Commandant's

Wedding

Reception

Washington Marine

Barracks

17 October 1823

On Thursday evening, 16 October 1823, Washington's

most eligible bachelor, Lieutenant Colonel Commandant

Archibald Henderson was married to Anna Maria, the second daughter of Anthony C. Cazenove, a well-known

merchant, in Alexandria, Virginia. The following day,

Henderson brought his bride to the Washington barracks,

and in the late afternoon, hosted a reception where he formally introduced her to the city's society.

Born in 1783 at Colchester, Virginia, a small seaport on

the Potomac River, south of Washington, Henderson

was appointed a Marine second lieutenant in June 1806.

As a captain, he served on board the Constitution and

participated in engagements with the British ships Cyane

and Levant in 1815, for which he was subsequently awarded a gold sword by his native state. Three months following the court martial of Lieutenant Colonel Commandant

Anthony Gale in September 1920, President James

Monroe appointed Brevet Major Henderson to be Lieutenant Colonel Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Gathered in the garden behind the Commandant's

residence on the bright fall afternoon, Lieutenant Colonel

Henderson and his bride greet the assembled guests.

Serenaded by the small Marine Band, dressed in red coats

and white linen summer trousers, the new mistress of the

barracks welcomes the former Secretary of the Navy,

Smith Thompson, followed by Doctor Edward Cutbush,

surgeon to the barracks and the nearby Washington Navy

Yard, and Marine and Army officers, their wives, and

children.

Lieutenant Colonel Henderson and his young bride

were to occupy the Commandant's House for more than

36 years, during which time Henderson put the

fragmented Corps on a more solid and highly respected

footing, while his wife saw to the establishment of a

genuinely happy family life. This, for the Commandant,

included nine children and the care of the young officers

assigned to the barracks. It is rumored that the Commandant who occupied that house for so long now occasionally pays his respects as he watches over the Corps

which still retains the spirit and traditions established by

Archibald Henderson.

Among the source materials used in the preparation of the painting

and plate description were: Karl Schuon, Home of the Commandants

(Quantico, Virginia: Leatherneck Association, Inc., 1974); Daily National Intelligencer, 18 October 1823; and James C. Tily, The Uniforms

of the United States Navy (New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1970).

Foray into

Fajardo Bay

Puerto Rico

14 November 1824

Being sworn, Marine Lieutenant Thomas B. Barton

took the stand on 12 July 1825 at a general court martial

being held at Marine Barracks, Washington. Before him

was arrayed the cream of the Navy, and at the defendant's

table sat his former commanding officer, Navy Captain

David Porter, charged with committing hostile acts

against Spanish subjects and disobedience of orders. Lieutenant Barton's testimony that July morning would center

on the events of 14 January 1824 at Fajardo, Puerto Rico.

About eight in the morning on the 14th, noted the

Marine lieutenant, the schooners Grampus and Beagle,

entered Fajardo Bay, on the east end of the island of Puerto Rico, then a possession of Spain and a pirate stronghold. On board were over 200 sailors and Marines under

the command of Captain David Porter, who was destined

to exact an apology for an insult given Navy Lieutenant

Charles T. Platt and the American flag a month before.

The two ships anchored opposite a steep 80-foot cliff

overlooking the shallow bay. Atop, the Spaniards had

erected a makeshift fort that was ringed with gabions

(baskets of earth) and that contained two old 18-pounder

bronze Spanish cannon. Seeing 15 to 20 people in the battery who were loading and training the guns on the Grampus, Captain Porter ordered Barton and the 14-man

Marine guard to "proceed in the direction of the two-gun

battery, with as little hazard as possible, and take the fort,

spike the guns, and destroy the ammunition." An hour

after anchoring, the launch containing Barton and his men

pulled away from the Grampus, headed for shore. Within

a short time, he succeeded in flanking the battery.

Without his shako, armed with two pistols, Lieutenant

Barton pers over the crest of the cliff where the fuze

smolders alongside one unmanned gun. The other

Marines, spread out in anticipation of resistance, are dressed in the standard summer-issue white linen cossack overalls, blue single-breasted coats, black beaver shakos with a

plume of red plush, and carry an assortment of weapons — 1817 Hall muskets with bayonets, pistols, and cutlasses.

