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From Royal Marines from 1664 to present.
When a Marine enlisted, it was generally for life, or if not, then for many years. They were expected to be soldier-like in discipline and appearance no matter if at sea or ashore. Sailors, however, were put on the beach after a ship was paid off and tended to discard any sense of discipline. Thus, 'the behaviour of the two classes was as different as their physical appearance: the red-coated Marine looking as if he had swallowed a poker, the blue-jacket rolling along as if constructed of springs and universal joints.'1
Navy officers viewed the Marine Corps as a means to support their authority but disliked treating it as an equal branch of service.
Relations between Marines and seamen, and officers as well, were seldom simple. Admiralty instructions were issued to ships' captains, "to use the Marine officers on board them civilly, and that they do give the same countenance to the soldiers as to the seamen of their ships".2
John MacIntire advised his fellow Marine officers to avoid friction and difficulties with sea officers, stating that "when the Sea and Marine Officers don't agree, a Detachment can never be properly regulated." Further, he advises Marine NCOs "to make the Soldiers to live in good Friendship with the Seamen and never be partial to your own Men".
Similar advice was given by O'Loghlen, who thought every Marine officer should strive "to make the Marines exert themselves upon every Occasion for the Good of His Majesty's Service, and endeavour to promote Harmony and Unanimity between them and the Seamen".3
The history of poor relations between seamen and Marines goes back to the mid-1600s and persisted for many years onward. It was noted on one occasion, during a brawl, when the cry of "Now, my lads... out with your handkerchiefs, and belt the sogers. Bang the empty bottles, they're only Marines".4
A Lieutenant of Marines, in the 1780s, felt it was impossible "to reconcile the long established repugnance between the r— and the b—... Prejudice which springs from a dissonance of sentiment and education, when nourished by the imbittering consequences of situation are not easily vanquished".5
His view was shared by another officer:
It did not help that new Marine officers found their living spaces aboard ship of far less quality than expected:
Junior sea officers fared little better, though this could not have been much comfort. An incident between Richard Swale and the sailing master of his ship resulted in Swale's being arrested, but he was shortly released:
A court-martial was ordered by Prince George of Denmark for a Sergeant of Marines, who had struck the sailing master of HMS Salisbury:
This meant Marines were subject to the same system as were the seamen, which did not always work. Marines and seamen alike suffered aboard HMS Proserpine, whose captain forced defaulters to drink salt water, ordered wine and similar comforts for the sick to be stopped, and made a habit of beating men with his speaking trumpet.
Unlike the army, where a court-martial was likely to provide some measure of justice, naval discipline was often arbitrary. Private John Howe found himself implicated by a single witness for an offence for which he bore no guilt:
Ships' captains had complete authority aboard and this tended to have unhappy results, though there were, as O'Loghlen notes, some exceptions:
John Tatton Brown considered the captain of the Royal George, in 1811, to be "one who cannot respect any person, overbearing to his inferiors in rank and a sycophant before his Superiors and is seldom respected by either of them".12
The captain of HMS Blake, Edward Codrington, was reputed to be a humane man, who between the yeras 1811 and 1813 sentenced 188 men to be flogged. Of these, thirty-seven were Marines; eleven were forgiven, twenty received the usual dozen lashes, and five received more, with one sentence being three dozen for the crime of striking an officer. Over half those offences were the fault of drink. One in particular being for "skulking and throwing his trousers overboard".13
On occasion, some captains appeared to simply snap, as in the case of Maximilian Jacobs, captain of HMS Defiance, who reacted poorly when his crew objected to his ordering two men immediately flogged:
Others were simply disagreeable, such as the captain of HMS Swiftsure, who was described by that ship's Captain of Marines as being "the man with the belly-ache... as thoroughpaced a disagreeable as can well be met int he various changes and vicissitudes of the service."15
Similarly, a Marine officer felt that the captain of HMS Illustrious was "a very unpleasant man... but it is a melancholy fact that the whole of the Marine Officers Service afloat is one constant struggle to maintain the character of a soldier with the dignity of a gentleman".16
There were some Navy captains who would have been happy enough to do without Marine officers entirely. After a newly-married Lieutenant of Marines accidentally drowned while hurrying to join his ship, the captain requested of the Admiralty that another lieutenant not be sent, "but a good Sergeant that will always be under command".17
The fact that Marine officers seldom stood watches alongside their Navy counterparts was the cause of frequent troubles, including charges of absenteeism, idleness, and intrigue; or "disturbing the lieutenants who have the watch of the deck, with the rattling of backgammon, or the scraping of a violin".18
It could not be helped that boredom tended to be a Marine officer's companion, however. One ship's surgeon noted that for the Lieutenant of Marines, "the confines of the ship gave him an over proportion of general disease and melancholy, and his not having any taste for letters prevented him from using one of the most efficacious remedies on board ship for ennui".
