The first black American to fight in the Marines was John Martin, also known as Keto, the slave of a Delaware man, recruited in April 1776 without his owners permission by Captain of the Marines Miles Pennington of the Continental brig USS Reprisal. Martin served with the Marine platoon on the Reprisal for a year and a half and took part in many ship-to-ship battles including boardings with hand-to-hand combat, but he was lost with the rest of his unit when the brig sank in October 1777.[3] At least 12 other black men served with various American Marine units in 1776–1777; more may have been in service but not identified as blacks in the records. However, in 1798 when the United States Marine Corps (USMC) was officially re-instituted, Secretary of War James McHenry specified in its rules: No Negro, Mulatto or Indian to be enlisted.[3] Marine Commandant William Ward Burrows instructed his recruiters regarding USMC racial policy, You can make use of Blacks and Mulattoes while you recruit, but you cannot enlist them.[3] This policy was in line with long-standing British naval practice which set a higher standard of unit cohesion for Marines, the unit to be made up of only one race, so that the members would remain loyal, maintain shipboard discipline and help put down mutinies.[3] The USMC maintained this policy until 1942.[4][5]
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 02:38:05 +0000
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