What is Confederate States Marine Corps?
[[File:CS Navy Department Seal.svg |thumb|right|250px|{{Center|Seal of the [[Confederate States Navy]] which included the Confederate States Marine Corps}}]] The '''Confederate States Marine Corps''' ('''CSMC''') was a branch of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate States]] armed forces during the [[American Civil War]]. It was established on March 16, 1861.<ref name=PlanteNA>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2001/winter/confederate-marines-in-the-civil-war.html |title=Researching Confederate Marines in the Civil War |author=Trevor K. Plante |date=Winter 2001 |volume=33 |issue=4 |website=Prologue |publisher=The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=November 30, 2016}}</ref> The CSMC's manpower was initially authorized to include one [[major]], one [[quartermaster sergeant]], and 600 men divided into six [[Company (military unit)|companies]] of 100 marines each.<ref name=PlanteNA/> This was increased on May 20, 1861 raising the rank of [[officer]]s and adding more men.<ref name=PlanteNA/> The [[organization]] of the corps began at [[Montgomery, Alabama]]. It was completed at [[Richmond, Virginia]], when the capital of the [[Confederate States of America]] was moved there. The CSMC [[headquarters]] and main [[training]] facilities remained in Richmond, Virginia throughout the war. It was located at Camp Beall on Drewry's Bluff and at the Gosport Shipyard in [[Portsmouth, Virginia]].<ref>J. Thomas Scharf, ''History of the Confederate States Navy from its organization to the surrender of its last vessel'' (New York: Rogers and Sherwood, 1887), pp. 769–772</ref> The last CSMC unit [[surrender (military)|surrender]]ed on April 9, 1865, with the Confederacy itself surrendering a month later. == History == The Corps was established by an [[law|act]] passed by the [[Congress of the Confederate States]] on March 16, 1861.<ref name=confmarineCWH>{{cite web |url=http://www.civilwarhome.com/marines.html |title=The Confederate States Marine Corps |publisher=Civi