Marines in the Spanish American War

The Marines I am painting here are in the uniform they started the war with. Later in the campaigns in Puerto Rico they changed into the more serviceable dress of soft hat and working blue shirt. The rifle was the five round clip, Lee Navy Model 1895. At 6mm this was the smallest caliber then used by the US military. The machine gun was the model 1895 Colt MG. The gun carriage carried 1920 rounds of 6mm Lee Navy, in belts of 120. Officers and some men were armed with the Colt .38 cal. "New Navy" revolver. All three weapon types were used by the Marines in the defence of the European Legations in Peking during the 55 day seige in the 1900 Boxer Rebellion.