Once over the top, Barton and his Marines took possession of the abandoned two-gun battery. They found one

gun charged with a cartridge of powder, a round shot, a

canister filled with grape shot, musket balls, and spikes;

the other was partly charged. The guns were spiked with

files and, according to orders, the ammunition destroyed.

After securing the battery, Barton and his men reembarked and proceeded in the direction of the main body of

sailors and Marines, which had landed near the road

leading to the town of Fajardo.

While Barton's Marines protected the boats at the

landing, the main body of close to 200 troops, led by

Lieutenant Horatio N. Crabbe's 24 Marines and two

drummers, made their way under a flag of truce toward

Fajardo. Near the town they met the alcalde and captain of

the port, who, after some discussion, offered Lieutenant

Platt an apology and invited Captain Porter and his troops

to partake in some refreshment. Afraid that the sailors and

Marines might get out of hand, Porter refused the offer

and ordered his men to return to the beach.

At the end of his testimony, Lieutenant Barton was excused. But his and others' testimony was not enough to

save their captain, who was sentenced to a six month's

suspension of his commission and at the same time praised

for zeal in dealing with the West Indian pirates.

The sources used as a basis for the painting and plate description were:

on-site research by the artist to insure accuracy of topography and

vegetation; Minutes of Proceedings of the Courts of Inquiry and Court Martial, in Relation to Captain David Porter: Convened at Washington, D.C.

on Thursday, the Seventh Day ofJuly, A.D. 1825 (Washington: Davis &

Force, 1825); Sidney B. Brinckerhoff and Pierce A. Chamberlain,

Spanish Military Weapons in Colonial America, 1700-1 821 (Harrisburg:

Stackpole, 1972); Harold L. Peterson, Roundshot and Rammers (New

York: Bonanza Books, 1969).

The Storming of

Quallah Battoo

Sumatra

6 February 1832

Less than 10 degrees north of the equator on the island

of Sumatra lies the rich pepper-growing region of Acheen.

Since the late 1790s, New England trading ships had stopped along the island's western coast to exchange Spanish

silver for the spice, needed not only to flavor and preserve

food, but for the lucrative trans-Atlantic trade with

northern Europe. In January 1831, one of these American

merchantmen, the Friendship, dropped anchor off the

Sumatran town of Quallah Battoo to take on a load of

pepper; instead, a band of Malay pirates boarded the ship,

murdered a large part of the crew, looted the vessel, and

drove her ashore. Although the ship was eventually recaptured and returned, her owners sent a vigorous protest to

President Andrew Jackson demanding retribution.

At New York, the frigate Potomac was rigged and ready

to sail. Under orders to proceed to China via Cape Horn

and the Pacific, her route, as a result of the protest and

public outcry, was changed to the Cape of Good Hope

and the Indian Ocean. On 5 February, after five months

of hard sailing and a little more than a year after the attack

on the Friendship, the American frigate, camouflaged as a

large Danish East Indiaman, anchored about five miles off

Quallah Battoo.

At two the following morning, after a night of busy

preparation, 280 sailors and Marines entered the ship's

boats and moved off in the attack. Soon after landing, the

men of the Potomac were divided into groups, each assigned to one of the four forts guarding the town. As the first

streaks of daylight appeared, the column, led by the

Marines under Lieutenants Alvin Edson and George

Terrett, moved forward. A short distance from the town,

each division filed off to attack its respective fort; the

Marines heading for Tuko de Lima, nestled in the jungle

behind the town.

Within minutes of the Americans' approach, the Malays were alerted and the fighting became intense. As

Lieutenants Edson and Terrett and their Marines neared

Tuko de Lima, the enemy met them with cannon, muskets, and blunderbusses. Rushing forward, the Marines,

whose "superior discipline" and "ardour seemed fully to

compensate for their want of numbers," broke through

the outer walls and captured the fort. Leaving Terrett in

charge, Edson, with a small guard, proceeded through the

town to join in the attack on the remaining fort.

As smoke from the other burning forts drifts overhead,

Edson, his Marines, and a detachment of sailors smash

through the outer bamboo walls of Duramond's fort and

engage kris-wielding Malays. Dressed in full uniform,

Lieutenant Edson parries the lunge of a defender with his

Mameluke sword, while a Marine at his side does the same

with his bayonet. Within minutes the fort is taken, and

the Malays are forced to retreat into the jungle.

