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Congressional Medal of Honor - U.S. Military History
Welcome to the origins of each of our armed forces. Below are links to each of them if you're only interested in one, or you can scroll down and read through them all.
Navy Army Air Force Marines
U.S. Navy
On October 13, 1775 the Continental Congress adopted the legislation out of which the Continental Navy grew: "Resolved, That a swift sailing vessel, to carry ten carriage guns, and a proportionate number of swivels, with eighty men, be fitted, with all possible dispatch for a cruise of three months, and that the commander be instructed to cruise eastward, for intercepting such transports as may be laden with warlike stores and other supplies for our enemies, and for such other purposes as the Congress shall direct.... Resolved, that another vessel be fitted out for the same purposes...." This prosaic language constitutes the Navy's birth certificate.
Within days, Congress established a Naval Committee, which oversaw the purchasing, outfitting, manning, and operations of the first ships of the new navy. They also drafted naval legislation and prepared rules and regulations to govern the navy's conduct and administration.
From that beginning, the Continental Navy grew to a force that eventually numbered forty armed vessels of various types. During the Revolutionary War, the navy's squadron's and cruisers seized enemy supplies and carried correspondence and diplomats to Europe, returning with needed munitions. They took nearly two hundred British ships, forcing the British to divert warships to protect trade routes.
"Success has a thousand fathers, but failure is an orphan." There are several candidates for the title "father of the Navy," and half a dozen places claim to be the "birthplace of the Navy." Perhaps the best claim for birthplace belongs to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was in Philadelphia that the Continental Congress passed the first national naval legislation, and Philadelphia was the port where the purchase and outfitting of the first four vessels of the Continental Navy took place.
Candidates for the title "father of the Navy" include George Washington, Continental Navy officers Esek Hopkins, John Barry, and John Paul Jones, as well as civilians John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, Joseph Hewes, and Silas Deane. Many men in numerous locations played prominent roles in the founding of our national navy. And so, the Navy recognizes no one individual as "father," to the exclusion of others.
U.S. Army
From the beginning, the colonies developed along more democratic and individualistic lines than society in England or continental Europe. Military institutions and practices also evolved in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries along different lines. The Indian method of warfare in the forest--soon adopted by the colonists--was the the greatest influence in developing the spirit of self-reliance in the military. The colonists soon adapted their tactics to the Indians, having learned the value of surprise and stealth. To avoid ambush he used scouts. Instead of fighting in the closed formations of Europe, he adopted the open formation and fought from behind trees, rocks, and fences. In such fighting more depended on individual initiative and courage than on strict discipline and control.
Colonial governments soon fell back on the British tradition of the militia. Militias quickly took on new strength in America while declining everywhere else. Each of the thirteen colonies, except for Pennsylvania where Quaker influence was dominant, enacted laws providing for a militia organization. Based on the concept that every able-bodied free male from sixteen to sixty should serve military time. Each person was obligated to appear for training for a certain number of days each year, to provide himself with weapons, and to hold himself ready in case of Indian attack or other emergency.
Each colony maintained its militia, and each concentrated on the problems of protecting or extending its own frontiers. The royal governors or colonial assemblies appointed the general officers and the colonels who commanded militia districts. The companies in each locality elected their own officers. This practice seemed to rely on popularity rather than wealth or ability, but rank in the militia generally corresponded with social station in the community.
Each militiamen was expected to provide his own weapon and ammunition, clothing and food for a short expeditions. Local authorities maintained reserve supplies of muskets to arm those too poor to buy them, ammunition and occasionally small cannons. For long campaigns, the colonial government had to take charge. They appropriated the money for supplies and designated the supply officers or contractors to handle purchasing and distribution.
Although the militia was organized into units by county or township, it rarely fought that way. Instead, the local unit served as a training and mobilization base from which individuals could be selected for active operations. Selection for these operation was generally by volunteer, but local commanders could draft both men and property if necessary. Drafted men were permitted the option of hiring substitutes, a practice that favored the wealthy. Training days were devoted not to the techniques of fighting Indians but to learning the drill and motions required on a European battlefield.
In some towns and counties the military tradition was kept alive by volunteers who formed units of their own, purchased distinctive uniforms, and prepared themselves to respond in case of war or emergency. These units became known as the volunteer militia and were the predecessors of the National Guard of the United States.
U.S. Air Force
On August 1, 1907, the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, forerunner of U.S. Air Force, was established. Later that year in December, Chief Signal Officer, Brig. Gen. James Allen, issued the first specification for a military airplane. On July 27, 1909, Orville Wright and Lt. Frank P. Lahm made the first official test flight of the Army's first airplane at Fort Myer, Va. The army later accepted its first airplane from the Wright Brothers for $25,000 plus a $5,000 bonus because the plane exceeded the speed requirement of 40mph.
On August 25, 1909, the land for the first Signal Corps airfield was leased at College Park, Md. Later that year, Lt. Frederick E. Humphreys became the first Army pilot to solo in the Wright Military Flyer. Not long after, Lt. George C. Sweet became the first Navy officer to fly, as a passenger, in the Wright Military Flyer.
In 1910, Signal Corps Lt. Paul Beck attempted the first bombing experiment by an Army officer. Flying as a passenger with Louis Paulhan in a Farman biplane, they dropped three two-pound sandbags in an effort to hit a target at the Los Angeles Flying Meet.