Similarly, John Fernyhough complained that "sometimes I fancy myself deserted by all the world, every ship brings letters to everyone but myself."19
The delays in transporting mail across the seas sent Lewis Roteley into despair:
There were, however, distractions. Wardrooms were regularly lively and boisterous places, affording Marine officers a means to be social and relieve their boredom. One officer, writing as A Quondam Sub, considered it essential to never give way on service matters, whether right or wrong: "This will procure you the character of a d—d obstinate fellow, who sticks to his point like a ruster weathercock; and will enable you to carry many essentials to your own ease". Settling debates over dinner, he goes on, requires the brandishing of a joint of mutton: "This wielded with considerable dexterity and prowess, will bring many converts to your side of the question... [and] make your antagonist particularly cautious, at least with respect to the time of his venturing to oppose you in future."21
In smaller ships, the haven of the wardroom was absent, which often required officers and Sergeants of Marines to work more closely together. This did not always end well, as in the case of HM Sloop Griffin. In 1813, Griffin's commander was hanged for stabbing his Sergeant of Marines, who had refused to walk the quarterdeck like a common sentinel, as punishment for foul-mouthed insolence.22
Violence between officers, however, was common. Lewis Roteley duelled twice with the second lieutenant of HMS Cleopatra, who later committed suicide:
Fortunately for Roteley, he was able to prove that he was elsewhere when the sea officer took his own life.
Duels were banned by the Admiralty in 1844, but in 1845 a captain in the East Indies sent a Marine and a Navy officer ashore to settle their particular quarrel. This affair ended with the Marine shooting his opponent "right through his Sunday seat as he stood sideways".24 That same year, Lieutenant Hawkey RM shot a hussar officer at Gosport, and escaped hanging for it after the hussar's death was proven to be the result of medical incompetence rather than the bullet.
Life aboard ship was not always unhappy or miserable. When Lewis Roteley joined HMS Victory at Spithead, he reported that "I like the ship very well, they are a fine set of fellows... We have Capital Dinners on board", but the imminent arrival of Lord Nelson threatened disaster: "in case of sailing without receiving my trunk, I shall be in a pretty state for a two year voyage with half a dozen shirts".25
Richard Swale's first months at sea were spent in a receiving ship at Portsmouth Hard: "here we carried on the War in very handsome Stile... Suffice it to say no young men could have enjoyed themselves more". Later, on a trip to Cork:
Of course, personal relations varied. A young Marine officer drew thumbnail sketches of his messmates in 1812, with descriptions ranging from "A good officer, a most honourable messmate, and a gentleman in all his dealings"27 to less complimentary views on fools and drunkards.
There was also the matter of a Marine officer's dismal career prospects. It was felt by Quondam Sub that there was little true recognition given to Marines for their good services by the Navy:
This state of affairs was also lamented by Paul Harris Nicholas in the 1840s. The first lieutenant of every ship of the line present during Napoleonic fleet actions received promotion, while Marine promotions for the same were restricted only to the most senior officer in the fleet:
This perceived neglect resulted in Marines striving to perform beyond expectations:
The subject of prize money was a great enticement for Marines, from privates to officers. In 1762, private Marines present at the capture of the Spanish treasure ship Hermione each received £484. This was not the norm, however, as John Howe learned. His winnings ranged from "a Skeyn of thread and needle each man" to £14 for an American vessel that was "Loaden with flowr".31
Prospects of prize money led to business arrangements between officers and even between ships. Lewis Roteley and another officer traded places on the sea service roster so Roteley could join HMS Milan instead of a two-decker:
Chasing potential prizes involved both thrill and frustration: "Rig out the Studding sails - a prize a prize was the cry a Spanish Frigate full of Dollars by God all was expectation I thought I should be Thousand Pounds richer before night". Unfortunately, there was only disappointment in that case.
Success could be equally frustrating, however: "I have not heard of our Tortola prizes yet as that place is a den of Rogues. I am afraid some Foul Play is going on there but we seldom get money for Neutrals under two years", Roteley reported.
