John Harris

John Harris (May 20, 1793 – May 12, 1864) was the sixth Commandant of the Marine Corps. He served in the Marine Corps for over 50 years, attaining the rank of colonel.

Early life and family Harris was born in East Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, to an established local family that produced a number of military officers. His father, William Harris, served in the Pennsylvania militia during the American Revolutionary War and Whiskey Rebellion and was commissioned a brigadier general prior to the outbreak of the War of 1812. John's older brother, Thomas, was a naval surgeon who served as Chief of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. His brother, William, married Elizabeth Matilda Patterson, granddaughter of Thomas Leiper, and his brother Stephen married Marianne Smith, granddaughter of Persifor Frazer and first cousin of Persifor Frazer Smith; Stephen's sons Stephen and Joseph both worked for the United States Coast Survey before and during the American Civil War.

Career John Harris was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on 23 April 1814 and promoted to first lieutenant two months later. He joined the Marines of the USS Guerriere under the command of Commodore John Rodgers that summer at Charlestown, Maryland, and served with the forces that opposed the British advance on Baltimore. He was ordered to the defense of Washington but then ordered back to Baltimore before reaching Bladensburg. He wrote his brother "I could see plenty of red coats but could not get within musket shot of them." He described the attack on Fort McHenry as "the handsomest sight I ever saw... to see the bombs and rockets flying and the firing from our three forts."

The following year he was placed in command of the Marine contingent aboard the USS Macedonian, which sailed with Commodore Stephen Decatur from New York in May 1815 against the Barbary pirates. He was brevetted captain on March 3, 1825. He returned to Washington in March 1837 as the bearer of a treaty which had been made by the commanding general with the Seminole chiefs. Promoted to major on October 6, 1841, he served until the Mexican–American War at Philadelphia, Washington, and Norfolk.