Editing Samuel Nicholas

{{short description|18th-century American marine and officer}}
{{for|the Kentucky jurist|Samuel Smith Nicholas}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Samuel Nicholas
| birth_date    = {{birth year|1744}}
| death_date    = 27 {{death year and age|1790|1744|8}}
| birth_place   = [[Philadelphia]], Province of Pennsylvania, British North America
| death_place   = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| placeofburial = [[Arch Street Friends Meeting House]], Philadelphia
| placeofburial_label = Place of burial
| image         = Portrait of First Leader of Marines, Maj. Samuel Nicholas.jpg
| image_size    = 200
| caption       = Portrait of Colonel Samuel Nichols (1989) by Maj. Donna J. Neary, USMCR. Hangs in the [[Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.|Marine Corps Commandant's house]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Upton |first1=Lt. Col. Stewart |title=First Marine Corps Leader All About Institution, Not Self |url=https://www.imef.marines.mil/News/News-Article-Display/Article/554000/first-marine-corps-leader-all-about-institution-not-self/ |website=imef.marines.mil |publisher=U.S. Marine Corps |access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref>
| alt = Bust-length portrait of caucasian male with gray hair, dark eyes wearing a 1700s military uniform - dark jacket with light-colored shoulder epaulettes; light-colored vest; band-collared, ruffled cravat shirt
| nickname      = 
| allegiance    = {{flagicon image|Betsy Ross flag.svg}} [[United States]]
| branch        = {{flagicon image|Gadsden Flag.svg}} [[Continental Marines]]
| serviceyears  = 1775–1783
| rank          = [[Major (United States)|Major]]
| commands      = [[Commandant of the United States Marine Corps|Commandant of the Marine Corps]]
| battles       = [[American Revolutionary War]]
*[[Battle of Nassau]]
*[[Battle of Trenton]]
*[[Battle of Princeton]]
| laterwork     = 
}}
'''Samuel Nicholas''' (1744 – August 27, 1790) was an American Marine and military officer who was the first [[commissioned officer|officer]] [[Commission (document)#United States|commissioned]] in the United States [[Continental Marines]] (predecessor to the [[United States Marine Corps]]) and by tradition is considered to be the first [[Commandant of the United States Marine Corps|Commandant of the Marine Corps]].

==Early life==
Nicholas was born in [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, in 1744, the youngest of three, to Anthony and Mary (Shute Cowman) Nicholas. His father was a blacksmith, un-Friended by the [[Quaker|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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=January 3, 2018|title=The Un-Quaker Commandant|url=https://thepenngazette.com/the-un-quaker-commandant/|access-date=March 23, 2021|website=The Pennsylvania Gazette|language=en-US}}</ref> He was then taken in by his uncle, [[Attwood Shute]], the [[List of mayors of Philadelphia|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 secondary-school counterpart of the College. Nicholas was a student there until the end of 1759.[http://destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/ns_nicholas/] While at school, he became a [[Freemason]] who belonged to a Masonic Lodge that often met at [[Tun Tavern]].

==Military service==
[[File:Samuel Nicholas.png|thumb|right|Historic Marine Corps portrait of Nicholas]]
On November 28, 1775, Nicholas 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><ref name="DHF"/><ref name="Commission">{{cite web |url=http://www.ussnicholas.org/commission.html |access-date=March 3, 2007 |title=Marine Captain Samuel Nicholas commission |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061231110844/http://www.ussnicholas.org/commission.html |archive-date=December 31, 2006}} Photograph of commission, signed by John Hancock.</ref> Eighteen days afterwards, the Continental Congress resolved on November 10, 1775, <blockquote>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|access-date=3 March 2007 |url=http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Historical/Docs_Speeches/Continentialcongressestmarines1775.htm
 |title=Resolution Establishing the Continental Marines
|author=Continental Congress
|date=10 November 1775
|work=Historical Documents, Orders and Speeches
|publisher=History Division, United States Marine Corps
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070806012808/http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/Historical/Docs_Speeches/Continentialcongressestmarines1775.htm |archive-date = 6 August 2007}}</ref></blockquote>

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]] 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, the ''Alfred'' set sail from Philadelphia on the morning of January 4, 1776.