He was still waiting a year later.
1 - Capt. Basil Hall, Fragments of Voyages and Travels (Moxon, 1850) p. 152
2 - Edye, p. 536, Sep 1699, Admiralty/Adm Aylmer
3 - MacIntre, pp. 261-9 & O'Loghlen, p. 116
4 - MM vi, p. 341, W.S. Neale, Cavendish or the Partician at Sea
5 - Quondam, p. 61
6 - BSS/i, p. 131, Whitfoord Papers - Cools held an Admiralty Warrant, and were therefore naval officers
7 - BSS/i, pp. 129-30
8 - RM 11/13/091, Col Richard Swale Diary, 20-26 Dec 1799
9 - Byng Papers ii, p. 198, 3 Jul 1708, Prince George Orders for CM
10 - Howe, 2 Jan 1782
11 - O'Loghlen, pp. 116-17
12 - RM 11/13/89, Tatton Brown, Remarks on board HM Ship Royal George, 1811
13 - Lavery, pp. 408-16, Black List of HMS Blake
14 - RM 11/13/093, Howe, 7 Jun 1779
15 - Lavery, pp. 465-8 Journal of Robert Clarke
16 - RM 7/9/1-17, 18 Sep 1810, Capt F. Liardet/Messrs Charles Fox
17 - Edye MSS/VII, p. 83, Nov 1710, Capt John Lowen (HMS Advice)
18 - BSS/i, p.129
19 - Lavery, p. 519 & W. Fernyhough, Military Memoirs of Four Brothers, 1829, p. 57: JF/parents, 12 Oct 1805
20 - RM 11/12/42, Roteley/Father, 23 Jan 1808
21 - Quondam, pp. 68-9
22 - NC xxix, pp. 25-31
23 - RM 11/12/42, 1 May 1807, Roteley RM/Father
24 - C. Field, Old Times Afloat, p. 92
25 - RM 11/12/42, Roteley/Father, 8 Sept 1805
26 - RM 11/13/091, Swale, 26 Apr 1799 & 30 Mar 1800
27 - RM 11/13/89, Tatton Brown
28 - Quondam, pp. 1-3
29 - Lt. P.H. Nicholas, Historical Record of the Royal Marine Forces, 1845, 1, pp. xxx-xxxi
30 - Quondam, pp. 3-4
31 - RM 11/13/093, Howe, 2 Oct 1780 & 24 Jan 1781
When a Marine enlisted, it was generally for life, or if not, then for many years. They were expected to be soldier-like in discipline and appearance no matter if at sea or ashore. Sailors, however, were put on the beach after a ship was paid off and tended to discard any sense of discipline. Thus, 'the behaviour of the two classes was as different as their physical appearance: the red-coated Marine looking as if he had swallowed a poker, the blue-jacket rolling along as if constructed of springs and universal joints.'1
Navy officers viewed the Marine Corps as a means to support their authority but disliked treating it as an equal branch of service.
Relations between Marines and seamen, and officers as well, were seldom simple. Admiralty instructions were issued to ships' captains, "to use the Marine officers on board them civilly, and that they do give the same countenance to the soldiers as to the seamen of their ships".2
John MacIntire advised his fellow Marine officers to avoid friction and difficulties with sea officers, stating that "when the Sea and Marine Officers don't agree, a Detachment can never be properly regulated." Further, he advises Marine NCOs "to make the Soldiers to live in good Friendship with the Seamen and never be partial to your own Men".
