Before there was a Commandant, there was Samuel Nicholas—a Philadelphia native charged with turning an act of Congress into a fighting force.
Samuel Nicholas: The Man Who Raised America’s First Marines
Every Commandant of the United States Marine Corps belongs to a lineage stretching back more than two centuries.
It begins with a man who never officially held the title.
His name was Samuel Nicholas.
When the Continental Congress created the Marines on November 10, 1775, there were no generations of tradition to inherit. No Eagle, Globe, and Anchor. No scarlet and gold. No “Semper Fidelis.”
There was simply a resolution—and the difficult task of turning it into a fighting force.
That responsibility would fall largely to Nicholas.
Within months, he would help recruit America's first Marines, serve aboard the Continental Navy's flagship, lead Marines ashore in the Bahamas, fight at sea, and command Marines alongside George Washington's army.
Today, Marine Corps tradition recognizes him as the first Commandant of the Marine Corps.
But his real story is more interesting than the title.
A Philadelphia Beginning
Samuel Nicholas was born in Philadelphia in 1744.
Even here, historical accuracy requires some restraint.
Compared with later Commandants, relatively little is known with certainty about Nicholas's early life. Marine Corps historical research identifies him as the son of a blacksmith and indicates that he had connections among prominent Philadelphia families.
Older accounts have sometimes described Nicholas as an innkeeper or a merchant seaman. Marine Corps historical scholarship notes those possibilities but cautions that the evidence is not conclusive.
What is certain is that when America needed someone to help raise its new Marines, Nicholas was selected.
November 10, 1775
The story begins with the Second Continental Congress.
On November 10, 1775, Congress resolved:
“That two Battalions of marines be raised…”
The resolution called for men who were good seamen or sufficiently familiar with maritime affairs to “serve to advantage by sea when required.”
The Marines were being created for a particular kind of warfare.
They needed to operate aboard ships.
They needed to fight.
And they needed to be capable of carrying that fight ashore.
The resolution established the force.
Someone still had to build it.
The First Commissioned Marine Officer
On November 28, 1775, Samuel Nicholas received his commission as a Captain of Marines from the Continental Congress.
Marine Corps History Division identifies Nicholas as the first commissioned officer of the Continental Marines.
As the senior Marine officer, recruiting, provisioning, administration, and many of the practical problems associated with creating the new force fell to him.
This is why Nicholas occupies such an important place in Marine Corps history.
Congress created the Marines.
Nicholas helped turn that decision into Marines.
What About Tun Tavern?
This is where history and Marine Corps tradition meet.
Every Marine knows the story.
Tun Tavern.
Philadelphia.
The first Marines recruited over mugs of ale.
There is historical support for Tun Tavern's role as an early Marine recruiting rendezvous. Marine Corps historical records identify tavern owner Robert Mullan as one of the men involved in recruiting Marines, and later official histories specifically connect his company with Tun Tavern.
But we should be careful with the popular version of the story.
It is common to say that Samuel Nicholas himself established his recruiting headquarters inside Tun Tavern and personally recruited the first Marines there.
The surviving historical record is not strong enough to present every part of that story as documented fact.
Tun Tavern remains an important and legitimate part of Marine Corps tradition.
But the legal creation of the Continental Marines occurred in the Second Continental Congress on November 10, 1775.
For The Leatherneck Journal, both things can be respected:
the documented history and the tradition that grew from it.
Aboard the Alfred
Nicholas didn't remain in Philadelphia for long.
On December 3, 1775, the Continental ship Alfred was commissioned.
Nicholas joined her as her Marine officer.
The Alfred would become the flagship of Commodore Esek Hopkins, commander in chief of the Continental Navy.
America's new naval force was preparing for war.
So were its Marines.
New Providence
In February 1776, Hopkins' squadron finally escaped the ice that had delayed it in the Delaware and headed south.
Its destination became New Providence in the Bahamas.
The British maintained military stores there, including desperately needed weapons and ammunition.
On March 3, 1776, Nicholas led Marines and sailors ashore on New Providence.
Official accounts differ slightly on the exact size of the landing force, but Naval History and Heritage Command records approximately 200–234 Marines accompanied by 50 sailors.
They secured Fort Montagu and subsequently occupied Nassau and its military installations.
The operation is recognized as America's first amphibious operation and the first amphibious assault conducted by the Continental Marines.
The Marines had existed for less than four months.
They were already going ashore.
Fighting at Sea
New Providence was not the end of Nicholas's first expedition.
While the Continental fleet was returning north, it encountered the British warship HMS Glasgow during the early hours of April 6, 1776.
The Glasgow fought its way past the larger American squadron and escaped.
Nicholas and the Marines aboard Alfred participated in the engagement.
The young Continental Marines had now experienced both sides of the mission Congress envisioned for them:
fighting ashore and fighting at sea.
Major Samuel Nicholas
Nicholas's responsibilities continued to grow.
In June 1776, he was promoted to major.
As the senior Marine officer, Nicholas continued recruiting and training Marines and handling the administrative responsibilities of the Continental Marine force.
That leads to an important historical distinction.
