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Banished to the wilderness! Of all the glorious assignments that awaited enterprising young officers, this one was not at the top of the list for Lieutenant of Marines John Brooks.
Command of a detachment on one of the fast, heavily armed frigates, or posting to the barracks at New York or the seat of power, Washington, D.C., were the types of duties that appealed to ambitious junior officers. The disappointed Brooks was instead slated for the backwaters of Lake Erie.
If Brooks felt slighted by his appointment, it was not entirely unwarranted. Scion and namesake of surgeon and Revolutionary War general, and later governor of Massachusetts, John Brooks, the younger Brooks was born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. After graduating from Harvard, Brooks studied medicine before receiving a lieutenant's commission in the Marine Corps on October 1, 1807. His early career was everything that could be asked for, including a stint with the Marine guard at Boston and command of the detail on USS Wasp.
However, Brooks' fortunes and career potential took a sudden downturn. A fellow officer's accusation resulted in Brooks' arrest for cheating at cards, and in December 1812 he appeared before a court-martial board. A guilty verdict was handed down, but higher authority overturned the sentence and a confusing situation ensued. Brooks found himself in limbo. Out of favor with his superiors, he could not anticipate the fame and glory his contemporaries were achieving during the early months of the War of 1812.
The Marine Corps had established a reputation as a tough, disciplined fighting force. With regularity, Marine units exhibited irrepressible courage. Even in defeat, the Marines stood tall. When the U.S. frigate Chesapeake was captured by H.M.S. Shannon off Boston harbor on June 1, 1813, the fierce defense by the Marine contingent proved the only bright spot in an otherwise lamentable engagement.
Thus the impropriety of John Brooks was a deviation from the expected norm, and the strict code of honor demanded that he pay for his indiscretion. Fortunately for Brooks, his superiors apparently wished to avoid a major scandal at a time when every experienced officer was desperately needed. In the spring of 1813, the Commandant, Lieutenant Colonel Franklin Wharton, provided a ready solution to...