What did Royal Marines do?
At the time Henry enlisted the Royal Marines were the only permanently employed personnel in the Royal Navy. “Marines' military training fitted them to carry out tasks that required discipline and regularity more effectively than seamen, whose reckless individualism made them unsuitable for delivering controlled volleys of musketry, or standing sentry through long night watches. Marines were uniquely equipped to fulfil three main functions: provision of directed group small-arms fire in naval actions; participation in amphibious operations; and assuring shipboard security as part of a general group of activities, loosely known as sea service, representing the less glamorous majority of a Marine’s life at sea.” *
According to a website compiled by Stuart Flight, who also had an ancestor in the Royal Marines they "...were primarily ship based infantry, and seafaring skills were not therefore of prime importance. Recruiting sergeants roamed Britain, displaying posters in towns and villages throughout England. Tales were told of adventure and excitement in far off lands, and that, together with the promise of free accommodation and food whilst on board ship, and a regular wage persuaded many young men to join. Others, mindful of the fact that the Marines, like soldiers were recruited for life, were persuaded perhaps by the bounty. In 1801, at the height of the war with France, the bounty was £26, but by 1842 this had reduced to less than £4. Foreigners were sometimes recruited to make up numbers, especially during times of war.
Once the candidate had enlisted he was given a medical examination by a surgeon. The examination was a superficial one to ensure that the recruit had no obvious physical disabilities and was in a fit state to cope with the rigours of service life, and the surgeon also noted the recruit's height and appearance. The final stage was for the recruit to appear in front of a local magistrate to be attested. The recruit answered a series of questions which the Magistrate read from a standard form, swore the oath of allegiance, signed the attestation form, on which the questions and his responses were recorded, then received the bounty. The young man had signed on for unlimited service."
Stuart continues "The recruits mustered at one of the Divisions for training and to receive their uniforms. Barracks were near the dockyards at Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth, and between 1805 and 1869 there was a further division at Woolwich. The training was mostly land based and using similar weapons and tactics to that of an infantryman."
Certainly prior to the nineteenth century, and possibly in the earlier 1800s too, Royal Marines were a separate body from the sailors on board a ship, and they enlisted for life, or at least for many years. Seamen on the other hand were laid off once a ship returned to port and a new crew taken on, not always experienced sailors. Not until 1853 and the Continuous Service Act did seamen remain in service between commissions.
In 1827, only a year before Henry Copeland enlisted, new divisional colours had been presented to the Royal Marines. "When George IV received a list of 106 possible battle honours to decorate the Royal Marines' new colours he baulked at 'The greatness of their number and the difficulty in selecting amidst so many glorious deeds'. Instead His Majesty set his distinctive stamp upon the Corps' standards, replacing the customary badges with those still borne: the single battle honour 'Gibraltar', the motto 'Per Terre Per Terram' and, for the first time, the Great Globe encircled by a laurel wreath, 'the most appropriate emblem of a Corps, whose duties carried them to all parts of the globe, in every quarter of which they had earned laurels by their valour and good conduct' ". * It would be surprising if a young man was not impressed by the story that, no doubt, a recruiting Sergeant would tell, as well as by his uniform.
"The Marines' Royal title recognized not only their role as guarantors of the Royal Navy's internal security, but also their combat record on every front of the war with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France." *
Duties
Again from Stuart Flight's website:
"By the eighteenth century... Marines .... were totally under the control of the Admiralty, and their main roles were:-
Guard and sentry duties, the maintenance of discipline and enforcement of regulations aboard ship. Marines quarters aboard ship were kept separate from those of seamen. They stood guard when punishment was being carried out.
At friendly ports they performed guard duties, maintained order and ensured that sailors did not desert the ship.
The garrison of captured fortresses until relieved by the infantry.
Act as sharpshooters and gunners on board ship.
Act as boarding parties to seize ships and assist in sailing captured ships to friendly ports.
On occasion to fight on land, as at the battles Balaclava and Inkermann.
To carry out these duties a First rate 100 gun warship required a complement of 170 Marines."
It is evident that Royal Marines had also to be able to undertake some of the duties of seamen, but the Admiralty were conscious of the need to limit their use in this way so that they would not lose their military edge.
