Samuel Nicholas 457101 214050135 2008-05-21T22:15:11Z Benea 4456044 /* Battle of Nassau */ fix link {{Infobox Military Person |name= '''Samuel Nicholas''' |born= [[1744]] |did= {{death date|1790|8|27}} |placeofbirth=[[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]] |placeofdeath= [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]] |image= [[Image:Samuel Nicholas.jpg|150px]] |caption=1st Commandant of the Marine Corps (1775-1783) |nickname= |allegiance= [[Continental Marines]] |serviceyears= 1775-1783 |rank= [[Major (rank)|Major]] |commands=[[Commandant of the Marine Corps]] |unit= |battles=[[Battle of Nassau]]<br/>[[Battle of Trenton]]<br/>[[Battle of Princeton]] |awards= |laterwork= |portrayedby= }} '''Samuel Nicholas''' (1744 &ndash; [[August 27]], [[1790]]) was the first officer commissioned in the [[United States]] [[Continental Marines]] (now the [[United States Marine Corps]]) and by tradition is considered to be the first [[Commandant of the Marine Corps]]. ==Biography== Nicholas was born in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]] in 1744 to Andrew and Mary Schute Nicholas. His father was a blacksmith and his uncle was Attwood Schute, the [[List of mayors of Philadelphia|Mayor of Philadelphia (1756-1758)]]. ===Military service=== On [[5 November]] [[1775]], Nicolas was commissioned a "Captain of Marines" by the Second Continental Congress,<ref name="DHF">Destroyer History Foundation biography.</ref> which was the first commission issued in the Continental Naval Service.<ref>Marine Corps biography.</ref> His commission was confirmed in writing on [[28 November]],<ref name="DHF"/><ref name="Commission">{{cite web |url=http://www.ussnicholas.org/commission.html |accessdate=2007-03-03 |title=Marine Captain Samuel Nicholas commission}} Photograph of commission, signed by John Hancock.</ref> 18 days after the [[Continental Congress]] resolved on [[10 November]], [[1775]], "That two battalions of Marines be raised consisting of one Colonel, two Lieutenant-Colonels, two Majors, and other officers, as usual in other regiments; that they consist of an equal number of Privates with other battalions; that particular care be taken that no persons be appointed to offices, or enlisted into said battalions, but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve by sea when required; that they be enlisted and commissioned to serve for and during the present war with [[Great Britain]] and the Colonies, unless dismissed by order of Congress; that they be distinguished by the names of the First and Second Battalion of Marines."<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2007-03-03 |url=http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Historical/Docs_Speeches/Continentialcongressestmarines1775.htm |title=Resolution Establishing the Continential Marines |author=Continental Congress |date=[[10 November]] [[1775]] |work=Historical Documents, Orders and Speeches |publisher=History Division, United States Marine Corps }}</ref> Captain Nicholas no sooner received official confirmation of his appointment to office than he established recruiting headquarters at [[Tun Tavern]], Philadelphia. By January 1776, having recruited a sufficient number of Marines to man the vessels that comprised the [[Continental Navy]] in the waters of Philadelphia, Capt. Nicholas assumed command of the Marine Detachment on board the [[USS Alfred (1774)|''Alfred'']]. With Commodore [[Esek Hopkins]] in command, ''Alfred'' set sail from Philadelphia on the morning of [[January 4]], [[1776]]. The following month witnessed the baptismal fire of the Marines. ===Battle of Nassau=== {{main|Battle of Nassau}} [[John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore|Lord Dunmore]], with the British force under his command, had collected a store of arms and provisions at [[New Providence]], in the [[Bahamas]], and had done a great deal of injury along the Colonial coast, particularly the shore of [[Virginia]]. Commodore Hopkins had been ordered to proceed to [[Abaco Islands|Abaco]] in the Bahamas, and from there to operate against the force of Lord Dunmore. Here the Commodore decided to make an [[Battle of Nassau|attack on New Providence]], capture the enemy's stores and cripple his supplies. Capt Nicholas was placed in command of the landing party, which consisted of about 250 Marines and sailors. This, the first successful landing engaged in by Continental Marines, led to the capture of [[Nassau, Bahamas|Nassau]] on [[March 3]], [[1776]] without a fight. On [[April 6]], [[1776]], the Marines participated in the first naval battle between