Early career Charles Heywood was born on October 3, 1839, in
Waterville, Maine, son of
Charles Heywood, a
lieutenant in the
U. S. Navy, who had distinguished himself in the
defense of
San José del Cabo during the
Mexican American War. He was appointed
second lieutenant in the
Marine Corps from
New York, on April 5, 1858. During that year, he was stationed at
the Marine Barracks,
Washington, D.C., and at
Brooklyn, New York. While on duty in Brooklyn, he served in the 1858
quarantine riots at
Staten Island, New York. In March 1861, he returned to duty on board
Cumberland and with that vessel took part in the destruction of the
Norfolk Navy Yard during the
Civil War. His services during the Civil War thus secured for him two brevet ranks for distinguished gallantry in the presence of the enemy. After the Civil War, Heywood joined the
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States – an organization of officers who has served in the Union armed forces during the war. From 1865 to 1867, he performed duty on board various ships, serving as
Admiral Farragut's Fleet Marine Officer on the
European Station and later in the same capacity in the
North Atlantic Squadron. During this period he also served for a time at Washington, Norfolk and Brooklyn.
Service as Commandant On January 30, 1891, Lt. Col. Heywood was appointed
Colonel Commandant of the Marine Corps. At that time the Marine Corps consisted of 75 officers and 2,100 enlisted men, which gradually rose during his tenure of office until at the time of his retirement in 1903, it had reached the total of 278 officers and 7,532 enlisted personnel, the highest strength up to that point. The Marines at that time were armed with obsolescent
M1884 Springfield rifles and .45-70 black-powder ammunition. Training consisted mostly of route marches and drill practice, as there were rarely enough funds to permit regular target practice. As Commandant, Heywood attempted to improve the fighting ability of Marines in their role as naval infantry, while simultaneously attempting to integrate the Marine Corps more fully into modern naval sea operations. To this end Heywood instituted a regular program of marksmanship training, while having marines train to become gun crews for the secondary batteries aboard the navy's cruisers and battleships. Although the Marines were scheduled to receive new smokeless powder
6 mm Lee rifles in 1895, delays in production and insufficient appropriations caused the Marine Corps to retain their old M1884 .45-70 Springfield rifles as late as 1897. Commandant Heywood was said to have refused initial deliveries of small allotments of Lee rifles to Marine battalions until he was given assurances that an appropriation would be made to the Corps for at least 3,000 Lee rifles, improved target ranges, and enough ammunition to continue existing marksmanship training programs. Despite Heywood's efforts, the
declaration of war with
Spain in 1898 found the Marine Corps ill-prepared for combat in terms of training with modern small arms, battle drills, and small-unit exercises. With no battalion-sized Marine forces at hand, Commandant Heywood ordered a scratch battalion of Marines formed from around 650 Marines stationed across New England, which sailed from Brooklyn, New York just five days later aboard the , a former banana boat that had been hastily converted into a troop transport upon the outbreak of hostilities. By special acts of
Congress, Heywood was promoted to
brigadier general in March 1899 and to major general on July 2, 1902. He was the first Marine to hold the rank of
major general. He was buried in
Arlington National Cemetery. ==Gallery==