Archibald Henderson

For other people named Archibald Henderson, see Archibald Henderson (disambiguation).

Archibald Henderson
5th Commandant of the Marine Corps (1820-1859)
Nickname(s)	"Grand old man of the Marine Corps"
Born	(1783-01-21)January 21, 1783 Colchester, Fairfax County, Virginia
Died	January 6, 1859(1859-01-06) (aged 75) Washington, D.C.
Place of burial	Congressional Cemetery
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1806-1859
Rank	Colonel (Brevet Brigadier General)
Commands held	Commandant of the Marine Corps
Battles/wars	War of 1812 Indian wars Mexican-American War

Archibald Henderson (January 21, 1783 – January 6, 1859) was the longest-serving Commandant of the Marine Corps, serving from 1820 to 1859. His name is learned by all recruits at Marine recruit training (Boot Camp) as the "Grand old man of the Marine Corps," serving in the United States Marine Corps for 38 years.

Biography

The Henderson family monument in the Congressional cemetery, Washington DC

Born in Colchester, Fairfax County, Virginia to successful merchant Alexander Henderson, Archibald Henderson was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on 4 June 1806 and served aboard USS Constitution during her famous victories in the War of 1812. He participated in several shipboard engagements and was decorated for bravery. He was brevetted a major in 1814.

From 16 September 1818 to 2 March 1819, Henderson was the acting Commandant. On 17 October 1820, at age 37, Lt. Colonel Henderson was appointed the Commandant of the Marine Corps. He served for a little over 38 years, the longest of any officer to hold that position.

Henderson is credited with thwarting attempts by President Andrew Jackson to combine the Marine Corps with the Army in 1829. Instead, Congress passed the Act for the Better Organization of the Marine Corps in 1834,^[1] ensuring the Marines would remain part of the United States Department of the Navy. He was promoted to colonel the same year.

He went into the field as Commandant during the Indian campaigns in Florida and Georgia during 1836 and 1837, and was promoted brevet brigadier general in 1843 for his actions in these campaigns. Tradition says that he pinned a note to his door: "Gone to Florida to fight the Indians. Will be back when the war is over."^[2]

Marines also served in the Mexican-American War during Henderson's tenure as Commandant. The sword presented to him at the war's end was inscribed, "From the Halls of Montezuma, to the Shores of Tripoli", giving the opening words to the Marines' hymn.

Archibald Henderson died suddenly on 6 January 1859. He was buried in the Congressional Cemetery.^[3] According to Marine lore, the Colonel Commandant had attempted to will his home — actually government-provided quarters in which he had lived for 38 years — to his heirs, having forgotten that they were government owned.^[4]

Legacy

USS Henderson (AP-1), and Henderson Hall Barracks were named for him.

Promotions

Second Lieutenant - 4 June 1806
First Lieutenant - 6 March 1807
Captain - 1 April 1811
Brevet Major - 1814
Lieutenant Colonel Commandant - 17 October 1820
Colonel Commandant - 1 July 1834
Brevet Brigadier General - 27 January 1837

Notes

↑ U.S. Congress; Abner Riviere Hetzel (1846). An Act for the Better Organization of the United States Marine Corps. G. Templeman. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
↑ "Gone to fight the Indians". United States Marine Corps. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
↑ "Gen. Archibald Henderson". Historic Congressional Cemetery. Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional Cemetery. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2006-11-04.
↑ "Archibald Henderson Willed the Commandant's Quarters to His Heirs. This is of course just a legend. His will indicates nothing of this legend. It is actually very specific with noting personal property and the ability to verify government property in the home against quartermasters records.". Marine Corps Legends. Archived from the original on 2006-05-11. Retrieved 2006-11-04.

References

This article incorporates public domain text and image from the official USMC biography.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
"Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General Archibald Henderson, USMC". Who's Who in Marine Corps History. History Division, United States Marine Corps. Retrieved 2010-12-29.

Dawson, Joseph G. (October 1998). "With Fidelity and Effectiveness: Archibald Henderson's Lasting Legacy to the U.S. Marine Corps". Journal of Military History. Society for Military History. 62 (4): 727–753. doi:10.2307/120176. JSTOR 120176.
Allan Reed Millett; Jack Shulimson (2004-07-01). Allan Reed Millett and Jack Shulimson, eds. Commandants of the Marine Corps. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 54–73. ISBN 978-0-87021-012-9.

Military offices
Preceded by Lt. Col. Franklin Wharton	Commandant of the United States Marine Corps (acting) 1818–1819	Succeeded by Lt. Col. Anthony Gale
Preceded by Lt. Col. Anthony Gale	Commandant of the United States Marine Corps 1820–1859	Succeeded by Col. John Harris

United States Marine Corps

Leadership	Secretary of the Navy Under Secretary of the Navy Commandant of the Marine Corps Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Marine Corps generals United States Congress House Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Senate Subcommittee on Seapower

Major commands	Organization of the Marine Corps Headquarters Marine Corps Marine Forces Command II Marine Expeditionary Force Marine Forces Pacific I Marine Expeditionary Force III Marine Expeditionary Force Marine Forces Reserve Fleet Marine Force Atlantic Pacific

Structure	Marine Air-Ground Task Force Bases Battalions Regiments Brigades Divisions MEF/Corps Marine aviation Marine expeditionary unit Special Operations Marine Raider Regiment Recon Force Division

Personnel and training	Personnel Rank insignia MOS Notable Marines Historical Marines Marine Astronauts Criminal Investigation Division Judge Advocate Division Chaplain of the Marine Corps Associated organizations Training Recruit Training School of Infantry Officer Candidates School The Basic School Martial Arts Program

Uniforms and equipment	Uniforms Awards Badges Weapons Vehicles and aircraft Individual equipment

History and traditions	History Culture Acronyms and terms Birthday Ball Eagle, Globe, and Anchor Marine Band Drum and Bugle Corps Service Numbers Marine Corps War Memorial Flag Marine One Marines' Hymn National Museum Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima Rifleman's Creed Semper Fidelis Silent Drill Platoon History of Hispanics in the USMC History of women in the USMC Women's Reserve Honorary Marine Toys for Tots White House Sentries

Portal Category

Leadership of the United States Marine Corps

Commandants	Nicholas Burrows Wharton Gale Henderson Harris Zeilin McCawley Heywood Elliott Biddle Barnett Lejeune Neville Fuller Russell Holcomb Vandegrift Cates Shepherd Pate Shoup Greene Chapman Cushman Wilson Barrow Kelley Gray Mundy Krulak Jones Hagee Conway Amos Dunford Neller

Assistant Commandants	Cole Lejeune Long Neville Feland Williams Fuller Myers Russell McDougal Little H. Smith Vandegrift Barrett Keyser Schmidt Rockey Peck Turnage Shepherd O. Smith Silverthorn Thomas Pate Megee McCaul Munn Hayes Mangrum Chapman Walt McCutcheon R. Davis Anderson Jaskilka Barrow McLennan Kelley J. Davis Morgan Went J. R. Dailey Boomer Hearney Neal Dake Williams Nyland Magnus Amos Dunford Paxton Walters

Sergeants Major	Bestwick Rauber McHugh Sweet J. W. Daily Puckett Black Massaro Crawford Cleary Sommers Overstreet Lee McMichael Estrada Kent Barrett Green

Secretary of the Navy (navbox) Four-star generals Headquarters Marine Corps Category

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 14639446 LCCN: nr93005076

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/17/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.