Colonel
John Harris, sixth Commandant of the Marine Corps,
was born 20 May 1790 in East Whiteland, Pennsylvania.
He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine
Corps on 23 April 1814. Two months later he was promoted
to first lieutenant and, during the summer of that
year, served with the forces that opposed the advance
of the British on the city of Washington during the
concluding days of the War of 1812.
The
following year he was placed in command of the Marine
Guard of the Macedonian, which was one of
the ships of the squadron of Commodore Stephen Decatur
that sailed from New York in May 1815 on an expedition
to punish the Barbary pirates for their numerous depredations.
Upon
his return to the United States, 1stLt Harris performed
duty at Erie, Pennsylvania, and at Boston, Massachusetts.
From the latter station he was assigned to duty aboard
the Franklin, which he joined in August 1821.
He was brevetted captain 3 March 1825 for distinguished
conduct on that vessel.
This
was followed by tours of duty ashore at Boston, and
at sea, first on the Java, then aboard the
Delaware and Philadelphia. Promoted
to the regular rank of captain on 13 June 1830, he
was next stationed at Norfolk, Virginia. After that
he joined the Delaware, from which ship he
was detached in March 1936. Three months later he
joined the Philadelphia detachment of Marines
at Fort Monroe, Virginia, for active duty with the
Army in the field in the Florida Indian Wars.
During the period of the Indian Wars
in the South, he served with distinction in the Creek
campaign in Alabama, and in the war with the Seminole
Indians in Florida. Colonel Commandant Archibald Henderson,
who commanded the Marine Regiment during the troublesome
times with the indians, stated in a letter to the
Secretary of the Navy that "Captain Harris while
in Florida had command of Mounted Marines and did
good service in that capacity."
Captain Harris was awarded brevet
rank of major on 27 January 1837, "for gallantry
and good conduct in the war against Florida Indians,
particularly in the affair of the Hatchee Lustee."
He returned to Washington in March 1837 as the bearer
of a treaty which had been made by the commanding
general with the Seminole chiefs. Promoted to major
6 October 1841, he served until the Mexican War at
Philadelphia, Washington, and Norfolk.
In March 1884, Major Harris was ordered
to Mexico to cooperate on shore with the squadron
off the Isthmus of Tehauntepec. He sailed from New
York with a battalion of Marines, but upon their arrival
at Vera Cruz, the armistice had been concluded. He
was then ordered to garrison Alvarado with his battalion.
Major Harris rejoined Headquarters
in Washington, from Alvarado, in late summer of 1848.
His next assignments were as Commanding Officer of
the Philadelphia and New York Marine Barracks. He
was promoted to lieutenant colonel, 10 December 1855,
and placed in command at Brooklyn, New York, where
he remained until 7 January 1859, on which date he
was appointed Colonel Commandant of the Marine Corps.
At the age of 68, he was the oldest officer to become
Commandant of the Marine Corps. He likewise had seen
more service than any officer receiving the appointment,
having been a Marine for 45 years before becoming
Commandant.
Colonel Harris' term as Commandant
included a serious unfortunate incident shortly before
the outbreak of the Civil War. At that time nearly
half of his officers resigned to serve the Confederate
States and he labored to reconstitute the weakened
Corps. Also, during the early days of the Civil War,
when contraband traffic began to flow from Maryland,
Colonel Harris detailed an entire battalion of Marines
to serve as Secret Service operators in the troubled
area, with the result that the situation was well
in hand within a brief period.
Services rendered the Union by Marines
under Colonel Harris were varied and many. Few, however,
have been recorded as outstanding. This may be attributed
to the fact that the Marine Corps of that period was
composed of relatively few men in comparison with
the strength of the Army or the Navy.
Colonel Harris died on 12 May 1864
while in office as Commandant of the Marine Corps,
after a brief illness. He had served his country as
a Marine officer for 50 years.
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