Samuel Nicholas was born in Philadelphia in 1744. In 1751 at age 7, sponsored by his uncle, he enrolled at the newly-established Philadelphia Academy (with which the College of Philadelphia, now the University of Pennsylvania, was affiliated upon its founding in 1754). He completed his studies in 1759. On 28 November, Congress confirmed Capt. Nicholas’s commission in writing and established his pay at $32 per month. Capt. Nicholas moved quickly. By the end of the year, he had raised five companies of Marines and then sailed with them under Commodore Hopkins to the Bahamas. There, in March 1776, he led 284 men in a nearly-bloodless raid on Nassau, catching the British entirely by surprise and capturing two forts, and a huge quantity of military stores. It was the Marines’ first-ever amphibious landing and the most successful naval operation of the Revolutionary War.
Returning to Philadelphia, Nicholas resumed recruiting and training and was promoted to major. He led three companies in the Trenton-Princeton campaign. Transferred to the artillery on 1 February 1777, they remained in the field with General Washington until the following spring. Thereafter, as a senior officer but without a field command, Major Nicholas continued supervising, and recruiting. By the time of the British surrender at Yorktown, the Marines’ role diminished and in 1783, the then-39-year-old Nicholas returned to his business and life in Philadelphia. He died there during a yellow fever epidemic on 27 August 1790, and is buried in the Friends Burial Ground.