William Alexander | |
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| Born | (1726-04-26)April 26, 1726 |
| Died | January 15, 1783(1783-01-15) (aged 56) Albany, New York, U.S. |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  Continental Army |
| Years of service | 1775–1783 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Commands | 1st New Jersey Regiment Continental Army (2 months) |
| Battles / wars | |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | Philip Livingston (father-in-law) William Livingston (brother-in-law) |
Major GeneralWilliam Alexander, also known asLord Stirling (April 26 [O.S. April 15] 1726[1] – January 15, 1783) was aContinental Army officer who served in theAmerican Revolutionary War. He held a claim to be the male heir to the Scottish title ofEarl of Stirling through Scottish lineage (being the senior male descendant of the paternal grandfather of the1st Earl of Stirling, who had died in 1640), and he sought the title sometime after 1756. His claim was initially granted by a Scottish court in 1759; however, theHouse of Lords ultimately overruled the court and denied the title in 1762. He continued to hold himself out as "Lord Stirling" regardless.[2]
Lord Stirling commanded a brigade at theBattle of Long Island, where his rearguard action resulted in his capture but allowed the main body of the army to escape. He was later returned by prisoner exchange, received a promotion, and continued to serve with distinction throughout the war. Trusted byWashington, he also exposed theConway Cabal in 1778.
William Alexander was born April 26, 1726, inNew York City in what was then theProvince of New York, a part ofBritish America.[3] He was the son of lawyerJames Alexander and merchantMary Spratt Alexander. His nephew was SenatorJohn Rutherfurd (1760–1840).
He was educated, ambitious, and proficient inmathematics andastronomy. He joined his mother, Mary Alexander, the widow ofDavid Provost, in the provision business left her by the death of her first husband.[4]
TheEarldom of Stirling in the Scottish peerage became dormant or extinct upon the death of Henry Alexander, 5th Earl of Stirling. William Alexander's father,James Alexander, who had fled from Scotland in 1716 after participating in theJacobite rising, did not claim the title. Upon his father's death, William lay claim to the title and filed suit. His relationship to the 5th Earl was not throughheirs of the body, but throughheirs male collateral. Thus, he was not entitled to a title inherited only by the male line descendants of the 1st Earl. However, the inheritance byproximity of blood had been questioned. It was settled in his favor, by a unanimous vote of a jury of twelve in a Scottish court in 1759, and William claimed the disputed title of Earl of Stirling. It is not clear whether the case went to court because of an unfavorable answer from theLord Lyon King of Arms concerning the peerage.[5]
Legal opinion was that this was a "Scottish heir" problem, so the title right was solved. This might have been unopposed, as indisputable peerage, except there was a catch. The two sponsors,Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, andJohn Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, encouraged William Alexander through representatives to seek the title. The goal was vast land holdings in America that the holder of the title was to enjoy. The sponsors were to receive money and land if William was successful. With this in mind, William decided to petition the House of Lords. A friend and professional agent in Scotland,Andrew Stuart, wrote and advised William Alexander not to petition the House of Lords. He felt that the right of indisputable peerage demanded that William just claim the titles as others had done. His opinion was that others lay similar claims to titles so he would not be opposed. It is possible Alexander did not want to commit a crime, or be found out, and if the House of Lords advanced his claim it would be forever lawful. One problem was that to prove his claim in court, two old men were called upon to testify that William Alexander did in fact descend from the first Earl through his uncle named John Alexander. This might have been persuasive in a Scottish court, but might be considered dubious in England.[6]
Alexander inherited a large fortune from his father, dabbled inmining andagriculture, and lived a life filled with the trappings befitting a Scottish lord. This was an expensive lifestyle, and he eventually went into debt to finance it. He began building a grand estate in theBasking Ridge section ofBernards Township, New Jersey, and upon its completion, sold his house in New York and moved there.George Washington was a guest there on several occasions during the revolution and gave away Alexander's daughter at her wedding. In 1767, theRoyal Society of Arts awarded Alexander a gold medal for accepting the society's challenge to establish viticulture and wine making in the North American colonies by cultivating 2,100 grape (V. vinifera) vines on his New Jersey estate.[7] Alexander was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1770.[8]
When theAmerican Revolutionary War began, Stirling was made acolonel in theNew Jersey colonial militia.[9] Because he was wealthy and willing to spend his own money in support of the Patriot cause, he outfitted his unit, the1st New Jersey Regiment, at his own expense. He distinguished himself early by leading a group of volunteers in the capture of an armed British naval transport.
TheSecond Continental Congress appointed himbrigadier general in theContinental Army in March 1776.[9]
At theBattle of Long Island, in August of that year, Stirling led a brigade inSullivan's division. He held against repeated attacks by a superiorBritish Army force under the command of Gen.James Grant at theOld Stone House nearGowanus Creek and took heavy casualties. Additionalredcoats had made a wide flanking attack sweeping to the east through the lightly-guardedJamaica Pass, one of a series of low entrances through the ridge line of hills running east to west through the center of Long Island, catching the Patriot forces on their left side. Stirling ordered his brigade to retreat while he himself kept the1st Maryland Regiment as rear-guard. Though heavily outnumbered he led a counter-attack, eventually dispersing his men before being overwhelmed. Stirling himself was taken prisoner but he had held the British forces occupied long enough to allow the main body of Washington's army to escape to defensive positions atBrooklyn Heights, along theEast River shoreline. Later, under the cover of a miraculous fog which enveloped the river, Washington was able to barge his remaining troops and equipment across back toManhattan andNew York City.
