Commamdants

Since its birth in 1775, the Marine Corps has been led by 32 different men. The first of these Marine leaders, Samuel Nicholas, technically never held the title of Commandant. His commission, signed by John Hancock, begins as follows:

IN CONGRESS. The Delegates of the United Colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Counties of New-Castle, Kent, and Suffex on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina, and Georgia, to Samuel Nicholas Esquire. We, reposing especial Trust and Confidence in your Patriotism, Valour, Conduct and Fidelity, Do by these Presents, constitute and appoint you to be Captain of Marines in the service of the Thirteen United Colonies of North-America, fitted out for the defense of American Liberty . . . .

The term "Commandant" did not come into use for over a quarter-century. Notwithstanding technicalities, Samuel Nicholas is considered the first of the lineage, the first Commandant. These 32 United States Marine Corps leaders are listed below:

1 Samuel Nicholas 1775-1781
2 William W. Burrows 1798-1804
3 Franklin Wharton 1804-1818
4 Anthony Gale 1819-1820
5 Archibald Henderson 1820-1859
6 John Harris 1859-1864
7 Jacob Zeilin 1864-1876
8 Charles G. McCawley 1876-1891
9 Charles Heywood 1891-1903
10 George F. Elliott 1903-1910
11 William P. Biddle 1911-1914
12 George Barnett 1914-1920
13 John A. Lejeune 1920-1929
14 Wendell C. Neville 1929-1930
15 Ben H. Fuller 1930-1934
16 John H. Russell, Jr. 1934-1936
17 Thomas Holcomb 1936-1943
18 Alexander A. Vandegrift 1944-1947
19 Clifton B. Cates 1948-1951
20 Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. 1952-1955
21 Randolph M. Pate 1956-1959
22 David M. Shoup 1960-1963
23 Wallace M. Greene, Jr. 1964-1967
24 Leonard F. Chapman, Jr. 1968-1971
25 Robert E. Cushman, Jr. 1972-1975
26 Louis H. Wilson, Jr. 1975-1979
27 Robert H. Barrow 1979-1983
28 Paul X. "PX" Kelley 1983-1987
29 Alfred M. Gray, Jr. 1987-1991
30 Carl E. Mundy, Jr. 1991-1995
31 Charles C. Krulak 1995-1999
32 James L. Jones, Jr. 1999--

Note: On 16 March 1861, The Congress of the Confederate States of America established the Confederate States Marine Corps. On 23 May 1861, Col. Lloyd J. Beall (a West Point graduate who resigned his U.S. Army commission to "go south") was appointed as the Colonel-Commandant. Col. Beall served as Colonel-Commandant of the C.S. Marine Corps until the end of the American Civil War in 1865.