Anthony Gale Anthony Gale was the fourth Commandant of the United States Marine Corps and the only one ever fired . Fewer records survive concerning him than any other Commandant . He is the only Commandant for whom the Marines neither know his burial location nor have a portrait or likeness . Early life . His date of birth is in dispute . It is variously reported to be in 1761 or on September 17 , 1782 in Dublin , Ireland . He was commissioned as a second lieutenant on July 26 , 1798 . According to a transcript of a 23 October 1838 letter to President Martin Van Buren , Anthony Gale writes ( in part ) : “ as a military man that I embraced in my nineteenth year ” , which would place his birth in 1779 - 1780 . Born in Ireland to Anthony Gale and Ann Delany , Gale declared his intent to become a United States citizen on June 15 , 1798 , and completed the naturalization process on November 27 , 1801 . Ireland land records involving his mother Ann Delany suggest Gale was born in Queen ’ s County , Ireland , subsequently renamed County Laois . Gale married Catherine Swope on January 4 , 1800 , in Cumberland County , Pennsylvania . The couple settled in Philadelphia and had three children – Amelia , who died after four weeks ; a son , Washington Anthony ; and another daughter , Emily , both of whom survived into adulthood . Early career . Early in his Marine career , he fought , in fairly quick succession , the French , the Barbary pirates , the British , and was a U . S . naval officer . Angered by the mistreatment of a Marine sentry , Gale killed Navy Lieutenant Allen MacKenzie in a duel . This incident , perceived to be an affront to the Corps , subsequently brought Commandant William W . Burrows ' approval for Gale ' s defense of his Corps ' honor . Later in his military career , Gale took “ an active and gallant part ” during the siege of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812 . Increasing rank brought other difficulties . In 1815 , while commanding at Philadelphia , he fell out with Commandant Franklin Wharton over construction of barracks . Wharton had been accused of overspending on the project , and he in turn charged Gale with building extravagant officers ' quarters . Gale asserted that he had been given no specific plans and that Wharton had known what was being done . A court of inquiry cleared Gale , but he was banished to a less desirable post in New Orleans , where he allegedly nursed a feeling of persecution and began to drink heavily . Rise to Commandant . Brevet Major Gale , although next senior at the time of Wharton ' s death on September 1 , 1818 , had to battle for the job . At the time , the Corps was authorized only one lieutenant colonel and two majors . One could only rise in rank by virtue of the death of a superior officer or the removal of a higher officer . When Wharton died , a scramble for the Commandant ' s job ensued . Major Samuel Miller , the adjutant and inspector at the Marine Corps Headquarters , two days after notifying Navy Secretary Benjamin Williams Crowninshield of Wharton ’ s death , considering himself well suited for the job , suggested that he conduct the affairs of the commandancy until a successor was appointed . Brevet Major Archibald Henderson asserted that as the senior line officer present , he should be Acting Commandant . Henderson was also characteristically blunt in assessing Gale ' s qualifications to the new Secretary of the Navy , Smith Thompson . In an attempt to discredit Gale , in February , 1819 , Henderson and Miller participated in a court of inquiry resurrecting the old charges concerning Gale ’ s tenure in Philadelphia . However , during his testimony , Henderson was forced to admit that his knowledge of Gale ’ s misconduct was based on hearsay . Miller could similarly not provide firsthand evidence of wrongdoing by Gale . After the court of inquiry exonerated him of these charges for the second time , Gale , with 21 years of service and therefore senior , became Lieutenant Colonel Commandant on March 3 , 1819 , ending a six - month period during which the Corps had been leaderless . Trouble as Commandant . Shortly after Gale assumed his post , Archibald Henderson circumvented Gale and wrote directly to Navy Secretary Smith Thompson requesting to join General Andrew Jackson who was serving as military governor in Florida . Soon came more direct troubles with Smith Thompson , who frequently countermanded Gale ' s orders . Finally , on August 8 , 1820 , Gale submitted a letter analyzing the proper division of function between himself and the Secretary , pointing out the impossibility of his position . It was also alleged that he began to drink heavily at this time . Eight days after his letter , Gale was notified that the Secretary had unilaterally granted a four - week leave to one Marine captain and had suspended Gale ' s order sending another captain to the Mediterranean . Two weeks after that , on August 29 , Gale was arrested and ordered to face court - martial . Court - Martial . The charges against Gale were dated September 11 , 1820 . The first was that Gale was publicly intoxicated in the city of Washington on six specified dates during August , including August 31 , two days after his arrest . The second charge was of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman . There were three specifications : first , that Gale had visited a house of prostitution near the Marine Barracks " in open and disgraceful manner " on that same August 31 ; second , that he had on September 1 - a date on which he was in custody - called Lieutenant Richard M . Desha , the Corps ' Paymaster and son of Congressman Joseph Desha of Kentucky - who had earlier charged Gale with misappropriation - " a damned rascal , liar and coward " and threatening him with personal chastisement unless he would immediately challenge and fight him ; and , finally , that he had declared in front of the Marine Barracks " that he did not care a damn for the President , Jesus Christ or God Almighty ! " The third charge was that Gale had signed a false certificate that said he had not used a Marine for personal services when in fact he had had a man assigned as waiter and coachman from October 17 , 1819 , until June 3 , 1820 . The fourth and final charge was that Gale had broken arrest " at sundry times " between September 1 and 8 while he was confined to quarters . Gale ’ s court - martial was marked by further irregularities . Major Miller , one of Gale ’ s rivals for the post of Commandant , despite having written the charges against Gale , was nonetheless appointed the prosecutor . Furthermore , Lieutenant Desha , a witness against Gale on the second charge , was appointed a supernumerary ( or extra member ) of the court , and was called to sit on the court in judgment of Gale when regular court members failed to appear . Desha objected to serving on the court under the circumstances , but the court overruled his objection on the grounds that Desha , not Gale , had objected . The court found Gale guilty , President James Monroe approving the verdict , and Gale was removed from office and dismissed from the Marine Corps on October 18 , 1820 . Later life . From Washington , Gale went first to Philadelphia where he spent several months in a hospital , then took up residence in Stanford , Kentucky . Armed with proof that he had been under the strain of temporary mental derangement while Commandant , he spent fifteen years attempting to have his court - martial decision reversed . Eventually , in 1835 , the government partially cleared him and awarded him a stipend of $ 15 a month which was later increased to $ 25 and continued until his death . Gale ’ s death is reported to be on December 12 , 1843 or December 12 , 1842 , although most sources place his death in 1843 . Over the years , several efforts have been undertaken by the Marines in an attempt to locate Commandant Gale ’ s final resting place . All have proven unsuccessful . In lieu of a monument at his gravesite , on March 6 , 2010 , various detachments of the Marine Corps League of Kentucky dedicated a monument to Commandant Anthony Gale at the Lincoln County Courthouse in Stanford , KY , nearby where he died and is likely buried . The Marine Corps League , Department of Kentucky , has taken as an annual project the traditional laying of the Commandant ’ s wreath at this memorial on each November 10 , the birthday of the Marines .