Similar advice was given by O'Loghlen, who thought every Marine officer should strive "to make the Marines exert themselves upon every Occasion for the Good of His Majesty's Service, and endeavour to promote Harmony and Unanimity between them and the Seamen".3
The history of poor relations between seamen and Marines goes back to the mid-1600s and persisted for many years onward. It was noted on one occasion, during a brawl, when the cry of "Now, my lads... out with your handkerchiefs, and belt the sogers. Bang the empty bottles, they're only Marines".4
A Lieutenant of Marines, in the 1780s, felt it was impossible "to reconcile the long established repugnance between the r— and the b—... Prejudice which springs from a dissonance of sentiment and education, when nourished by the imbittering consequences of situation are not easily vanquished".5
His view was shared by another officer:
A captain of Marines, though of the highest quality, may be confined by the cook of the ship, the lowest of their Officers having the command on board over one of ours. He's allowed no other Provision than the meanest Sailor, and is often lodged less comfortably than a dog in a kennel; was I to say a hog in a sty, it would be a nearer resemblance. This year he's sent to be scorched under the Line, the next he's starved under the Pole; nothing certain but a variety of woes.6
It did not help that new Marine officers found their living spaces aboard ship of far less quality than expected:
a place between two guns, about seven foot long and four foot wide, and divided only from some hundred hammocks, by a little old canvas or an old sail, where there is no light but for a candle, nor no air but what is unavoidably very foul, and as unwholesome as it is unpleasant.7
Junior sea officers fared little better, though this could not have been much comfort. An incident between Richard Swale and the sailing master of his ship resulted in Swale's being arrested, but he was shortly released:
Next day he [the Master] was turned out of the Mess and no officer in the ship would speak to him... he had before refused to let me go on shore and strove by every means to annoy me, but thank God we got clear of him two days later.8
A court-martial was ordered by Prince George of Denmark for a Sergeant of Marines, who had struck the sailing master of HMS Salisbury:
it being the pleasure of HRH that you do let the Marine officers know, that so long as they and their men shall be in service on board Her Majesty's ships, they must be subject to the Maritime Laws, settled by Act of Parliament in the reign of King Charles the Second.9
This meant Marines were subject to the same system as were the seamen, which did not always work. Marines and seamen alike suffered aboard HMS Proserpine, whose captain forced defaulters to drink salt water, ordered wine and similar comforts for the sick to be stopped, and made a habit of beating men with his speaking trumpet.
Unlike the army, where a court-martial was likely to provide some measure of justice, naval discipline was often arbitrary. Private John Howe found himself implicated by a single witness for an offence for which he bore no guilt:
the Lieut would not allow me or any other person to Speak in my be half one Man was Confind and sent on board our Ship with me for [to] tell the truth to Clear me. And next day we were brought to the Gangway but wasnot allowed to speak in our own behalf and was punished with a Dozen Lashes each.10
Ships' captains had complete authority aboard and this tended to have unhappy results, though there were, as O'Loghlen notes, some exceptions:
that will not punish Marines legally, with a dozen lashes, without the Knowledge and Concurrence of their own Officers; but those are Gentlemen who know the Decorum necessary to be observed between Gentleman and Gentleman, notwithstanding any local Superiority of Command.11
John Tatton Brown considered the captain of the Royal George, in 1811, to be "one who cannot respect any person, overbearing to his inferiors in rank and a sycophant before his Superiors and is seldom respected by either of them".12
The captain of HMS Blake, Edward Codrington, was reputed to be a humane man, who between the yeras 1811 and 1813 sentenced 188 men to be flogged. Of these, thirty-seven were Marines; eleven were forgiven, twenty received the usual dozen lashes, and five received more, with one sentence being three dozen for the crime of striking an officer. Over half those offences were the fault of drink. One in particular being for "skulking and throwing his trousers overboard".13
On occasion, some captains appeared to simply snap, as in the case of Maximilian Jacobs, captain of HMS Defiance, who reacted poorly when his crew objected to his ordering two men immediately flogged:
This So exasperated him that he rund to the Sentinel at his Cabbin door and demanded his Cutlash, but he refuseing to give it. he runs to one of the Guns and takes out one of the handspikes and was Going to the Gangway where the People was assembled, and most probably would have beat out Some of their brains had not the officers interposed.14
Others were simply disagreeable, such as the captain of HMS Swiftsure, who was described by that ship's Captain of Marines as being "the man with the belly-ache... as thoroughpaced a disagreeable as can well be met int he various changes and vicissitudes of the service."15
Similarly, a Marine officer felt that the captain of HMS Illustrious was "a very unpleasant man... but it is a melancholy fact that the whole of the Marine Officers Service afloat is one constant struggle to maintain the character of a soldier with the dignity of a gentleman".16
There were some Navy captains who would have been happy enough to do without Marine officers entirely. After a newly-married Lieutenant of Marines accidentally drowned while hurrying to join his ship, the captain requested of the Admiralty that another lieutenant not be sent, "but a good Sergeant that will always be under command".17
The fact that Marine officers seldom stood watches alongside their Navy counterparts was the cause of frequent troubles, including charges of absenteeism, idleness, and intrigue; or "disturbing the lieutenants who have the watch of the deck, with the rattling of backgammon, or the scraping of a violin".18
It could not be helped that boredom tended to be a Marine officer's companion, however. One ship's surgeon noted that for the Lieutenant of Marines, "the confines of the ship gave him an over proportion of general disease and melancholy, and his not having any taste for letters prevented him from using one of the most efficacious remedies on board ship for ennui".