an American squadron and the British, when His Majesty's Ship [[HMS Glasgow (1757)|''Glasgow'']] blundered across the path of the squadron. ===Promoted to Major=== On [[June 25]], [[1776]], Congress placed Nicholas "at the head of the Marines with the rank of Major." Accordingly, Commodore Hopkins was advised to send Major Nicholas to Philadelphia, with dispatches for the Continental Congress. With notification of his promotion he was ordered to report to the Marine Committee. The Committee detached him from ''Alfred'' and ordered him to remain in the city, "to discipline four companies of Marines and prepare them for service as Marine guards for the frigates on the stocks." Having recruited and thoroughly organized four companies, he requested arms and equipment for them. ===1776-1779=== In December 1776, he wrote Congress, "The enemy having overrun the Jerseys, and our army being greatly reduced, I was ordered to march with three of the companies to be under the command of His Excellency, the Commander-in-Chief." This was the first example of a battalion of Marines about to serve as an actual fighting unit under the direct command of [[United States Army|Army]] authority. The Marines did not, however, engage in the attack on [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]], which followed General [[George Washington]]'s crossing of the [[Delaware River]]. They accomplished the most arduous task of ferrying the Continentals across the river. After the first [[Battle of Trenton]], the battalion of Marines under the command of Maj. Nicholas participated in battle with a detachment of [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Cornwallis]]'s main army at [[Princeton, New Jersey]]. During the ensuing months Nicholas's battalion served both as infantry and artillery, participating in several skirmishes. Following the British evacuation of Philadelphia in June 1778, Marine Barracks were reestablished and recruiting renewed. From then until the close of the war, Nicholas's duties at Philadelphia were somewhat similar to those of later Commandants. Moreover, he was actively in charge of recruiting, and at times acted as Muster Master of the Navy. On [[November 20]], [[1779]], he wrote Congress requesting that he be put in charge of the Marine Detachment aboard [[USS America (1782)|''America'']], then in process of construction, but Congress was adamant in its intention that Nicholas remain in Philadelphia. ===Return to civilian life=== After the disbandment of the Continental Marines and Navy following the end of the [[American Revolutionary War]] in 1783, Nicholas returned to civilian life. He died in Philadelphia during an epidemic of [[yellow fever]] and is buried in the Friends Graveyard at [[Arch Street Friends Meeting House]]. ==Namesakes== Three ships in the [[United States Navy]] have been named [[USS Nicholas|USS ''Nicholas'']] in his honor. ==See also== {{portal|United States Marine Corps|USMC_logo.svg}} *[[History of the United States Marine Corps]] *[[Commandant of the Marine Corps]] *[[List of Historically Important U.S. Marines]] {{clear}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== *{{cite web| |url=http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Historical/Whos_Who/Nicholas_S.htm |title=Major Samuel Nicolas, Continental Marines |work=Who's Who in Marine Corps History |publisher=History Division, United States Marine Corps}} *{{cite web|accessdate=2007-03-03 |url=http://www.ussnicholas.org/samuel_nicholas.html |title=Major Samuel Nicolas, Continental Marines (ca. 1744-1790 |publisher=Destroyer History Foundation}} ==External links== *{{cite journal|url=http://www.ussnicholas.org/first_officer.html |accessdate=2007-03-03 |title=Samuel Nicholas, First Officer of American Marines |author=Major Louis Estell Fagan, II, USMC |journal=Marine Corps Gazette |volume=XVIII |issue=3 |date=November 1933}} {{start box}} {{succession box | before = ''none'' | title = [[Commandant of the Marine Corps|Commandant of the United States Marine Corps]] | years = 1775&ndash;1783 | after = Lt.Col. [[William Ward Burrows I]] (in 1798)}} {{end box}} {{US Marine Corps navbox}} {{CMC}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, Samuel}} [[Category:1744 births]] [[Category:1790 deaths]] [[Category:Continental Marines]] [[Category:Deaths from yellow fever]] [[Category:People from Philadelphia]] [[Category:People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution]] [[Category:United States Marine Corps Commandants]] [[Category:United States Marine Corps officers]] [[ja:サミュエル・ニコラス]] [[sl:Samuel Nicholas]]