On November 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, resolved to raise two battalions of Continental Marines. That decision established the force whose founding the United States Marine Corps commemorates today. Captain Samuel Nicholas led the early organization of the Marines, and Tun Tavern became closely associated with their recruitment. In Marine Corps tradition, Nicholas and tavern proprietor Robert Mullan helped turn a Philadelphia gathering place into the birthplace of a lasting military institution.
Organized for service with the Continental fleet, these early Marines established the Corps’ enduring connection to naval operations. Their Revolutionary War service also included the 1776 landing on New Providence Island in the Bahamas, where Marines seized military supplies. Their uniform included a stiff leather stock worn around the neck—the distinctive item associated with the nickname “Leatherneck.”
The Continental Marines did not survive the postwar demobilization: the force was disbanded, and Congress reestablished the Marine Corps in 1798. Nevertheless, the modern Corps traces its origins to the congressional resolution of November 10, 1775, and celebrates that date as its birthday. Tun Tavern endures as the traditional symbol of those beginnings—a colonial gathering place remembered for its connection to the first Marines and the institution they helped establish.
