First Battle of Bull Run: The U.S Marines

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Although not a proud moment in Marine Corps history, the performance at Bull Run had extenuating circumstances. Three weeks of training were clearly not enough. Reynolds reported that his Marines had barely learned facing movements before they marched off to war. Although the 90-day volunteer regiments were not veterans either, even they had trained longer than three weeks. As a result, the Marines were probably the least experienced soldiers in McDowell’s entire amateur army at Bull Run.

Despite their brief training time, the Marines’ fighting effort at Bull Run compared favorably with that of other units. At the forefront of the battle, the Marines suffered losses that were comparable to the overall 18 percent casualty rate suffered by Porter’s brigade at Bull Run. Marine casualties were also nearly equal to those of the Regular Army battalion, then the most experienced unit in the Union Army, and were greater than many of the larger infantry regiments in the battle. Overall, the Marine’s performance in action equaled the majority of the other units in Porter’s brigade.

Because of their inexperience, the Marines had been assigned as an artillery escort, supposedly to remain behind the lines. Ironically, this secure assignment led to their repeated involvement in the most severe action of the battle. Although the dismal outcome of the battle may not have been what Major Reynolds had anticipated only five days before, his own Marine battalion had fought hard and well on the shores of Bull Run. He could take some pride, at least, in that.

This article was written by Kendall J. King and originally appeared in the September 1996 issue of America’s Civil War.

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Tags: 19th Century, America's Civil War, American Civil War, Historical Conflicts, Historical Figures

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