. The truth is, I am interested in the first Marine Corps, the British, and their story is more interesting than previous scholarship would have you believe. In some small way telling their story is the primary purpose of this book. Marines, particularly in the eighteenth century, were not something unique to the British, as every European power with a naval force – including the fledgling United States by the end of the century – had a Marine Force of some kind.
There then needs to be at least a statement about why the British are a unique model compared to their contemporaries. The French and Spanish had the largest naval services in the eighteenth century after the British, and both created and experimented with their Marine Forces. Both of these countries tried to develop different structural and administrative approaches to answer complex issues surrounding sea service. They both experimented with regimental and independent company structures. In 1717 the Spanish restructured their old Marines into the Cuerpo de Batallones de Marina, creating a force based on an independent battalion concept and giving it the structural flexibility necessary for sea services.
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- Information
- The Birth of the Royal Marines, 1664-1802 , pp. ix - xPublisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2013