Anthony Gale

{{Short description|Fourth Commandant of the Marine Corps}} {{For|the Canadian sledge hockey player|Anthony Gale (ice sledge hockey)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = | name = Anthony Gale | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = AnthonyGaleMonument.jpg | image_size = 200px | alt = | caption = Anthony Gale Memorial, Lincoln County Courthouse, Stanford, Kentucky | birth_date =  | death_date = {{death date|1843|12|12}} | birth_place = Ireland | death_place = Stanford, Kentucky, U.S. | burial_place = | burial_label = | burial_coordinates =  | nickname = | birth_name = | allegiance = {{flag|United States|23px}} | branch = 21px United States Marine Corps | service_years = 1798–1820 (Dismissed from Service) | rank = Lieutenant Colonel | service_number = | unit = | commands = Commandant of the Marine Corps | battles = Quasi-War of 1798–1800 First Barbary War of 1801–1805 War of 1812 | battles_label = | awards = | spouse = {{Marriage|Catherine Swope|1800}} | relations = | other_work = | signature = | website =  }} '''Anthony Gale''' (died December 12, 1843) was an Irish–American military officer who served as the fourth Commandant of the United States Marine Corps and is known as being the only one ever fired. Fewer records survive concerning him than any other commandant.<ref name=GroupedRef1/> 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<ref name=GroupedRef2>Millett, Allan Reed and Shulimson, Jack (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Qns8bW_SESYC&dq=Commandants+of+the+Marine+Corps+anthony+gale&pg=PA45 ''Commandants of the Marine Corps.''] Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, p. 45</ref><ref name="Bartlett, Merrill LtCol 1985">Bartlett, Merrill LtCol. USMC (Ret.) (June 1985). ''Court-Martial of a Commandant, The Story of Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Gale, Fourth Commandant of the Marine Corps'', Proceedings Magazine</ref> or on September 17, 1782, in Dublin, Ireland.<ref name=GroupedRef1>Jordan, ''The Mystery of Lieutenant Colonel Commandant Anthony Gale'', p. 46</ref><ref name=Schuon83>Schuon, Karl (1963). ''U. S. Marine Corps Biographical Dictionary.'' New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., p. 83</ref> He was commissioned as a second lieutenant on July 26, 1798.<ref name=GroupedRef2/><ref>Ancestry.com. U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1940. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc. (2007). ''Master Roll of a Detachment of Marines under the Command of Lieutenant Anthony Gale.'' Original data: Muster Rolls of the U.S. Marine Corps, 1798-1892; (National Archives Microfilm Publication T1118, 123 rolls); Records of the U.S. Marine Corps, Record Group 127; National Archives, Washington, D.C</ref> According to a transcript of an October 23, 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.<ref>USMC Archives, Anthony Gale Collection.</ref>

Born in Ireland to Anthony Gale and Ann Delany,<ref name=GroupedRef2/> Gale declared his intent to become a United States citizen on June 15, 1798, and completed the naturalization process on November 27, 1801.<ref>United States District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania (November 27, 1801). ''Petition of Anthony Gale to Become a Citizen of the United States''</ref> Irish land records<ref>Gale, Thomas (1780). ''Marriage Settlement for Anne Delany.'' Register of the Registry of Deeds, Ireland, Book 336, page 131, Document 224169, reproduced from LDS FHL British Film #531707, Volume 336, 1780-1781</ref><ref>Delany, Malachy (1773). ''Indentured Deed to Anne Delany.'' Register of the Registry of Deeds, Ireland, Book 362, page 165, Document 243456, reproduced from LDS FHL British Film #531955, Volumes 361-362, 1784-1785</ref><ref>Delany, Malachy (1782). ''Indenture of Lease to Anne Delany''. Register of the Registry of Deeds, Ireland, Book 362, page 164, Document 243455, reproduced from LDS FHL British Film #531955, Volumes 361-362, 1784-1785</ref> involving his mother Ann Delany suggest Gale was born in Queen's County, Ireland, subsequently renamed County Laois.<ref>McCarthy, John Patrick (2006). ''Ireland: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present''. New York: Infobase Publishing, pp. 324-325.</ref>

Gale married Catherine Swope on January 4, 1800, in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.<ref>Ancestry.com. Cumberland County, Pennsylvania Church Records [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc. (2000). ''Original data: Transcribed from LDS Family History Library copies of church records for this locality''</ref> 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.<ref>Millett and Shulimson, '' Commandants of the Marine Corps'', p. 46</ref>