==Battle of Nassau==
{{Main|Battle of Nassau}}
[[John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore|Lord Dunmore]], the royal governor of [[Virginia]], had collected a store of arms and provisions at [[New Providence]], in the [[Bahamas]]. Dunmore's forces had done a great deal of injury along the Colonial coast, especially 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 forces of Lord Dunmore. Commodore Hopkins decided to make an [[Battle of Nassau|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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.marines.com/history-heritage/timeline|title=History of the Marines &#124; Marines}}</ref> This attack, the first successful landing engaged in by Continental Marines, saw 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 a British warship, when [[HMS Glasgow (1757)|HMS ''Glasgow'']] came upon 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 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 organized 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 [[United States Army|Army]] authority. The Marines did not, however, engage in the attack on [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]], on December 26, 1776, which followed General [[George Washington]]'s crossing of the [[Delaware River]]. They were attached to General [[John Cadwalader (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 December 25, 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 [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Cornwallis]]'s main army at [[Battle of Princeton|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, 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 sometimes acted as Muster Master of the Navy.

On November 20, 1779, Nicholas wrote Congress to request he be put in charge of the Marine Detachment aboard the 74-gun ship of the line [[USS America (1782)|''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."<ref name=":0" />

==Return to civilian life==
After the Navy and Continental Marines were disbanded following the end of the [[American Revolutionary War]] in 1783, Nicholas returned to civilian life and became an original member of the Pennsylvania [[Society of the Cincinnati]].

He died on August 27, 1790, in Philadelphia during an epidemic of [[yellow fever]] and is buried in the Friends Graveyard at [[Arch Street Friends Meeting House]].<ref name=":0" />

==Legacy==
Three ships in the [[United States Navy]] have been named the [[USS Nicholas|USS ''Nicholas'']] in his honor.

In June 2013, a dedication ceremony was held for a gray-marble marker on Nichols burial site at the Friends Cemetery at the [[Arch Street Friends Meeting House|Arch Street Friends Meeting]] in Philadelphia, one of very few markers allowed in the graveyard.<ref name=Tombstone>{{cite news |url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/local/20130602_Phila__gravestone_now_honors_father_of_Marine_Corps.html
|accessdate=April 3, 2025|date=June 2, 2013|newspaper=Philadelphia Inquirer|title=Phila. gravestone now honors father of Marine Corps}}{{subscription}}</ref>

Annually, on November 10, the date celebrated as the Marine Corps' birthday, a wreath is placed on Nicholas's grave at dawn by a detachment of Marines.<ref name="Inky">{{cite news | first= Peter |last=Mucha|url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/local/20081111_Ceremony_honors_Marine_Corps_founder-gallery.html
|title= Ceremony honors Marine Corps founder |work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]| date= November 11, 2008}}{{subscription}}</ref><ref name=CarolinaMarines>{{cite web|accessdate=April 3, 2025
|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/major-samuel-nicholas-usmc-2360618|title=American Revolution: Major Samuel Nichols, USMC
|first=Kennedy |last=Hickman|date=March 17, 2017|publisher=ThoughtCo.com}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}

*[[Commandant of the United States Marine Corps|Commandant of the Marine Corps]]
*[[History of the United States Marine Corps]]
*[[List of historic United States Marines]]
{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite web|url=http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/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
 |access-date  = March 3, 2007
|url         = http://www.ussnicholas.org/samuel_nicholas.html
 |title       = Major Samuel Nicolas, Continental Marines ca. 1744–1790
 |publisher   = Destroyer History Foundation
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070210163530/http://www.ussnicholas.org/samuel_nicholas.html
 |archive-date = February 10, 2007}}
*{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qns8bW_SESYC|title=Commandants of the Marine Corps|editor1=Millett, Allan Reed |editor2= Shulimson, Jack |pages=17–26|publisher=[[United States Naval Institute|Naval Institute Press]]|location=[[Annapolis, Maryland|Annapolis]], Maryland|year=2004|isbn=978-0-87021-012-9}}

==External links==
*{{cite journal
 |url         = http://www.ussnicholas.org/first_officer.html
 |access-date  = March 3, 2007
|title       = Samuel Nicholas, First Officer of American Marines
 |author      = Louis Estell Fagan
 |journal     = Marine Corps Gazette
 |volume      = XVIII
 |issue       = 3
 |date        = November 1933
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070101092333/http://www.ussnicholas.org/first_officer.html
 |archive-date = January 1, 2007}}
*{{Find a Grave|8319772}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-mil}}
{{Succession box| before = New creation | title = [[Commandant of the United States Marine Corps]] | years = 1775–1783 | after = Lt.Col. [[William Ward Burrows I]] (in 1798)}}
{{S-end}}

{{US Marine Corps navbox}}
{{CMC}}

{{authority control}}

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