Continental Naval Captain Charles Alexander

ALEXANDER, CHARLES

PA/(P/A) Captain, Continental Navy Captain, Pennsylvania Navy Commander, Pennsylvania Privateers

Charles Alexander was a merchant skipper and citizen of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He entered the Pennsylvania Navy on 24 July 1775, when he was commissioned as a Captain and assigned to Pennsylvania Navy Galley Bull Dog. [NDAR, I, 964] He commanded the Pennsylvania Navy Galley Chatham in March 1776. On 6 March he requested appointment to command a floating battery then under construction by the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety. On 10 March he was ordered to go to New York to recruit sailors with Lieutenant John Hennessy. The two were back from the fruitless trip by the first week in April 1776. On 12 April Alexander resigned from the Pennsylvania Navy to enter the Continental service. He was commissioned as Captain in the Continental Navy on 18 April and assigned to Continental Navy Schooner Wasp. He participated, indirectly, in the Battle of the Delaware River on 8/9 May 1776. He was re-commissioned on 6 June 1776 and promoted to command Continental Navy Ship Delaware, one of the new frigates. Alexander was ranked 8th on the Captains' List of 10 October 1776. [xx] During the crisis following the British conquest of New Jersey, Alexander and his crew joined Washington's army, being assigned to Colonel Cadwalader's column. The captain and crew were recalled by Robert Morris (acting for the Marine Committee) on 13 December 1776. [Smith, Marines, 93] Alexander was in Philadelphia on 16 December 1776 and work was progressing on the Delaware. [NRAR, 30] On 8 April 1777 the Marine Committee issued sailing orders to Alexander. He was to go to sea and cruise along the American coast, searching for British transports. [NRAR, 42] The next day the Delaware dropped down the river to Fort Island. Here the Delaware remained throughout the spring and summer. [Smith, Marines, 124] Alexander was at Philadelphia, in the Delaware, in August 1777. On 5 August he was ordered to lend men to vessels under Captain Isaiah Robinson’s command. On 6 August Alexander was ordered down the river to command a task force. Alexander complained to the Pennsylvania Navy Board that one of its pilots had refused to go aboard the Delaware and pilot it through the chevaux-de-frise on 7 August. He commanded a task force in the lower Delaware from 7 August 1777-26 September 1777. He was down the river by 21 August, when a slight engagement was fought with the British, resulting in the capture of Pearl's tender. Another slight encounter occurred on 24 August. He was ordered to attack the enemy shipping on 25 August. On 15 September 1777 Alexander requested that lookouts be posted in certain riverside towns. Delaware was anchored off Billingsport, New Jersey on that date. On 26 September he was ordered to take Continental Navy Sloop Fly and Pennsylvania Navy Ship Montgomery and defend Philadelphia. [xx] On 26 September 1777 the Marine Committee (then at Lancaster, Pennsylvania) notified Alexander that Commodore Hazelwood of the Pennsylvania Navy was assuming control of all naval forces in the Delaware River. Valor in defense of the river was urged on Alexander. [NRAR, 53] On 27 September Alexander led his force to battle against British shore batteries. During the Battle off Philadelphia he and the Delaware were captured. [xx] Alexander and his officers were confined in the state house in Philadelphia. The place had a clock tower, with the clock’s faceplate removed and the hole boarded up. On the night of 30 November/1 December 1777, Alexander and four of his officers climbed the tower, removed the boards, and threw the lines holding the clocks’ weights to the outside, by which they climbed down to the ground. The remaining prisoners drew up the lines and replaced the boards. Nevertheless, the escape was detected the next day. [NDAR, X, 645] On 9 December Alexander wrote to the Marine Committee, which referred his letter to the Continental Congress, where it was read on 17 December. [JCC 9:1032] Alexander delivered a proposal to George Washington on 22 January 1778 concerning attacking the British shipping in the Delaware River, which was then iced up. [NDAR, XI, 188 and note, 213 and note] On 8 December 1778, Alexander was commissioned commander of the Pennsylvania Privateer Sloop Elizabeth, a vessel of twelve guns and a crew of thirty men, owned by Andrew and James Caldwell of Philadelphia. [NRAR, 280] On 21 May 1779 Alexander was commissioned as commander of the Pennsylvania Privateer Brigantine Active, owned by John Wilcocks & Co. of Philadelphia. Active was a fourteen gun vessel with a crew of forty. [NRAR, 218] On 2 March 1782 he was appointed as commander of the Pennsylvania Privateer Ship General O'Reily, with fourteen guns and a crew of fifty men. [NOAR, 3]

Source: http://www.awiatsea.com/Officers/Officers%20A.html

The 24-gun ship Delaware, Captain Charles Alexander, had previously been captured in an attempt to destroy the batteries thrown up by the British.

Source: Battles of the British Navy, Volume 1, page 242.

Captain Charles Alexander, a Scotchman, who had entered the American service, and held the command of the Wasp.

Source: American Naval Biography, edited by John Frost, page 110

Charles Alexander received his commission as captain in the Continental Navy in 1776 and ordered to command of the new frigate Delaware. Upon commissioning the next year, the frigate aided in the defense of Philadelphia, but ran aground and was captured by the British. Captain Alexander later commanded the Hornet and Wasp, both of which had been purchased in Baltimore by Navy Agent Col Benjamin Harrison.

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