Similarly, John Fernyhough complained that "sometimes I fancy myself deserted by all the world, every ship brings letters to everyone but myself."19
The delays in transporting mail across the seas sent Lewis Roteley into despair:
I am quite tired of writing letters its now 6 or 8 months since I received any letters from you or my wife I have written by all conveyances by ships we fell in with at sea by way of America & by Post I begin to think you are all dead.20
There were, however, distractions. Wardrooms were regularly lively and boisterous places, affording Marine officers a means to be social and relieve their boredom. One officer, writing as A Quondam Sub, considered it essential to never give way on service matters, whether right or wrong: "This will procure you the character of a d—d obstinate fellow, who sticks to his point like a ruster weathercock; and will enable you to carry many essentials to your own ease". Settling debates over dinner, he goes on, requires the brandishing of a joint of mutton: "This wielded with considerable dexterity and prowess, will bring many converts to your side of the question... [and] make your antagonist particularly cautious, at least with respect to the time of his venturing to oppose you in future."21
In smaller ships, the haven of the wardroom was absent, which often required officers and Sergeants of Marines to work more closely together. This did not always end well, as in the case of HM Sloop Griffin. In 1813, Griffin's commander was hanged for stabbing his Sergeant of Marines, who had refused to walk the quarterdeck like a common sentinel, as punishment for foul-mouthed insolence.22
Violence between officers, however, was common. Lewis Roteley duelled twice with the second lieutenant of HMS Cleopatra, who later committed suicide:
I was under the necessity of calling the deceased out or to have forfeited all pretensions to the Character of a Gentleman after Firing I received the most soothing apology for which I am under the greatest obligation to Mr Masterman... had it not been for him either Longfields Body or mine must have been left on the Field as it was the second time of going out with him.23
Fortunately for Roteley, he was able to prove that he was elsewhere when the sea officer took his own life.
Duels were banned by the Admiralty in 1844, but in 1845 a captain in the East Indies sent a Marine and a Navy officer ashore to settle their particular quarrel. This affair ended with the Marine shooting his opponent "right through his Sunday seat as he stood sideways".24 That same year, Lieutenant Hawkey RM shot a hussar officer at Gosport, and escaped hanging for it after the hussar's death was proven to be the result of medical incompetence rather than the bullet.
Life aboard ship was not always unhappy or miserable. When Lewis Roteley joined HMS Victory at Spithead, he reported that "I like the ship very well, they are a fine set of fellows... We have Capital Dinners on board", but the imminent arrival of Lord Nelson threatened disaster: "in case of sailing without receiving my trunk, I shall be in a pretty state for a two year voyage with half a dozen shirts".25
Richard Swale's first months at sea were spent in a receiving ship at Portsmouth Hard: "here we carried on the War in very handsome Stile... Suffice it to say no young men could have enjoyed themselves more". Later, on a trip to Cork:
We all dined in the Wardroom, drunk coffee and supped in the Captain's Cabbin he made one of the party, Several of the ladies sung very well indeed... after 12 we began to dance and kept it up until the daylight. We all went to bed for about 4 hours and after Breakfast began again to Dance and kept it up until 3 and the same evening sailed with a fair wind for Spithead.26
Of course, personal relations varied. A young Marine officer drew thumbnail sketches of his messmates in 1812, with descriptions ranging from "A good officer, a most honourable messmate, and a gentleman in all his dealings"27 to less complimentary views on fools and drunkards.