On August 20, 1910, Army Lt. Jacob Fickel fired a .30- caliber Springfield rifle at the ground while flying as a passenger in a Curtiss biplane over Sheepshead Bay Track near New York, N.Y.
Over two years later, in November of 1912, the Army Signal Corps purchased the first of three Curtiss-F two-seat biplane flying boats. Nearly two more years passed before The Aviation Section of the Signal Corps was created by Congress. They authorized sixty officers and students and 260 enlisted men to make up the Section.
In December of 1914, two-way air-to-ground radio communications was demonstrated in a Burgess-Wright biplane by Army Signal Corps Lts. H. A. Dargue and J. O. Maubornge over Manila, the Philippines. Soon after in March, 1915, Congress approved the act establishing the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. NACA is to "supervise and direct the scientific study of flight with a view to [its] practical solution." The committee, initially given a budget of $5,000, eventually evolved into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
A year after the NACA was formed, the 1st Aero Squadron begins operations with General John J. Pershing in a punitive expedition against Mexico and Pancho Villa. In November of 1917, Brig. Gen. Benjamin D. Foulois assumed the role as Chief of the Air Service for the American Expeditionary Force (AEF). Only a few months later on February 5, 1918, while flying as a substitute gunner with a French squadron, Lt. Stephen W. Thompson became the first American to record an aerial victory while in a U.S. uniform. He shot down a German Albatros DIII but is credited with only half the victory, sharing the "kill" with the French pilot. Shortly after, the first American fighter unit proper, the 95th Aero Squadron, arrived in France to assist in the war. Not even a month later, Lt. Paul Baer became the first AEF Air Service member awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The next day, the 94th Aero Squadron made the first U.S. operational flights across the front lines in France.
As the war progressed, so did the success of the flights. On April 14, 1918, Lts., Alan Winslow and Douglas Campbell, flying Nieuport 28s of the 94th Aero Squadron, shot down two German fighters in a 10-minute battle. Lt. Winslow became the first pilot in the American sector of the front to down an airplane while Lt. Campbell became the first U.S.-trained pilot to score a victory.
On September 25, 1918, Capt. Edward V. Rickenbacker of the 94th Aero Squadron attacked seven enemy aircraft. He succeeds in shooting down two of them near Billy, France, and was awarded the first Medal of Honor for air activity.
Wanting to prove the effectiveness of air attacks against naval vessels, from July 13-21 in 1921, Army airplanes from Langley Field, Va., sink three ships off the coast of Chesepeake Bay, including the captured German battleship Ostfriesland.
In June of 1934, Boeing began company-funded design work on the Model 299 plane, which would eventually become the B- 17. Over three years later, in late 1937, the Boeing XB-15 makes its first flight at Boeing Field in Seattle Wash., under the control of test pilot Eddie Allen. On February 17, 1938, six Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, under the command of Lt. Col. Robert Olds., left Miami, Fla., on a goodwill flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The return trip to Langley Field, Va., was the longest nonstop flight in Air Corps history.
On April 3, 1939, President Roosevelt signed the National Defense Act of 1940, which authorized a $300 million budget, 6,000 airplanes and increased personnel to 3,203 officers and 45,000 enlisted troops. Late in 1940, the Royal Air Force announced formation of the first Eagle Squadron, a Fighter Command unit to consisting of volunteer pilots from the United States. On June 20, 1941, the U.S. Army Air Forces was established. On December 9, 1942, the U.S. Army was reorganized into three autonomous forces: Army Air Forces, Ground Forces and Services of Supply.
U.S. Marine Corp.
Legend claims the United States Marine Corps was born on November 10, 1775, at Tun Tavern, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On that day, the Continental Congress passed a resolution authorizing two battalions of Continental Marines. Since 1921, the Corps has celebrated its birthday as 10 November.
Tun Tavern was a popular meeting place in 18th century Philadelphia. The tavern was frequented by sailors and other seafaring men, so it was a logical place to conduct the business of recruiting.
In colonial times, Tun Tavern was known and visited by prominent citizens. Robert Mullan, whose family leased the tavern before the Revolution, was a captain of a company of Marines and a member of the Freemason's Lodge that met there. It is suggested that Mullan used the tavern as a recruiting rendezvous when he raised his company in June 1776.
Tun Tavern is also associated with the birthplace of the Corps because of an account book the Mullan family used to keep business records of the tavern. That same book was used as a log to record the names of recruits who signed up in 1776. However, no official documentary evidence exists to support the claim that John Adams and the Naval Committee met in Tun Tavern to draft the Nov. 10, 1775, resolution to raise two battalions of Marines, or that it was the original rendezvous for the Continental Marines.
During the early months of the American Revolution, Marines served on the warships. The first Continental Marine detachment recorded was aboard the sloop Enterprise on Lake Champlain. Lt. James Watson and his 17 Marines were listed on the sloop's payroll with service beginning May 3, 1775. The Enterprise's log is the oldest existing official record of the U.S. Marine Corps.
In March 1776, these Marines began their first amphibious raid into the Bahamas under the command of Captain Samuel Nicholas. Nicholas was the first commissioned officer in the Continental Marines and remained the senior Marine officer throughout the American Revolution.
The Treaty of Paris in 1783 ended the Revolutionary War. However, in a pattern to repeat itself even now, the Corps was downsized because of its success. This time was the only time it was downsized right out of existence.
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