From two battalions raised by the Continental Congress in 1775 to the Corps of today: the wars and battles the Marines fought, the leaders who shaped them, and the traditions they carry. **How to read it.** Wars and campaigns are durations, with a picture behind the timeline while they last; battles, milestones and people are moments with their picture. Chapter headings mark the eras. Hover over a cluster of moments to fan it out, and open any moment for its full notes and sources. Related events (a leader and their battle, a battle and its war) are linked. **Sources and images.** Each event links the Wikipedia article it draws on. Images are linked, not copied, from Wikimedia Commons, where most are US government works in the public domain; open an image's original for its author and license. Dates are given in UTC; where only the month or year is known, the notes say so.
102 moments · 1775-04-19T00:00:00Z CE – 2025-11-10T00:00:00Z CE · by @athan · @athan
Holland M. "Howlin' Mad" Smith
leader
amphibious
Considered the father of modern US amphibious warfare. He trained Army and Marine divisions in amphibious techniques before the war, and commanded the V Amphibious Corps and then the Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, from the Gilberts to Iwo Jima. **Read more:** [Holland Smith — Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_Smith) *Image: Wikimedia Commons (from the article above).*