There was also the matter of a Marine officer's dismal career prospects. It was felt by Quondam Sub that there was little true recognition given to Marines for their good services by the Navy:
I well know what portion of glory the engrossing grasp of n—l despotism can allow to others, where it holds the situation of supremacy. In short, THE LAURELS WHICH YOU WIN, OTHERS WEAR.28
This state of affairs was also lamented by Paul Harris Nicholas in the 1840s. The first lieutenant of every ship of the line present during Napoleonic fleet actions received promotion, while Marine promotions for the same were restricted only to the most senior officer in the fleet:
if the Captain of Marines has more pay, the Sea Lieutenant has more authority. In the event of an action, the latter was morally certain of promotion upon the death of his Captain, while the former could gain nothing but the honour and gratification of having done his duty.29
This perceived neglect resulted in Marines striving to perform beyond expectations:
Thus situated, your conduct must continue to be such as will defy the breath of defamation... so that when other corps with reluctance shew the colour of their facings to an entrenched enemy, you may never leave off dusting pipe clay, and dashing THROUGH THICK AND THIN.30
The subject of prize money was a great enticement for Marines, from privates to officers. In 1762, private Marines present at the capture of the Spanish treasure ship Hermione each received £484. This was not the norm, however, as John Howe learned. His winnings ranged from "a Skeyn of thread and needle each man" to £14 for an American vessel that was "Loaden with flowr".31
Prospects of prize money led to business arrangements between officers and even between ships. Lewis Roteley and another officer traded places on the sea service roster so Roteley could join HMS Milan instead of a two-decker:
It cost me Ten Pounds to get into this Frigate for a Handome Present to a Person High in Office and a Trifle to the officer who Exchanged Sea duties with me who by the by had no Idea at the time that this Ship would fall to his lott he has since offerd me Twenty Guineas to Cancle the Exchange.32
Chasing potential prizes involved both thrill and frustration: "Rig out the Studding sails - a prize a prize was the cry a Spanish Frigate full of Dollars by God all was expectation I thought I should be Thousand Pounds richer before night". Unfortunately, there was only disappointment in that case.
Success could be equally frustrating, however: "I have not heard of our Tortola prizes yet as that place is a den of Rogues. I am afraid some Foul Play is going on there but we seldom get money for Neutrals under two years", Roteley reported.
He was still waiting a year later.
1 - Capt. Basil Hall, Fragments of Voyages and Travels (Moxon, 1850) p. 152
2 - Edye, p. 536, Sep 1699, Admiralty/Adm Aylmer
3 - MacIntre, pp. 261-9 & O'Loghlen, p. 116
4 - MM vi, p. 341, W.S. Neale, Cavendish or the Partician at Sea
5 - Quondam, p. 61
6 - BSS/i, p. 131, Whitfoord Papers - Cools held an Admiralty Warrant, and were therefore naval officers
7 - BSS/i, pp. 129-30
8 - RM 11/13/091, Col Richard Swale Diary, 20-26 Dec 1799
9 - Byng Papers ii, p. 198, 3 Jul 1708, Prince George Orders for CM
10 - Howe, 2 Jan 1782
11 - O'Loghlen, pp. 116-17
12 - RM 11/13/89, Tatton Brown, Remarks on board HM Ship Royal George, 1811
13 - Lavery, pp. 408-16, Black List of HMS Blake
14 - RM 11/13/093, Howe, 7 Jun 1779
15 - Lavery, pp. 465-8 Journal of Robert Clarke
16 - RM 7/9/1-17, 18 Sep 1810, Capt F. Liardet/Messrs Charles Fox
17 - Edye MSS/VII, p. 83, Nov 1710, Capt John Lowen (HMS Advice)
18 - BSS/i, p.129
19 - Lavery, p. 519 & W. Fernyhough, Military Memoirs of Four Brothers, 1829, p. 57: JF/parents, 12 Oct 1805
20 - RM 11/12/42, Roteley/Father, 23 Jan 1808
21 - Quondam, pp. 68-9
22 - NC xxix, pp. 25-31
23 - RM 11/12/42, 1 May 1807, Roteley RM/Father
24 - C. Field, Old Times Afloat, p. 92
25 - RM 11/12/42, Roteley/Father, 8 Sept 1805
26 - RM 11/13/091, Swale, 26 Apr 1799 & 30 Mar 1800
27 - RM 11/13/89, Tatton Brown
28 - Quondam, pp. 1-3
29 - Lt. P.H. Nicholas, Historical Record of the Royal Marine Forces, 1845, 1, pp. xxx-xxxi
30 - Quondam, pp. 3-4
31 - RM 11/13/093, Howe, 2 Oct 1780 & 24 Jan 1781
no subject
Date: Oct. 19th, 2012 07:46 (UTC)From:breath of defamation... so that when other corps with reluctance shew
the colour of their facings to an entrenched enemy, you may never leave
off dusting pipe clay, and dashing THROUGH THICK AND THIN.
It was this excerpt that gave me a title idea for our magnum opus... Through Thick and Thin: The Royal Marines 1775-1815 (or something like it... I'm not entirely sure we've completely settled on dates.)