Because of his actions at Long Island, one newspaper called Stirling "the bravest man in America", and he was praised by both Washington and the British for his bravery and audacity. Later a commemorative monument was erected at the site of the military engagements and embattled retreat and the plot of land deeded to theState of Maryland nearProspect Park as a sacred parcel of "blood-soaked Maryland soil".
Stirling was released in a prisoner exchange, in return for governorMontfort Browne, and promoted to the rank ofmajor general,[10][vague] and became one of Washington's most able and trusted generals. Washington held him in such high regard that during thesecond Middlebrook encampment, he placed him, headquartered at the nearbyVan Horne House, in command of theContinental Army for nearly two months, from December 21, 1778, when he left to meet with Congress in Philadelphia, until he returned about February 5, 1779.[11]
Throughout most of the war Stirling was considered to be third or fourth in rank behind General Washington. At theBattle of Trenton on December 26, 1776, he received the surrender of aHessian auxiliary regiment. On June 26, 1777, atMetuchen, he awaited an attack, contrary to Washington's orders. His position was turned and his division defeated, losing two guns and a hundred fifty men in theBattle of Short Hills. Subsequent battles atBrandywine andGermantown inPennsylvania during the campaign to defend thePatriot capital ofPhiladelphia andMonmouth inNew Jersey, cemented his reputation for bravery and sound tactical judgment.[citation needed]
Stirling also played a part in exposing theConway Cabal, a conspiracy of disaffected Continental officers looking to remove Washington as Commander-in Chief and replace him with GeneralHoratio Gates. According to one author, "Lord Stirling never gave dull parties. His dinners were a Niagara of liquor. His love of the bottle was notorious..." One of Gates' aides,James Wilkinson, stopped at Stirling's headquarters atReading, Pennsylvania and stayed for dinner because it was raining. Wilkinson got drunk and began repeating criticisms of Washington that he had heard from other officers. Finally, he claimed to have read a letter fromThomas Conway to Gates that stated, "Heaven has determined to save your country or a weak general and bad counselors would have ruined it". The loyal Stirling wrote to Washington the next day and repeated what Wilkinson said. Washington, in turn, wrote to Conway, repeating what Stirling had written. Once exposed, the cabal went to pieces. Conway denied ever writing the note, Wilkinson called Stirling a liar, and Gates made statements that made himself look guilty.[12]
At theBattle of Monmouth on 28 June 1778, Stirling commanded the American Left Wing. This included the 1st (429), 2nd (487), and 3rd Pennsylvania (438) Brigades,John Glover’s (636),Ebenezer Learned's (373), andJohn Paterson’s (485) Massachusetts Brigades.[13] He displayed tactical judgment in posting his batteries, and repelled with heavy loss an attempt to turn his flank. During the devastating winter encampment atValley Forge, northwest of British–held Philadelphia,his military headquarters have been preserved.[14] In January 1780, he led an ineffective raid againstStaten Island on the western shores ofNew York Bay.
When Washington and the Frenchcomte de Rochambeau took their conjoined armies south for the climacticBattle of Yorktown in 1781, Stirling was appointed commander of the elements of the Northern Army, left behind to guard New York and was sent up theHudson River toAlbany. He died shortly thereafter in January 1783.[9]
In 1747, William Alexander married Sarah Livingston (1725–1805), the daughter ofPhilip Livingston, 2nd Lord ofLivingston Manor.[15] Sarah was also the sister of GovernorWilliam Livingston. Together, William and Sarah had two daughters and one son:[15]
Always a heavy drinker, Alexander was in poor health by 1782, suffering from severegout andrheumatism. He died in Albany on 15 January 1783.[9] His death occurred just months before the official end of the American War of Independence with theTreaty of Paris of 1783. A memorial tablet to the Alexander family can be found in theChurchyard ofTrinity Church, facing the historicWall Street district (adjoining nearbySt. Paul's Chapel), in New York City.[17]
Through his daughter Catherine, he is grandfather to college presidentWilliam Alexander Duer (1780–1858) and noted lawyer and juristJohn Duer (1782–1858). He is also great-grandfather of U.S. CongressmanWilliam Duer (1805–1879) and great-great-great-grandfather of writer and suffragetteAlice Duer Miller (1874–1942).
Through his daughter Mary, he is great-grandfather of GeneralStephen Watts Kearny (1794–1848) and great-great-grandfather of GeneralPhilip Kearny, Jr. (1815–1862), who died in action during theU.S. Civil War.
In honor of Alexander:
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Johnson, Rossiter, ed. (1906). "Alexander, William".The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 1. Boston: American Biographical Society. p. 77.DB1.1
Works related toWilliam Alexander, Lord Stirling at Wikisource "Alexander, William (soldier)".The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 1. 1906. p. 77.| International | |
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