William Ward Burrows I Lieutenant Colonel William Ward Burrows I ( January 16 , 1758 – March 13 , 1804 ) was the second Commandant of the Marine Corps . His son , William Ward Burrows II , was a decorated officer in the United States Navy . Biography . Burrows was born in Charleston , South Carolina . He served in the American Revolutionary War with the state troops of South Carolina , but later become a citizen of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . On July 12 , 1798 , the day following the approval of an act of Congress establishing a permanent United States Marine Corps , President John Adams appointed him as Major Commandant of the newly created organization which consisted of 881 officers , noncommissioned officers , privates and musicians . ( Samuel Nicholas was in charge of the Continental Marines and by tradition is considered the first Marine Commandant . ) The Marine Corps , as well as the Navy , had had its humble beginning a short time prior to its actual authorization as a Corps and both were formed to meet an impending national crisis involving a possible war with France . Marines had been enlisted by the War Department starting about six months before July 1798 as crews for the frigates authorized by Congress . These first Marine units to be organized were ship detachments for newly acquired vessels of the American Navy , which were being hurriedly placed in commission at Philadelphia and hurried off to sea to fight cruisers and destroy commerce in the Quasi - War with France . During the first several months that he was Commandant , his principal concern was the supplying and keeping up to strength the Marine detachments for the vessels of the Navy . Headquarters of the Corps was in camp near Philadelphia until the national capital began its move to Washington in 1800 . A small detachment of Marines was sent to the new capital in March of that year to protect the newly established navy yard , while Major Burrows , with his staff and headquarters troops , moved to Washington in late July and set up their camp . Major Burrows was promoted to lieutenant colonel on May 1 , 1800 . The Quasi - War with France continued until September of that year , when matters were finally adjusted . The insistence of Congress that the cost of the naval establishment be immediately reduced caused considerable embarrassment to Burrows in his effort to establish the Marine Corps on a peacetime basis . The Barbary Wars broke out soon afterwards and the main concern of the Corps was to supply detachments to naval vessels for duty in the Mediterranean . Lieutenant Colonel Burrows is credited with beginning many of the Corps ' institutions , including , most notably , the U . S . Marine Band , which he financed in part by levying contributions from his officers . He demanded high standards of professional performance and personal conduct of his officers and these have become hallmarks of the Corps . Ill health forced his resignation on March 6 , 1804 . Lieutenant Colonel Burrows died in Washington , D . C . . He was buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery , Georgetown , in the District of Columbia . His remains were re - interred in Arlington National Cemetery on May 12 , 1892 .