Major General William Alexander, Lord Stirling
(15 Jan 1783)
+ Sarah Livingston11 Mar 1748
(7 Nov 1725, Albany NY-)
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Dictionary of American Biography
Revolutionary soldier, was better known as Lord Stirling. Sir William Alexander, from whose family he claimed descent, was a court poet and favorite of James I, from whom he received an immense grant of land in North America. The grant, afterward enlarged, included Nova Scotia, Long Island, and a large part of Canada, but was never carried into effect. The favorite was created Earl of Stirling, and the peerage became extinct with the death of the fifth Earl in 1739. William Alexander's father, James Alexander, was a Jacobite who emigrated to America after the unsuccessful rising of 1715. He became a lawyer, and held various public offices. The son was born in New York City, was well educated and, like his father, an excellent mathematician and astronomer. He was associated with his mother as a merchant in New York, and in the early stages of the French and Indian War he was a commisary, and aide and secretary to Governor Shirley. He accompanied that unfortunate commander to England in 1756, and defended him, the next year, as a witness before the House of Commons. During this visit Alexander expended considerable money and time in the attempt to assert his claim to be the sixth Earl of Stirling. "Chiefly on the deposition of two old men, who affirmed, his descent from John Alexander 'uncle of the first earl,' a jury at Edinburgh, on the 24th March 1759, served him heir-male of Henry, fifth Earl of Stirling" (Charles Rogers, Memorials of the Earl of Stirling, 1877, I, 282). "The memorial was...remitted to the House of Lords. On the 10th March 1762, the Lords' Committee of Privileges resolved that he had not established his claim" (Ibid, I, 283). Alexander had returned to America the previous year, assuming the title Lord Stirling.
A man of wealth, and social prominence, having married the sister of Governor Livingston, he held various offices prior to the Revolution, surveyor-general of New Jersey, member of the Council, and assistant to the governor. He promoted farming, manufacture, and mining. His New York house was sold before the war, but he owned a fine mansion at Basking Ridge, NJ (burned in 1920). His interests in other lines are shown by his report on the transit of Venus in 1769 (in the New York Historical Society Library), and by the fact that he was one of the early governors of Kings (Columbia) College.
As the Revolution came on, Stirling opposed the Stamp Act, and organized a company of grenadiers. He conducted a stormy correspondence with the Loyalist Governor Franklin, who suspended him from the Council. On November 7, 1775, he was made colonel of the 1st New Jersey Regiment, and he raised and equipped two regiments in the state. His first opportunity for distinction came in January 1776. With forty volunteers in a pilot boat he captured at Sandy Hook the British transport Blue Mountain Valley. For this exploit he received the thanks of Congress, and on March 1, 1776, the commission of brigadier-general in the Continental army. Appointed to the chief command in New York City, he prepared for the imminent British invasion. Under his direction Forts Lee and Washington were built, and other fortifications were constructed in Harlem and on Long Island. Fort Stirling on Brooklyn Heights bears his name. The strategic importance of the Hudson Highlands was becoming recognized, and Stirling reported to Washington on their defenses.
It is with the battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776, that his name is chiefly associated. Under the direction of Putnam, his immediate superior, he was put at the head of the American right wing, charged with the defense of the coast road. His brigade consisted of Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania troops, about 1,500 to 2,000 in number. There were no fortifications; it was the earliest meeting of an American army with its opponent in open field. The line was near the junction of the present Twentieth Street and Third Avenue in Brooklyn, extending thence to Battle Hill in Greenwood Cemetery. His opponent was General Grant, with far superior forces. After a conflict of several hours with Grant, he was exposed to attack in the rear by a detachment under Lord Cornwallis. Sterling's main body escaped by fording Gowanus Creek and passing over a causeway, while Stirling himself with a part of the Maryland regiment held Cornwallis in check for a short time. Then superior numbers told, the mass of Stirling's small force was cut down, and he surrendered to the German De Heister. It was this part of the battle which Washington witnessed from the neighboring heights, and which drew from him his lament at the sacrifice of his soldiers.
Stirling was commended for his bravery by the British as well as by Washington, to whom he had written an account of the battle. He was exchanged in time to take part in the campaign for Westchester County, and in the retreat through the Jerseys. He guarded various points in New Jersey and along the Delaware River, and fought with distinction at the battle of Trenton, which he described in a letter two days later to Governor Livingston. His services led to his promotion to major general February 19, 1777. When Howe renewed his invasion of New Jersey from Amboy in the summer, Stirling was opposed to Cornwallis June 26; there was fighting near the present Metuchen, Westfield, and Plainfield, in which Stirling lost three field-guns. Cornwallis's advance was halted at Westfield, and the expedition was recalled.
General Stirling served for a short time in the Highlands durin gthe summer of 1777, led a division under Sullivan at the battle of Brandywine, and commanded the reserves at Germantown. He was one of the minority of officers who favored an attack on Philadelphia. In the succeeding melancholy winter at Valley Forge there occurred the Conway Cabal, in the exposure of which Stirling had a share. While at Reading he heard some remarks by the notorious Wilkinson, who quoted Conway's letter to General Gates, and these remarks Stirling reported to Washington. His last important battle was Monmouth, where he commanded the left wing, and was distinguished by his handling of artillery and in repelling a flank attack. Lee's conduct in that battle led to a court-martial, over which Lord Stirling presided.
In the following year "Light Horse Harry" Lee made his attack on Paulus Hook, and Stirling received the thanks of Congress for the manner in which he had supported Lee's advance and covered the retreat. In the record-breaking winter of January 1780, when the bays and sounds near New York were frozen over, Stirling led an expedition across the ice from Elizabeth to Staten Island; but the British had received warning, and the enterprise was a failure. In the following autumn Arnold's treason took place, and Stirling served on the court of inquiry to determine Arnold's fate. Later he was stationed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but chiefly at Albany. While there he prepared a plan of resistance at Saratoga to St. Leger's expected invasion by way of Ticonderoga, but the end of active warfare was at hand. Among his last military reports was a letter to Governor Clinton (September 10, 1781) giving news about the fleet of De Grasse, and one to the Commander-in-Chief, with details of recent events in the northern department.
Stirling was soldierly in bearing; according to one writer, "of the most martial appearance of any general in the army save Washington himself." He was brave, intelligent, energetic and yet cautious; a good organizer and military engineer; "a great acquisition to the army," in the words of a contemporary. He was highly esteemed by Washington, and after his death Lady Stirling received a letter of tribute from the General.
(Charles Rogers, Memorials of the Earl of Stirling and of the House of Alexander (1877); C.A. Ditmas, Life and Services of Major-General Wm. Alexander (Kings County, N.Y. Historical Society, 1920); W.A. Duer, Life of William Alexander (1847); Ludwig Schumacher, Earl of Stirling (1897); C.F. Adams in American History Review (1896); T.W. Field in Memoirs of the Long Island Historical Society, volume II))
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