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| 10 - Horse Marines, China |
photographer unknown
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Acquisition Number:
Medium: Photograph
Horse Marine, China
Bert McCann Collection,
Marine Corps Archives and Special Collections
Photograph, circa 1913, photographer unknown
Horse Marines
Paul Sydow Collection,
Marine Corps Archives and Special Collections
Photograph, circa 1936, photographer unknown
Horse Marines, Peking, China
John Roth Collection,
Marine Corps Archives and Special Collections
Photograph, August 1918, photographer unknown
In 1905, U.S. Marines assumed Legation guard duty in Peking, China. A detachment of 16 Marines on Mongolian ponies outfitted with McClellan saddles was designated as a unit of the American Legation Guard in 1911. These "Horse Marines" were charged with rescuing Americans in distress and conducting weekly checks on Americans living in or near Peking. They were the Marine Corps' first and only cavalry detachment. This elite unit grew to a top strength of 32 by the mid-1930s. They participated in drills, maneuvers, parades, mock cavalry attacks, races, and steeplechases. The horses weighed in the 650-725-pound class, standing 13 hands high, while the Marines themselves weighed in at 140-170 pounds. This was the last military unit to use the cavalry saber. As hostilities between China and Japan escalated, the Marine Corps disbanded the Horse Marines in February 1938.
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