Continental Marines

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Continental Marines
Standard used by the Continental Marines
Active	November 1775 – April 1783
Country	Thirteen Colonies (1775–76) United States (1776–1783)
Branch	Continental Navy
Type	Marines
Role	Services on board armed vessels of the Navy Amphibious operations Land warfare in support of the Army[1]
Size	2,131 at peak
Colors	Green
Engagements	American Revolutionary War Battle of Nassau Battle of Trenton Battle of Princeton Penobscot Expedition
Commanders
Notable commanders	Samuel Nicholas

American Revolutionary War

Armed Forces
United States
Continental Army → Commander-in-Chief → Regional departments → Units (1775, 1776, 1777–1784) → Manual Continental Navy Continental Marines State forces → List of militia units → List of state navies → Maritime units
Great Britain
List of British units
France
List of French units
Related topics
List of battles Military leadership
v t e

The Continental Marines were the amphibious infantry of the American Colonies (and later the United States) during the American Revolutionary War. The Corps was formed by the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775, and was disbanded in 1783. Their mission was multi-purpose, but their most important duty was to serve as onboard security forces, protecting the captain of a ship and his officers. During naval engagements, in addition to manning the cannons along with the crew of the ship, Marine sharpshooters were stationed in the fighting tops of a ship's masts specifically to shoot the opponent's officers, naval gunners, and helmsmen.

In all, there were 131 Colonial Marine officers and probably no more than 2,000 enlisted Colonial Marines.^[2] Though individual Marines were enlisted for the few U.S. Naval vessels, the organization would not be re-created until 1798. Despite the gap between the disbanding of the Continental Marines and the current organization, the Continental Marines' successor, U.S. Marine Corps, marks November 10, 1775 as its inception.