Anthony Gale

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Anthony Gale
September 17, 1782 – 1843
Place of birth	Dublin, Ireland
Place of death	Stanford, Kentucky
Allegiance	USMC
Years of service	1798-1820
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Commands	Commandant of the Marine Corps
Battles/wars	War of 1812

Anthony Gale (born September 17, 1782 in Dublin, Ireland) was the fourth Commandant of the United States Marine Corps and the only one ever fired. Fewer records survive concerning him than any other Commandant but it is known that he was commissioned a second lieutenant on September 2, 1798. Thereafter he fought, in fairly quick succession, the French, the Barbary pirates, the British, and one of his Navy mess-mates. The last encounter, involving an affront to the Corps, brought about the naval officer's sudden demise and Commandant William W. Burrows's approval for Gale's defense of his Corps' honor.

Unfortunately for Gale, increasing rank brought other difficulties not resolved so directly. In 1815, while commanding at Philadelphia, he fell out with Commandant Franklin Wharton over construction of barracks. A court of inquiry cleared him, but he was banished to a less desirable post, where he nursed a feeling of persecution and resumed drinking.

As a consequence of these and other alleged shortcomings, Captain Gale, although next senior at the time of Wharton's death, had to battle for the job. Captain Archibald Henderson, second in line, was characteristically blunt in assessing Gale's qualifications, or lack of them, to the Secretary of the Navy. After a court of inquiry exonerated him, Captain Gale, with 21 years of service, became Lieutenant Colonel Commandant on March 3, 1819. By then, the Corps had been without a leader for six months.

Soon came troubles with Navy Secretary Smith Thompson, who frequently countermanded LtCol Gale's orders in a humiliating manner. Finally, Gale courageously submitted a letter analyzing the proper division of function between himself and the Secretary, and respectfully pointed out the impossibility of his position. He paralleled this official reaction to infringements of his authority by unofficial retreats to alcohol. Three weeks later on September 18, 1820 he was under arrest, charged with offenses of alcoholic and related nature. By October 8, 1820, the court had found him guilty, President James Monroe approved the verdict, and Gale was removed from office and the Marine Corps.

From Washington, Gale went first to Philadelphia where he spent several months in hospitals, then took up residence in Stanford Kentucky. Armed with proof that he had been under the strain of temporary mental derangement while Commandant, he spent 15 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 in 1843 in Stanford, Kentucky.