Royal Navy officers were at one point part of the marines. Due to two laws that regulated them and other army and navy units, marine drummers faced a loyalty problem over what drum calls they would have to do, and for what branch and on what occasion they might be required to play drums for orders, commands, etc. In 1755, the problem was solved. The Admiralty took over what was then called "His Majesty's Marine Forces". Even though at first Royal Navy officers filled the officer ranks, with lieutenant-colonel being perceived as the highest relevant rank, in 1771 a promotion to colonel occurred for the first time in the H.M.M.F. After their formation, the H.M.M.F's drummers and fifers of the three marine divisions played alongside their fellow soldiers in various landings worldwide on behalf of the Royal Navy. They joined their units in the American War of Independence, and a drummer was at James Cook's service during his sea travels. At Adm. John Jervis's insistence, by King George III's order in 1802, the H.M.M.F. was transformed into the "H.M.M.F.-Royal Marines", albeit larger than today's establishment. Two years later, bomb vessel crews and gunners became part of the newly created "Royal Marine Artillery", in which bugle calls became a regular part of life from then on. The Royal Navy in the 19th century was short of manpower in both the H.M.M.F.-R.M. and the R.M.A. For this, Army units joined the H.M.M.F.-R.M. as replacement units, carrying not only their drummers and fifers but also buglers. In 1855, during the units' service in the Crimean War, the H.M.M.F.-R.M's foot units became one under the unified title of "Royal Marines Light Infantry", later known as the "Royal Marine Light Infantry". From then, bugles replaced drums as signallers and order beaters, but the latter would be still useful for drill, being then called "drummers and buglers", and from 1867 the R.M.L.I./R.M.A. drummers were called "buglers" only, serving individually in ships and the R.N's shore establishments and artillery units and massed into corps of drums for their units on the ground. Fifes fully declined and disappeared in usage.