Samuel Nicholas (1744 – 27 August 1790) was the first officer commissioned in the United States

Continental Marines The Continental Marines were the amphibious infantry of the American Colonies (and later the United States) during the American Revolutionary War. The Corps was formed by the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775 and was disbanded in 17 ...

(predecessor to the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

) and by tradition is considered to be the first Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Early life

Nicholas was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, Pennsylvania in 1744, the youngest of three, to Anthony and Mary (Shute Cowman) Nicholas. His father was a blacksmith, un-Friended by the Philadelphia Meeting in 1749 for “Evil Conduct in frequent drinking strong Liquor to Excess,” and died when Samuel was 7. His mother, Mary Shute Nicholas, had died the year before. He was then taken in by his uncle, Attwood Shute, the Mayor of Philadelphia (1756–1758). In January 1752 his uncle enrolled him at the Academy and College of Philadelphia (now the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

), the secondary-school counterpart of the College. Nicholas was a student there until the end of 175

While at school he became a Freemason who belonged to a Masonic Lodge that often met at Tun Tavern.

Military service

On 28 November 1775, Nicholas was commissioned a "Captain of Marines" by the Second Continental Congress,Destroyer History Foundation biography. which was the first commission issued in the Continental Naval Service. Photograph of commission, signed by John Hancock. Eighteen days afterwards, 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.

Captain Nicholas no sooner received official confirmation of his appointment to office than he established recruiting headquarters in Philadelphia. By January 1776, having recruited a sufficient number of Marines for the vessels that comprised the

Continental Navy The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War and was founded October 13, 1775. The fleet cumulatively became relatively substantial through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron John Ad ...

in the waters of Philadelphia, Capt. Nicholas assumed command of the Marine Detachment on board the ''Alfred''. With Commodore Esek Hopkins in command, the ''Alfred'' set sail from Philadelphia on the morning of 4 January 1776. The following month witnessed the baptismal fire of the Marines.

Battle of Nassau

Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of

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, had collected a store of arms and provisions at New Providence, in the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

. Dunmore's forces had done a great deal of injury along the Colonial coast, especially the shore of

. Commodore Hopkins had been ordered to proceed to

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in the Bahamas, and from there to operate against the forces of Lord Dunmore. Commodore Hopkins decided to make an attack on New Providence, capture the enemy's stores, and destroy his supplies. Capt Nicholas was placed in command of the landing party of 234 Marines. This attack, the first successful landing engaged in by Continental Marines, saw the capture of

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

on 3 March 1776 without a fight. On 6 April 1776, the Marines participated in the first naval battle between an American squadron and a British warship, when HMS ''Glasgow'' came upon the squadron.

Promoted to Major

On 25 June 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 the ''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 organised the companies, he requested arms and equipment for them.

1776–1779

In December 1776, Major Nicholas wrote to 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

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

authority. The Marines did not, however, engage in the attack on Trenton, on 26 December 1776, which followed General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

's crossing of the Delaware River. They were attached to General John Cadwalader's division, which was ordered to cross the Delaware to Burlington, New Jersey, south of Trenton, in concert with Washington's crossing to the north on the night of 25 December 1776, but was turned back due to ice floes on the river. After the first Battle of Trenton, the battalion of Marines under the command of Maj. Nicholas participated in a battle with a detachment of Cornwallis's main army at

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of w ...

. 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, the Marine Barracks were reestablished and recruiting resumed. From then until the close of the war, Nicholas's duties at Philadelphia were 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 20 November 1779, Nicholas wrote Congress to request he be put in charge of the Marine Detachment aboard the 74-gun ship of the line ''America'', then being constructed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. However, Congress was firm in its intention that Nicholas remain in Philadelphia. Upon her completion, the ''America'' was presented to France as a gift. After that, despite his requests to lead the Marine detachment on another ship, he mostly oversaw recruiting and training efforts. “I consequently had the mortification to become … a useless officer,” he wrote, “at least in sense of danger.”

Return to civilian life

After the Navy and Continental Marines were disbanded following the end of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

in 1783, Nicholas returned to civilian life and became an original member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati. He died on 27 August 1790, in Philadelphia during an epidemic of

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

and is buried in the Friends Graveyard at Arch Street Friends Meeting House.

Legacy

Three ships in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

have been named the USS ''Nicholas'' in his honor. On 10 November of each year, the date celebrated as the Marine Corps' birthday, Nicholas's grave in the Arch Street Friends Meeting graveyard in Philadelphia is marked with a wreath at dawn by a detachment of Marines. A British 6-pounder cannon, captured by Major Nicholas' Marines at Nassau, is on display at

Fort Phoenix Fort Phoenix is a former American Revolutionary War-era fort located at the entrance to the Fairhaven-New Bedford harbor, south of U.S. 6 in Fort Phoenix Park in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. The fort was originally built in 1775 without a name, and ...

Fairhaven, Massachusetts Fairhaven (Massachusett: ) is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the South Coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. The town shares a harbor wi ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, Samuel 1744 births 1790 deaths 18th-century Quakers American Quakers Continental Marines Deaths from yellow fever Infectious disease deaths in Pennsylvania Military personnel from Philadelphia People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution United States Marine Corps Commandants United States Marine Corps officers University of Pennsylvania alumni People of colonial Pennsylvania