Samuel Nicholas was not officially called “Commandant of the Marine Corps” during his lifetime.
That office did not yet exist in the form we recognize today.
Marine Corps historians describe him instead as the senior officer of the Continental Marines.
By tradition, however, the Marine Corps recognizes Nicholas as its first Commandant.
The distinction doesn't diminish his role.
It makes the history more accurate.
Marines Join Washington
Late in 1776, the American Revolution was in crisis.
George Washington's army had suffered a series of defeats and retreated across New Jersey.
The enlistments of many Continental soldiers were about to expire.
Washington needed men.
Nicholas and a battalion of Marines were detached to assist his army.
Their intended role would connect the Continental Marines to one of the most famous campaigns of the American Revolution.
Trenton
On Christmas night 1776, Washington began his legendary crossing of the Delaware River.
Nicholas and his Marines were part of the broader operation, but Marine Corps historical accounts state that they were prevented from crossing the Delaware in time to participate in the first Battle of Trenton on December 26.
That detail matters.
Claims that Nicholas personally led Marines in Washington's famous surprise attack at the first Battle of Trenton overstate what the evidence supports.
But their campaign wasn't over.
Assunpink Creek and Princeton
Nicholas and his Marines subsequently joined Washington's forces and saw action during the continuing New Jersey campaign.
They fought at Assunpink Creek, sometimes called the Second Battle of Trenton, on January 2, 1777.
The following day came Princeton.
Continental forces attacked British troops there and won another important victory.
Official Marine Corps and Navy histories recognize the participation of Nicholas's Marines in both engagements.
Think about what had happened in barely a year.
The same young Marine force created specifically with maritime service in mind had:
served aboard warships,
conducted an amphibious landing,
captured enemy fortifications,
fought a British warship,
and fought alongside Washington's Continental Army.
The expeditionary character of the Marines was already taking shape.
Back to Philadelphia
After the New Jersey campaign, Nicholas returned to Philadelphia.
Much of his remaining wartime service was less dramatic—but essential.
He continued recruiting Marines.
He dealt with administrative responsibilities.
He worked with Congress.
And he advocated for the needs of the Continental Marines.
History often remembers the landing at New Providence.
But an organization survives because someone also does the less glamorous work of maintaining it.
For much of the Revolutionary War, that responsibility belonged to Samuel Nicholas.
The Continental Marines Disappear
The organization Nicholas helped build did not survive the Revolution in its original form.
After the war ended, the Continental Navy's remaining ships were sold and the Continental Marines were discharged.
Nicholas returned to civilian life.
The permanent United States Marine Corps would not be established until July 11, 1798.
By then, Nicholas was no longer alive.
He died in Philadelphia on August 27, 1790.
The First in a Long Line
Samuel Nicholas never saw the Marine Corps that would eventually emerge.
He never saw the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor.
He never heard Marines call themselves Devil Dogs.
He never heard “Semper Fidelis” adopted as the Corps' motto.
And he never held the official title by which Marines remember him today.
But before all of that came a congressional resolution and a group of men who had to turn words on paper into a fighting force.
Nicholas was there.
He recruited.
He organized.
He went to sea.
He went ashore.
He fought beside sailors.
He fought beside soldiers.
And he helped establish something that would survive long after him.
Today, every Marine Commandant stands in a lineage that Marine Corps tradition traces back to Major Samuel Nicholas.
The title came later.
The legacy began with him.
Semper Fidelis.
DID YOU KNOW?
Samuel Nicholas was never officially called Commandant.
Nicholas was the senior officer of the Continental Marines, but the office and title of Commandant as we understand them today did not yet exist.
The Marine Corps nevertheless recognizes him by tradition as its first Commandant.
That's a fantastic Sunday Muster “Did You Know?” because even many Marines probably don't know the distinction.
FAQ
Who was Samuel Nicholas?
Samuel Nicholas was a Philadelphia native commissioned as a captain of Marines on November 28, 1775. He became the senior officer of the Continental Marines and is recognized by Marine Corps tradition as the first Commandant.
Was Samuel Nicholas actually the first Commandant of the Marine Corps?
By tradition, yes. Historically, the title did not exist during Nicholas's service. Marine Corps History Division describes him as the senior Marine officer and recognizes him as the first Commandant by tradition.
Did Samuel Nicholas recruit Marines at Tun Tavern?
Tun Tavern is historically associated with early Continental Marine recruiting, including recruiting connected to tavern owner Robert Mullan. However, some specific claims about Nicholas personally operating his recruiting headquarters there are based more heavily on Marine Corps tradition than surviving documentary evidence.
Did Samuel Nicholas fight at New Providence?
Yes. Nicholas led Continental Marines ashore at New Providence in the Bahamas on March 3, 1776, during America's first amphibious operation.
Did Samuel Nicholas cross the Delaware with George Washington?
Nicholas and his Marines were assigned to Washington's New Jersey campaign, but Marine Corps History Division states they were prevented from crossing in time to participate in the first Battle of Trenton. They subsequently fought at Assunpink Creek and Princeton.
When did Samuel Nicholas die?
Samuel Nicholas died in Philadelphia on August 27, 1790.
