John Marshall Gamble was born in Brooklyn,
New York in 1791 and died in New York City on September
11, 1836. Lieut. Col. Gamble was an officer in the United
States Marine Corps during the early 19th century and
he was the first and remains the only U.S. Marine to command
a U.S. Navy ship, commanding the Greenwich during the
War of 1812.
He was appointed Second Lieutenant on January
16, 1809. Holding the rank of Captain, he was stationed
in the South Sea during the War of 1812 and distinguished
himself in many enterprises, including encounters with
people of the Marquesas Islands and sailing a seized ship
with only a four-man crew and without benefit of a chart
in a 17-day voyage to the Hawaiian Islands.
He was brevetted a Lieutenant Col. on March
3, 1827. The destroyer USS Gamble was named for him and
his brother, U.S. Navy Lieut. Peter Gamble.
NOTE: Death notice for Gamble was published in The Troy
Daily Whig on September 20, 1836.
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