The forts dismantled, the town on fire, the Malays

cowering in the jungle, and the surf rising rapidly, the

sailors and Marines were recalled. Under cover of a small

Marine guard, the boats pulled off from shore and headed

for the Potomac. The whole raiding party was on board

the frigate by 1000. Later in the day, all hands gathered on

deck to witness the burial of their three shipmates, one

sailor and two Marines, killed in the attack. The next

morning, the Potomac moved within a mile of Quallah

Battoo, ran out her long 32-pounders and bombarded the

town, before raising full sail and heading for sea.

The source material used in the preparation of the painting and plate

description were: James Duncan Phillips, Pepper and Pirates: Adventures

in the Sumatra Pepper Trade of Salem (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1949); J. N. Reynolds, Voyage of the United States Frigate

Potomac, Under the Command of Commodore John Downes, During the

Circumnavigation of the Globe, in the Years 1831, 1832, 1833, and 1834

(New York: Harper and Brothers, 1835); Francis Warriner, A.M.,

Cruise of the United States Frigate Potomac Round the World, During

Years, 1831-34 (New York: Leavitt, Lord & Co., 1835).

Changing Back

to Green

Off Valparaiso, Chile

May 1835

Near the end of May 1835, a supply ship arrived off the

Chilean coast and rendezvoused with the frigate

Brandywine, which with the sioops Fairfield, Vincennes,

and two schooners had been cruising the Pacific for nearly

a year. In addition to provisions and new orders from the

Secretary of the Navy, she carried several hogsheads and

trunks containing new uniforms consigned to the frigate's

Marine detachment under the command of Captain

Charles C. Tupper, a native of New York, and Second

Lieutenant George W. Robbins, of Rhode Island.

When Andrew Jackson became president in 1829, he

brought with him a great respect for the military heritage

of the young republic. With an eye on tradition, the

distinguished old soldier directed, shortly after he began

his second term in March 1833, that uniforms worn during the Revolutionary War be restored by the Army and

Marine Corps, signaling the first major change in Marine

uniforms in 30 years. Within a month, new regulations

were issued by Lieutenant Colonel Commandant

Archibald Henderson calling for a return to the green and

white regimentals of the Continental Marines and

designating 4 July 1834 as the date when the order was to

take effect. But by January 1834, prospects for procuring

green cloth and other accoutrements had dimmed. With a

considerable number of old blue uniforms still available,

the President authorized a delay in issuing the new

uniform "until the clothing now on hand will probably be

exhausted . . . 'till the 1st day of January 1835."

Based loosely on the uniform then worn by the Army,

the order specified a "grass green," double-breasted coat,

edged in buff for officers (single-breasted for enlisted),

with two rows of 10 gilt buttons each, and near kneelength turned-backed skirts. Light grey trousers, with a

buff stripe down the outer seam, were to be worn by both

officers and noncommissioned officers during the colder

months, while white linen drilling trousers, without a

stripe, were prescribed for warmer climates and months of

the year.

Under the watchful eye of Lieutenant Robbins, the

detachment's sergeant, and several smirking seamen, the

Brandywine's Marines gather on the frigate's berthing deck

and begin changing from the old blue into the new green

uniform. In the center is the detachment's drummer,

kneeling over the trunk, about to exchange his old-style

red uniform for the new, also in red.

Although officers commented that "nothing . . . could

exceed the beauty of the dress," the Corps' green uniform

was subsequently abandoned when it was discovered that

the green dye in the coats was subject to noticeable fading

after repeated exposure to the sun. Consequently in May

1839, only five years after its adoption, the Secretary of

the Navy authorized yet another major uniform change,

this time to blue and scarlet. As in the change from blue

to green, large quantities of green uniforms remained, and

the date for changing from green back to blue was

postponed until July 1841. Among the items associated

with the green uniform to remain was the distinctive

stripe (now red) on the Marine noncommissioned officers'

trousers, which eventually applied to dress uniforms of

Marines above the rank of private.

The sources for the painting and plate description were: detailed

research by the artist into ship construction to insure the accurate portrayal of the Brandywine's berthing deck; Dress of the Officers; NonCorn missioned officers, Musicians and Privates of the Marine Corps of the

United States. (Washington: 10 April 1833); Tom Jones and Richard

A. Long, "U.S. Marine Corps, 1835-1840," Plates No. 546 and 547,

Military Collector & Historian, 1984.