View source for Presley O'Bannon

{{Short description|18/19th-century United States Marine Corps officer}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[First Lieutenant (United States)|First Lieutenant]]
| name          = Presley Neville O'Bannon
| birth_date    = c. 1776
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1850|9|12|1776||}}
| birth_place   = [[Fauquier County, Virginia]]
| death_place   = [[Henry County, Kentucky]]
| placeofburial = [[Frankfort Cemetery]]
| image         = PresleyOBannon.jpg
| caption       = 
| nickname      = "Hero of Derna"<ref name=WW_USMC>"First Lieutenant Presley Neville O'Bannon", ''Who's Who in Marine Corps History.''</ref>
| allegiance    = [[United States of America]]
| branch        = [[United States Marine Corps]]
| serviceyears  = 1801-1807<ref name="WW_USMC"/>
| rank          = [[First lieutenant]]
| commands      = 
| unit          = 
| battles       = {{tree list}}
*[[First Barbary War]] 
**[[Battle of Derna (1805)|Battle of Derna]]
{{tree list/end}}
}}
[[File:Presley O Bannon.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Presley O'Bannon, from Naval Documents<ref>{{Cite book|last=United States. Office of Naval Records and Library.|title=Naval documents related to the United States wars with the Barbary powers ... : naval operations including diplomatic background ...|publisher=Washington : Government Printing Office, 1939-44.|oclc=1014224873}}</ref>]]
[[File:Presley O Bannon grave monument 2020.jpg|thumb|upright|Presley O'Bannon's grave monument in [[Frankfort Cemetery]]]]

'''Presley O'Bannon''' (c. 1776 &ndash; September 12, 1850) was a [[First Lieutenant (United States)|first lieutenant]] in the [[United States Marine Corps]], famous for his exploits in the [[First Barbary War]]. In recognition of his bravery, he was presented a sword for his part in attempting to restore Prince [[Yusuf Karamanli|Hamet Karamanli]] to his throne as the bey of [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]]. This sword became the model for the [[Mameluke sword]], adopted in 1825 for Marine Corps officers, which is part of the formal uniform today.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.diakonos.com/tun-tavern/noteworthy.php3 
|access-date=2007-02-10|title=Noteworthy Marines
|publisher=Tun-Tavern.com}}</ref>

==Biography==
Presley Neville O'Bannon was born in [[Fauquier County, Virginia]], to William O'Bannon, a captain of the [[Continental Army]] in the [[American Revolutionary War]], and Anne Neville, a sister of [[John Neville (general)|General John Neville]], commander of [[Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)|Fort Pitt]] during the Revolution. O'Bannon was probably named after Neville's son Presley, who was [[aide-de-camp]] to the [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Marquis de Lafayette]].<ref name=UCPP>Union County, Past and Present, Writers' Program (U.S.). Kentucky. Schuhmann Printing, 1941 - Union County (Ky.)</ref>

O'Bannon entered the Marine Corps on January 18, 1801. As a [[first Lieutenant#United States|first lieutenant]] assigned to {{USS|Argus|1803|6}}, he commanded a detachment of seven Marines and two Navy [[midshipmen]] in diplomatic Consul General [[William Eaton (soldier)|William Eaton]]'s small army during the [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] campaign of the [[First Barbary War]]. In the combined operations with the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]], he led the successful attack at the [[Battle of Derna (1805)|Battle of Derna]], a coastal town in eastern modern [[Libya]], on April 27, 1805, giving the [[Marines' Hymn]] its line "to the shores of Tripoli." Lieutenant O'Bannon became the first man to raise a [[Flag of the United States|United States flag]] over foreign soil in time of war;<ref name=OBH>{{cite web
|access-date=2008-03-01
|url=http://www.usmcfsa.com/Rough%20River%20KY,%202002%20014.jpg
|title=O'Bannon House Historical Marker
|publisher=Kentucky Historical Society
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414010546/http://www.usmcfsa.com/Rough%20River%20KY,%202002%20014.jpg
|archive-date=2008-04-14
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> Eaton, a former Army officer, had raised the flag several months earlier while traveling on the [[Nile River]] from [[Alexandria, Egypt|Alexandria]] to [[Cairo, Egypt|Cairo]], but it had not been in a time of war. According to Marine Corps legend, Hamet Karamanli was so impressed with O'Bannon's bravery that he gave him a [[Mameluke sword]] as a gesture of respect.

O'Bannon resigned from the Marine Corps on March 6, 1807. He moved to [[Logan County, Kentucky]], making his home in [[Russellville, Kentucky|Russellville]]. He served in the [[Kentucky General Assembly|Kentucky State Legislature]] in 1812, 1817, and 1820–21, and in the [[Kentucky General Assembly|Kentucky State Senate]] from 1824 to 1826. Some time before 1826, he married Matilda Heard, daughter of Major James Heard and Nancy Morgan, a daughter of American Revolutionary War General [[Daniel Morgan]], commander at the [[Battle of Cowpens]] in 1781.<ref name="UCPP" />

O'Bannon died in 1850 at age 74 in [[Pleasureville, Kentucky]]. In 1919, his remains were moved to the [[Frankfort Cemetery]] in Kentucky's state capital.

