CIRCA 1801-1874, PROVIDENCE MARINE CORPS, ARTILLERY, PMCA, BADGE, MEDAL, VINTAGE The Providence Marine Corps of Artillery Badge 1801-1874 . This is a beautiful, well made, multi-piece, pinback. No chips to the enamel. The Providence Marine Corps of Artillery was founded in 1801 by members of the Providence Marine Society, a private mutual aid society for sea captains. The Artillery, however, became a part of the Rhode Island militia. It was later assigned the official designation of Battery A, Light Artillery, Rhode Island Militia, but always maintained a distinct identity as the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery. It was active through at least 1970. The Corps never served in active combat, but its members served as trained troops in the War of 1812, the Civil War and other conflicts. The PMCA was the first volunteer artillery battery in the country. Formed in 1801 to protect sea captains against attack from the British navy and Barbary Pirates, the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery remains one of the most famed regiments in the U.S. Army. It distinguished itself during the War of 1812, the Dorr Rebellion, and in nearly every major engagement of the Civil War. After assuming the identity of the 103d Field Artillery Regiment of the Rhode Island National Guard, the unit battled amid the carnage of the Western Front in World War I, fought the enemy in the mosquito- infested South Pacific islands during World War II, and weathered the scorching deserts of Iraq in the twenty-first century.