Lieutenant
Colonel Franklin Wharton, third Commandant of the
Marine Corps, was born into a prominent Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, family on 23 July 1767. He had forsaken
a successful business career to entire the Marine
Corps and was commissioned a captain in August 1798.
Captain Wharton's first duties as a Marine officer
were performed at the Marine Barracks, Philadelphia.
Within a few weeks, however, he was assigned to the
frigate United States, where he served as
officer in charge of the vessel's Marine Detachment
until the close of the undeclared sea war with France
in 1801.
At age 36 and a Marine officer for only five years,
he became Lieutenant Colonel Commandant on 6 March
1804. He was the first Commandant to occupy the Commandant's
House, Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.
As Commandant, LtCol Wharton ordered a detachment
of Marines to Georgia and Florida in 1811 to cooperate
with U.S. Army troops in an attempt to subdue an Indian
uprising.
Also under LtCol Wharton, Marines participated in
many important engagements during the War of 1812.
They saw action at Annapolis, Fort McHenry, Portsmouth,
Chaney Island, Bladensburg and New Orleans, and fought
under General Henry Dearborn on the northern frontier.
At sea they participated in virtually every important
naval battle, serving aboard warships and privateers
on the Great Lakes, the Atlantic, and the Pacific.
Marines
fought under Commodore Oliver Perry on Lake Erie and
under Commodore Isaac Chauncey on Lake Ontario. Aboard
the frigate Constitution Marines were important
factors in its victorious battles against the Guerriere,
Java, Levant, and Cyane.
Those aboard the Wasp saw action in the vessel's
engagements with the Frolic, Reindeer,
and the Avon. Marines serving aboard the
frigate United States were commended for
their efficiency in its fight with the Macedonian.
Lieutenant
Colonel Commandant Wharton died in office on 1 September
1818 in New York City and was buried in New York's
Old Trinity Church Yard.
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