US Marine Corps Base - Yearbook (Quantico, VA)

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merce conTinued To Tlourish. The subsequenT War oT l8l2, and The undeclared Naval War wiTh France, broughT addiTional acTiviTies and prosperiTy To QuanTico. BeTween The Tall oT SumTer and The surrender aT Ap- pomaTTox CourThouse, several minor naval engagemenTs were ToughT oTT The shore oT QuanTico, when enemy gun- boaTs clashed. On May 31, l86l, Commander Ward, in The USS Freeborn, aTTacked ConTederaTe works aT Aquia, which was The war's TirsT naval engagemenT on record. The ConTederaTes laTer erecTed deTenses aT QuanTico and aT MaThias PoinT. Land Torces, Too. Trampled The ground oT QuanTico ThroughouT The War BeTween The STaTes. ln The lean hard days ThaT Tollowed The collapse oT The ConTederacy, QuanTico grew langurous Through inacTiviTy. CompleTe devasTaTion ThreaTened The communiTy. BuT whaT was desTroyed by war was reborn oT sTriTe, Tor when The UniTed STaTes declared war againsT The CenTral Powers in April, l9I7, a rapid expansion of The Marine Corps was indicaTed, and QuanTico was selecTed as The base. On May I4, l9l7, one week aTTer The declaraTion oT war, a deTachmenT oT Marines Trom The Annapolis, Mary- land Barracks, commanded by Maior Chandler Campbell, arrived Tor garrison aT QuanTico. Hard on The heels oT This TirsT conTingenT, There arrived a lighT arTillery baT- Taliong a baTTalion oT The Tamed FiTTh Marines, under Maior Julius Turrill, was mobilized and laTer TransTerred To Philadelphia. The FiTTh's sisTer regimenT, The SixTh, also wenT inTo Training aT QuanTico. On OcTober 9, I9I7, The EighTh RegimenT was organ- ized under LieuTenanT Colonel George Reid. Germany was casTing coveTous eyes Toward The vasT oil resources in Mexico. To combaT TeuTonic inTluences The Eigh+h E251 Marines were senT hurriedly To GalvesTon, Texas, where They were held in readiness Tor insTanT acTion. The Nin+h Marines under command oT Colonel L. H. Moses, desTined Tor duTy aT GuanTanamo Bay, Cuba, was also organized in November. LaTer ThaT monTh Tour companies oT FirsT Marines arrived and were TransTormed inTo a heavy arTillery Torce. Training was inTense. WiTh The FiTTh and SixTh Ma- rines already in France, The Corps began Training re- placemenTs Tor baTTle casualTies. ln The meanTime a ballon company and aviaTion elemenTs came inTo being. The small arms ranges had been consTrucTed and Marine marksmen were learning To shooT wiTh an accuracy ThaT sTarTled The Germans aT Belleau Wood and aT Soissons. ConsTrucTion conTinued aT QuanTico. ConcreTe roads and sTreeTs replaced The muddy roads and duckboard walks. A gymnasium was builT. Housing accommodaTions Tor married oTTicers and non-coms were planned and begun. Meanwhile, negoTiaTions were underway Tor Tinal purchase oT The QuanTico siTe, and The deal was com- pleTed in December, I9I8. ThroughouT World War I, QuanTico Marines were Trained To replace The depleTed TighTing Torce in France. How well They were Trained is aTTesTed by The baTTle sTreamers, ciTaTions and decoraTions, and six individuals oT The Marine Brigade who were awarded The Congres- sional Medal oT Honor. This does noT include Those awarded To Navy personnel service wiTh The Marines. WiTh The end oT The war, vicTorious Marines oT The Brigade reTurned To QuanTico. DuraTion oT war enlisT- menTs were demobilized, and The garrison soon housed a complemenT barely big enough To keep iT in repair. The scyThe oT Federal economy ThreaTened The Corps iTselT, Tor There was Talk in WashingTon oT disbanding The Marines. The Service was conTinued however, Through The eTTorTs oT Maior General CommandanT John A. Leieune, and oTher ranking oTTicers. In I927 PresidenT Coolidge approved The consTrucTion oT modern barracks, buT nearly Two years elapsed beTore The work began. There was so much To be done! The remaining duckboards gave way To paved sidewalks. Roads were TransTormed To highways. The ancienT war- Time shacks were replaced by modern barracks. Thus iT was ThaT QuanTico, born oT war, almosT killed by peace, grew inTo one oT The TinesT miliTary esTablishmenTs in The UniTed STaTes.

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JTITJ for? 0 Qowanfico Some TorTy miles down The PoTomac Trom WashingTon lies The liTTle village OT QuanTico and The Marine Corps Base. OuTwardly iT is a quieT, almosT somnolenT hamleT, buT iTs TurbulenT hisTOry makes iT a TiTTing home Tor The Soldiers OT The Sea. AlThough U. S. Marines have oc- cupied QuanTico Tor less Than a quarTer-cenTury, iT has, since The dawn OT American hisTory, been uTilized as an expediTionary base, whence lean, liThe war canoes scurried OuT To halT hosTile incursion. ldenTiTy OT The TirsT whiTe person To visiT The Virginian shores is buried wiTh his bones. Some evidence exisTs To indicaTe +haT Spanish explorers sailed up The PoTomac someTime beTween l565 and l57O, and poked Their way inTo The reaches OT QuanTico Creek and Occoquan. There is also a legend ThaT The English landed an exploraTion parTy aT QuanTico in l585. BuT The TirsT OT whom we have acTual prooT is The re- doubTable and ubiquiTious CapTain John SmiTh. ln June, loO7, wiTh a Three-Ton barge carrying TourTeen genTlemen mariners, CapTain SmiTh enTered The mouTh OT The PaTa- womek, and breasTed The currenT. According To his own repOrT, They worked Their way abOuT ThirTy miles up The river when They were ambushed by Indians. BuT Thunder- ing Tirearms soon rOuTed The warriors, and hOsTiliTy di- minished as The parTy progressed. SmiTh conTinued nos- ing inTo Occoquan Creek, searching Tor mines repuTed T241 To be There. l-le also skeTched a very accuraTe map OT The counTry. ThroughouT Colonial days QuanTico busTled wiTh ac- TiviTy, TiTTing OuT privaTeers To prey on French and Spanish shipping. ln The days preceeding The American RevOluTion, BrenTs Village and adiacenT seTTlemenTs Tlourishecl. To- bacco was The main medium OT exchange, and QuanTico Creek was sTudded wiTh barges working Their way To The PoTomac. The smouldering embers OT RevolT Tlamed, and The Colonies prepared To TighT Tor Treedom. ln I775 Virginia esTablished a navy OT 72 vessels, and They used QuanTico Tor a base. ln The summer OT l776, Dunmore's BriTish TleeT sToocl in aT The mouTh OT The PoTomac, brave in numbers. WiTh liTTle opposiTion Trom The lighTer Virginian vessels, The hosTile TleeT puT a landing parTy ashore aT Aquia and burned The BrenT residence. Then The ships sailed pasT QuanTico and came To anchor aT Occoquan esTuary. Dunmore's mission, a raid on The American CapiTal and capTure OT General WashingTon, was a Tailure. By The end OT The RevoluTion, The Virginia TleeT had been pracTically clesTroyed in baTTle. BuT Trade and com-

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