November 10th, 1775-2008 - USMC Birthday
To Nieman, Pilg, and other Jarheads on this Push…
To the Oldest, to the Youngest, a slice of cake and a salute.
Any Marine who has graduated boot camp from either Parris Island or San Diego will know that the Marine Corps was conceptualized at the Tun Tavern on November 10, 1775. It is kind of ironic that the Marine Corps was invented inside a bar. Also, with the Marine Corps being a Department of the Navy, Tun Tavern was also built on a wharf near the naval ships. With the reputation of fine beer and good lodging, Tun Tavern held meetings of the Masonic Temple and the St. John’s Number One Lodge. In the 1740s the name of Tun Tavern was changed to” Peggy Mullan’s Red Hot Beef Steak Club at Tun Tavern.” The name change and the owner change gave the restaurant a huge successful beginning in many notable Americans dined there.
Benjamin Franklin used the Tun Tavern to organize the Pennsylvania militia. Tun Tavern was the meeting place for a recruit regiment of soldiers right before they went to battle with Indians who were antagonizing the American colonies. Tun Tavern was also the meeting place for George Washington and Thomas Jefferson as they met to prepare for independence from England.
On November 10, 1775 Samuel Nichols was commissioned by the Continental Congress to raise two battalions of Marines. The perspective Marines were lured to the Tavern with cold beer and an opportunity to serve in the new service. Since the date of conception for the United States Marine Corps, Marines old and young have always had a fondness for the Tun Tavern and the cold beer which is served within.