==Mameluke sword==
Because of O'Bannon's distinguished record during the Derna campaign, [[Commandant of the United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps Commandant]] [[Archibald Henderson]] in 1825 adopted the Mameluke sword for wear by all Marine Corps commissioned officers. Since the initial distribution in 1826, the Mameluke sword has been worn except for between 1859 and 1875, when regulations temporarily required Marine officers to wear the model U.S. Army M1850 foot officers' sword. Mameluke swords are worn by Marine Corps officers as prescribed with all uniforms except the evening dress and utility uniform.<ref name=Marines.mil>
{{cite web|access-date=2008-02-08
|url=https://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/MCO%20P1020.34G%20W%20CH%201-5.pdf
|title=MARINE CORPS UNIFORM REGULATIONS §3032. SWORD AND ACCESSORIES, OFFICERS
|work=MARINE CORPS ORDER P1020.34G W/CH 1-5
|publisher=Marines.mil
}}</ref>

==Namesakes==
Three Navy ships have been named [[USS O'Bannon|USS ''O'Bannon'']] in his honor: 
* {{USS|O'Bannon|DD-177}}, a {{Sclass|Wickes|destroyer}} which was launched in 1919 and struck in 1936;<ref name=OBannonI>{{cite web |access-date=2008-03-01
|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/o1/obannon-i.htm
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040624014831/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/o1/obannon-i.htm
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=June 24, 2004
|title= O'Bannon (I)
|work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
|publisher=Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy}}</ref> 
*{{USS|O'Bannon|DD-450}}, a {{Sclass|Fletcher|destroyer|2}} which was launched in 1942 and struck in 1970;<ref name=OBannonII>{{cite web |access-date=2008-03-01
|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/o1/obannon-ii.htm
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040329024600/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/o1/obannon-ii.htm
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=March 29, 2004
|title=O'Bannon (II)
|work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
|publisher=Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy}}</ref> USS O'Bannon(DD-450) in service during WWII and according to legend attacked a Japanese submarine with potatoes. 
*{{USS|O'Bannon|DD-987}}, a {{Sclass|Spruance|destroyer|2}}, which was launched in 1978 and struck in 2005.<ref name=OBannonIII>{{cite web|access-date=2008-03-01
|url={{NVR url|id=DD987}}
|title=O'Bannon (DD 987)
|work=Naval Vessel Register
|publisher=NAVSEA Shipbuilding Support Office, United States Navy
}}</ref>

O'Bannon Hall, at [[the Basic School]] in [[Quantico, Virginia]] is named in honor of Presley O'Bannon.<ref name=OBH1>{{cite web
|access-date=2008-03-01
|url=http://www.usmcfsa.com/O'BANNON%20HOUSE.htm
|title=O'Bannon House
|publisher=USMCFSA
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820070853/http://www.usmcfsa.com/O'BANNON%20HOUSE.htm
|archive-date=2008-08-20
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}

*[[List of historic United States Marines]]
{{Clear}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book|author=Crouch, Howard R.|title=Historic American Swords|location=Fairfax, VA|publisher=SCS Publications|year=1999|isbn=0-9613581-6-5|pages=99–103|oclc=55676086}}
*{{cite journal|author=<nowiki>Cureton, LTC Charles H., USMC (Ret.)</nowiki>|title=Early Marine Corps Swords|journal=The Bulletin of the American Society of Arms Collectors|issue=93|year=2006|pages=121–132}}
*{{cite web|access-date=2008-03-01
|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/dd-987.htm
|title=DD 987 O'Bannon
|publisher=GlobalSecurity.org}}
*{{cite web
|access-date=2008-02-03
|url=http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Whos_Who/O%27Bannon_PN.htm
|title=First Lieutenant Presley Neville O'Bannon, USMC
|work=Who's Who in Marine Corps History
|publisher=History Division, United States Marine Corps
}}{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*{{cite book
|author=Mowbray, E. Andrew
|title=The American Eagle Pommel Sword, the Early Years 1793-1830
|location=Lincoln, RI
|publisher=Man at Arms Publications
|year=1988
|pages=218–219}}
*{{cite book|author=Peterson, Harold L.|title=The American Sword 1775-1945|location=Philadelphia|publisher=Ray Riling Arms Books Co.|year=1970|isbn=0-486-42802-8|pages=192–193|oclc=51653498|author-link=Harold L. Peterson}}

==Further reading==
*London, Joshua E. [https://web.archive.org/web/20141218150126/http://victoryintripoli.com/ ''Victory in Tripoli: How America's How America's War with the Barbary Pirates Established the U.S. Navy and Shaped a Nation'']. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005.
* Smethurst, David. ''Tripoli: The United States' First War on Terror.'' New York: Presidio Press, 2006.
* {{Cite book|last=Zacks, Richard|title=The pirate coast : Thomas Jefferson, the first marines, and the secret mission of 1805|isbn=978-1-4013-0849-0|oclc=929030706|date=2006-05-31|publisher=Hyperion Books }}Hyperion, 2005. Was played by John Payne in the 1950 Paramount motion picture 'Tripoli'

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{cite web
|url=http://www.obannon.navy.mil/Namesake.htm
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050630073609/http://www.obannon.navy.mil/Namesake.htm
|archive-date=2005-06-30
|title=Presley Neville O'Bannon, 1st Lt., USMC (1776-1850)
|work=Namesake
|publisher=United States Navy}}
*[http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2012/08/08/from-the-halls-of-montezuma-to-the-shores-of-tripoli-presley-neville-obabbib-and-the-marine-corps-sword/ ''From the Halls of Montezuma To the Shores of Tripoli: Presley Neville O'Bannon and the Marine Corps Sword''], at [http://www.virginiamemory.com/ Virginia Memory]

{{US Marine Corps navbox}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obannon, Presley}}
[[Category:1770s births]]
[[Category:1850 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at Frankfort Cemetery]]
[[Category:People from Fauquier County, Virginia]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps officers]]
[[Category:American military personnel of the First Barbary War]]
[[Category:People from Russellville, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Kentucky state senators]]
[[Category:American people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]