Tun Tavern

In November 1775, a committee of the Continental Congress met at Tun Tavern to draft a resolution calling for two battalions of Marines able to fight for independence at sea and on shore.

The resolution was approved on November 10, 1775, officially forming the Continental Marines.

As the first order of business, innkeeper Samuel Nicholas became the officer of the newly formed Marines, and by tradition is considered to be the first Commandant of the Marine Corps. Tun Tavern's owner, Robert Mullan, also a captain, was a successful recruiter, raising the first two battalions of Marines.

When the Revolutionary War ended in 1783, the Continental Marine Corps was disestablished but was re-established on 11 July 1798, when the act for establishing and organizing a Marine Corps was signed by President John Adams.

Prior to 1921, Marines celebrated the recreation of the Corps on 11 July. In October 1921, Commandant John Lejeune, in Marine Corps Order 47, stated that the original birthday of 10 November was declared a Marine Corps holiday to be celebrated throughout the Corps.

Each year since then, the Marine Corps marks November 10th, The Marine Corps Birthday, with a celebration of the brave spirit which compelled these men and thousands since to defend our country as United States Marines.