Congress re-establishes a Marine Corps; the new force answers to the Navy
Fifteen years after the Continental Marines disbanded at the end of the Revolutionary War, the United States found itself in an undeclared naval fight with France. On July 11, 1798, in preparation for the Quasi-War with France, Congress created the United States Marine Corps under the Act for Establishing and Organizing a Marine Corps, placing it under the Department of the Navy. The next day, William Ward Burrows took command as Major Commandant and began assigning Marines to warships fitting out in Philadelphia. This time the Corps did not disband when the fighting ended…