== Early career == Early in his Marine career, he fought, in fairly quick succession, the French, the Barbary pirates, the British, and a U.S. naval officer.<ref name=GroupedRef3/> Angered by the mistreatment of a Marine sentry, Gale killed Navy Lieutenant Allen MacKenzie in a duel.<ref name=GroupedRef1/> This incident, perceived to be an affront to the Corps,<ref name="tecom.usmc.mil">[http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Whos_Who/Gale_A.htm United States Marine Corps History Division ''Who's Who in Marine Corps History''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418190538/http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Whos_Who/Gale_A.htm |date=April 18, 2012 }}</ref> subsequently brought Commandant William W. Burrows' approval for Gale's defense of his Corps' honor.<ref name="tecom.usmc.mil"/> Later in his military career, Gale took "an active and gallant part" during the siege of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.<ref>Abbot, Willis John (1918). [https://archive.org/details/soldiersseastor00abbogoog/page/n103  ''Soldiers of the Sea''.] New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, p. 79</ref>

Increasing rank brought other difficulties.<ref name=GroupedRef3>Kettle Moraine Marine, ''A Colorful Commandant'', p. 4</ref> 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.<ref name=Moskin98>Moskin, J. Robert (1977). ''The U.S. Marine Corps Story.'' New York: McGraw-Hill, p. 98</ref>

== 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 or removal of a superior officer.<ref>Long, Richard A. (Undated). ''Anthony Gale.'' Incomplete manuscript, USMC Archives, Richard A Long Collection, Gale Series, Box 1, Folder 3, p. 8</ref> When Wharton died, a scramble for the Commandant's job ensued.<ref name="GroupedRef4">Moskin, ''The U.S. Marine Corps Story '', p. 99</ref>

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.<ref name="Bartlett, Merrill LtCol 1985"/> Brevet Major Archibald Henderson asserted that as the senior line officer present, he should be Acting Commandant.<ref>Millett and Shulimson,'' Commandants of the Marine Corps'', p. 49</ref> Henderson was also characteristically blunt in giving his assessment of Gale's qualifications to the new Secretary of the Navy, Smith Thompson.<ref name="tecom.usmc.mil"/> 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.<ref>Millett and Shulimson,'' Commandants of the Marine Corps'', p. 48</ref> 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,<ref>Thompson, Smith (March 5, 1819). ''Letter to Anthony Gale, subject: Appointment as Lieutenant Colonel Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps''</ref> ending a six-month period during which the Corps had been leaderless.<ref name=Moskin98/>

== 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.<ref>Millett and Shulimson,'' Commandants of the Marine Corps'', p. 50</ref> Soon came more direct troubles with Smith Thompson, who frequently countermanded Gale's orders.<ref name="tecom.usmc.mil"/> 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.<ref name=GroupedRef3/> 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.<ref>Moskin, ''The U.S. Marine Corps Story'', p. 102</ref>

== 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.<ref name="Moskin, J. Robert 1977 p. 103">Moskin, J. Robert (1977). ''The U.S. Marine Corps Story.'' New York: McGraw-Hill, p. 103</ref> 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<ref name="GroupedRef4" /> - who had earlier charged Gale with misappropriation<ref name="Moskin, J. Robert 1977 p. 103"/> - "a damned rascal, liar and coward" and threatening him with personal chastisement unless he would immediately challenge and fight him;<ref name=Niles/> 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.<ref name=Niles>Niles, William Ogden (1821) [https://books.google.com/books?id=S_MaAAAAYAAJ&dq=Niles+Register+%22desha,+paymaster+of+the%22&pg=PA132 ''Niles Weekly Register, Volume XIX.''], Baltimore: Franklin Press, p. 132</ref>

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.<ref>Long, ''Anthony Gale,'' p. 9</ref> 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.<ref>Millett and Shulimson, ''Commandants of the Marine Corps'', p. 52</ref> The court found Gale guilty, President James Monroe approved the verdict, and Gale was removed from office and dismissed from the Marine Corps on October 18, 1820.<ref>Moskin, ''The U.S. Marine Corps Story'', p. 104</ref>

