April 2010 Meeting
By Travis Fuqua
On April 21, 2010, Gene Armistead presented “Charles Stewart”. It is a common belief that before the Civil War, there were no admirals. Many considerer the famous David G. Farragut to be the first admiral in the United States Navy, but Charles Stewart, a remarkable man in his own day, was actually the first American admiral. Today, Stewart has been largely forgotten, but if one were to ask a Civil War admiral who was the best officer, however, they would state it was Stewart.
Stewart was born in Philadelphia on July 28, 1778. It was claimed that in his youth he was acquainted with General Washington. At the age of thirteen, he entered the merchant marine as a cabin boy. He rose quickly and by the end of the decade, he was in command of the only American merchant ship allowed in Japan. On March 9, 1798, during the Quasi-War (1798-1800), Stewart was commissioned as a lieutenant in the United States Navy. He was placed on the “United States” (one of the original six frigates) for a cruise to the West Indies. He was then given command of the 12-gun schooner “Experiment” on July 16, 1800 and captured three French ships and liberated an American ship captured by the French. Stewart also saved several Spanish civilians stranded from a wrecked ship and was later rewarded by the King of Spain.
After the Quasi-War, Stewart survived the naval reductions of President Jefferson and was given command of the “Chesapeake” in 1801 and then the “Constellation” (not the one today) in 1802. In the First Barbary War (1801-1805), Stewart was given command of the 16-gun brig “Syren” and sent to the Mediterranean. There, he took part in the destruction, on February 16, 1803, of the American frigate “Philadelphia”, which had been captured. Here, he worked closely with his old friend, Stephen Decatur. Stewart became the senior United States Navy officer afloat in 1804 and was named master commandant. He also took part in the first Marine assault outside the Western Hemisphere in Tripoli. Later, Stewart was given command of the “Essex” in 1805.
After the First Barbary War, Stewart survived further reductions to the Navy by President Jefferson, and in fact, was promoted to captain. Later, however, he was furloughed and went back to the merchant marine where he did well and became quite wealthy. With the outbreak of the War of 1812, Stewart sought a return to the Navy and with William Bainbridge advised President Madison against gathering the Navy in one port for it would have been blockaded by the British and America would have been helpless. The two were said to have saved the United States Navy from certain destruction. Stewart was given command of the “Argus”, the “Hornet”, and then the “Constellation” (not the one today). Stewart was a popular captain, because he was the only captain who did not use flog.
Since the “Constellation” was blockaded in the Chesapeake, Stewart was given command of the famous “Constitution” in Boston. He sailed on December 31, 1813 by disguising the ship as a British one. While at Boston for repairs at the end of 1814, Stewart condemned the Hartford Convention—a scheme by New England Federalists to secede from the union as they did not agree with the War of 1812. The failure of this convention led to the discrediting of the Federalist Party. Stewart commanded the “Constitution” longer than any other man. In early 1815, he had some of the greatest American naval success of the war. The Treaty of Ghent ending the War of 1812 had been signed the last week of 1814, but the United States Senate was yet to ratify the treaty and technically the state of war remained. On February 20, 1815, Stewart sighted two British ships—the H.M.S. “Cyane” and H.M.S. “Levant”. He engaged both of them and captured them, the first time since 1695 that one ship captured two Royal Navy ships at the same time. Curiously, the Treaty of Ghent had been ratified by the Senate a few days before, but as with the Battle of New Orleans, communications were slow and Stewart did not find out until April 28. He thus returned to Boston on May 15 to huge celebrations.
Stewart received a gold medal from Congress and earned the nicknames “Old Ironsides” and the “American Nelson”. Later that year, he briefly saw action in the Second Barbary War. In 1816, President Madison offered to make him the Secretary of War, but he declined for he did not wish to give up his naval career. That year, he was made Commodore (a functioning rank) of the Mediterranean squadron and served there until 1820 on the 74-gun ship-of-the-line “Franklin”. Whilst in the Mediterranean, he was engaged in some diplomacy. It was also on this cruise where he supported Uriah Phillip Levy—the first Jewish officer in the Navy. Several Civil War officers, including Confederate admiral Franklin Buchanan and Union admirals: David G. Farragut, Samuel F. Du Pont, and Louis M. Goldsborough served under Stewart.
From 1820 to 1824, Stewart was given command of the Pacific squadron. Whilst in the Pacific, he bought two more ships for his squadron with his own money. He also took part in some police action with Chile and Peru and served as diplomat. His essay on blockade law earned a commendation from Chief Justice John Marshall. When he returned however, he was subjected to a court marshal, but not for his conduct per se, but that of his spendthrift wife. He had married Delia Tudor in 1813 and settled on an estate named “Old Ironsides” in New Jersey. They had a son and a daughter. While he was gone on his cruises, she had gotten herself in to debt. Thus she was with him in the Pacific, but she still spent money. To make matters worse, she hid a Peruvian on board without her husband’s knowledge and when such was revealed, there was a diplomatic situation and thus the court marshal. During the court marshal, however, Stewart had the support of President John Quincy Adams and was acquitted and even given a commendation for his actions in the Pacific.
Stewart soon divorced and became friendly with a Margaret Smith whom for he provided, in addition to her children and the son he later had with her. They never married. Under the administration of Andrew Jackson with whom Stewart was not friendly, he was not in command of any ship but was a Naval Commissioner from 1830 to 1832. After Jackson in 1838, he was given command of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, among the most important naval yards in the United States and stayed there until 1841. After, he was given command of the razee (a ship-of-the-line with a deck removed) “Independence”. In the 1840s, there was even talk of his running for president, but keeping his naval career was too important and before he eventually decided to run for president, the election of 1844 was over and James K. Polk had won. Stewart was not very distressed by his slowness to act.
In 1846, Stewart returned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for a year. In 1851, Commodore James Barron died making Stewart the senior officer in the United States Navy. Approaching his eightieth year, Stewart returned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1854 where he remained in command until 1861. On March 2, 1859, Congress made Stewart “Senior Flag Officer” as recognition for his years of distinguished service. This rank was the equivalent to rear admiral (upper half). He was active at the onset of the Civil War in 1861, but as he was in his eighty-third year, his duties were diminished. He was a consultant to President Lincoln and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles during the endeavor to relieve Fort Sumter in April 1861. Not long after he was placed on the retired list. In May of 1862, Stewart went to Philadelphia to launch the “New Ironsides”—the first American ocean-going ironclad steam warship. This was a fitting honor to the man who had commanded “Old Ironsides” the longest.
On July 16, 1862, he was made rear admiral the same day as Farragut, but since Stewart initially had a higher rank than Farragut, Stewart was technically the first rear admiral, albeit he was on the retired list and Farragut was active. On the funeral train for President Lincoln in 1865, Stewart served as a pallbearer in Philadelphia. Rear Admiral Charles Stewart died at his estate on November 6, 1869 at the age of 91.
Although Stewart has been largely forgotten today, his achievements in his day were unparalleled. His treatises were famous. His greatest achievement for our purposes was that many Civil War naval officers served under him as midshipmen or the like early in their careers. Three United States Navy destroyers and destroyer escorts (DD-13, DD-224, and DE-238) were named in his honor.
Do you have the names of Charles’ siblings?
If so, would you please email them to me including
their names and dates of birth.
Thank you,
Michael Winters