Harris was born in East Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, to an established local family that produced a number of military officers.

[2] He joined the Marines of the USS Guerriere under the command of Commodore John Rodgers that summer at Charlestown, Maryland, and served with the forces that opposed the British advance on Baltimore.

"[3] The following year he was placed in command of the Marine contingent aboard the USS Macedonian, which sailed with Commodore Stephen Decatur from New York in May 1815 against the Barbary pirates.

"[This quote needs a citation] Captain Harris was awarded brevet rank of major on January 27, 1837, "for gallantry and good conduct in the war against Florida Indians, particularly in the affair of the Hatchee Lustee.

[2] During Harris' term as Commandant shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War, nearly half of his officers resigned to serve the Confederacy and he labored to reconstitute the weakened Corps.

During the early days of the Civil War, when contraband traffic began to flow from Maryland, Colonel Harris detailed an entire battalion of Marines to serve as United States Secret Service operators in the troubled area, with the result that the situation was well in hand within a brief period.

[2] This may be attributed to the fact that the Marine Corps of that period was composed of relatively few men in comparison with the strength of the Army or the regular Navy.

He is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C.[6] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.