First “Commandant” of the Marine Corps. Born in 1744 in Pennsylvania, he was commissioned a “Captain of Marines” by the Continental Congress on Nov. 28, 1775 and was promoted to major on June 25, 1776. While the resolution of Congress on Nov. 10, 1775 provided for a colonel to command two battalions of Marines, Nicholas was the senior officer when the organization ceases to exist in 1781 and is therefore considered to be the first Commandant. He died Aug. 27, 1790.