== Later life == From Washington, Gale went first to Philadelphia where he spent several months in a hospital,<ref>Pennsylvania Hospital Archives (1821). ''Alphabetical Listing/Index to Admissions, ca. 1816-1826''</ref> then took up residence in Stanford, Kentucky.<ref>United States Census (1830). ''Subject: Anthony Gale.'' County of Lincoln, State of Kentucky, NARA Roll: M19-38; Page: 360.</ref><ref>United States Census (1840). ''Subject: Anthony Gale.'' County of Lincoln, State of Kentucky, Roll: 177, Pages: 88, 121.</ref> Armed with proof that he had been under the strain of temporary mental derangement while Commandant,<ref name="tecom.usmc.mil"/> 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.<ref>Long, ''Anthony Gale'', p. 10</ref>

Although some sources identify he died on December 12, 1842,<ref>Millett and Shulimson,'' Commandants of the Marine Corps'', p. 52</ref> most sources,<ref name="Bartlett, Merrill LtCol 1985"/><ref name=Schuon83/><ref>Nofi, Albert A. (1997). ''The Marine Corps Book of Lists.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press, p. 141</ref> including the April 1844 pension petition filed by his widow,<ref>{{cite book|title=Senate Documents, Otherwise Publ. as Public Documents and Executive Documents: 14th Congress, 1st Session-48th Congress, 2nd Session and Special Session, Volume 5|date=1844|publisher=Gales and Seaton|location=Washington, DC|page=323|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3YAFAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA157}}</ref> report his death to be on December 12, 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.<ref name=GroupedRef1/> 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, Kentucky, near 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,<ref>Broihier, Michael (March 11, 2010). Monument to 'Lost Commandant' Unveiled. ''Interior Journal''. p. A-10.</ref> in accordance with Chapter 6 of Marine Corps Order 3040.4.<ref>{{cite web|title=Marine Corps Casualty Assistance Program (Marine Corps Order 3040.4)|url=https://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/MCO%203040.4.pdf|publisher=United States Marine Corps|access-date=January 13, 2017}}</ref>

== See also == {{Portal|Biography}} *Commandant of the Marine Corps *Ashfield Gales

==References== {{Reflist|3}}

== Bibliography == *{{Cite web|title=A Colorful Commandant|date=December 2006|publisher=Kettle Moraine Marine|url=http://www.ketmordet.com/files/Dec_News.pdf|access-date=February 17, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052748/http://www.ketmordet.com/files/Dec_News.pdf|archive-date=March 4, 2016}} *{{cite book|last=Abbot|first=Willis John|author-link=Willis J. Abbot|title=Soldiers of the Sea|year=1918|publisher=Dodd, Mead and Company|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/soldiersseastor00abbogoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/soldiersseastor00abbogoog/page/n103 79]|quote=captain anthony gale.}} *{{Cite web|last=Bartlett|first=Merrill LtCol. USMC (Ret.)|title=Court-Martial of a Commandant, The Story of Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Gale, Fourth Commandant of the Marine Corps|date=June 1985|publisher=Proceedings Magazine|url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1985/june/old-marine-corps-court-martial-commandant}} *{{Cite web|last=Jordan|first=Robert|title=The Mystery of Lieutenant Colonel Commandant Anthony Gale|date=March 2007|publisher=Leatherneck Magazine|url=http://www.leatherneckmagazine-digital.com/leatherneckmagazine-share/200703/?pg=48|archive-url=https://archive.today/20071012201026/http://www.leatherneckmagazine-digital.com/leatherneckmagazine-share/200703/?pg=48|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 12, 2007}} *{{cite book|last=Millett|first=Allan Reed|author2=Jack Shulimson|title=Commandants of the Marine Corps|pages=45–53|year=2004|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis|isbn=0-87021-012-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qns8bW_SESYC}} *{{cite book|last=Moskin|first=J. Robert|title=The U.S. Marine Corps Story|year=1977|publisher=McGraw-Hill|location=New York|isbn=0-07-043453-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/usmarinecorpssto0000mosk_p2u9}} *{{cite book|last=Nofi|first=Albert A.|author-link=Albert Nofi|title=The Marine Corps Book of Lists|year=1997|publisher=Da Capo Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=0-938289-89-6}} *{{cite book|last=Schuon|first=Karl|title=U. S. Marine Corps Biographical Dictionary|year=1963|publisher=Franklin Watts, Inc|location=New York|url= https://archive.org/details/usmarinecorpsbio017890mbp|quote=anthony gale.}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gale, Anthony}} Category:Year of birth missing Category:1843 deaths Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of the War of 1812 Category:Irish emigrants to the United States Category:Commandants of the United States Marine Corps Category:United States Marine Corps officers Category:United States Marine Corps personnel who were court-martialed Category:American duellists Category:Lieutenant colonels