page_title: Alexander Crawford
section_title: Civil War
hierarchical_section_title: Alexander Crawford / Civil War
caption_attribution_description: English: USS Wyalusing providing covering fire for boats dragging for mines on the Roanoke River, 9 December 1864. To the left of the image can be seen the sunken USS Otsego, sunk by striking a mine, and the tugboat USS Bazely, also sunk by a mine while going to the assistance of Otsego.
context_page_description: Alexander S. Crawford was a sailor in the United States Navy who served in the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the war.
context_section_description: Crawford enlisted for Civil War military service with the U.S. Navy in Philadelphia in 1862. He subsequently served as a fireman on the USS Wyalusing. Having initially served 16 months during the war's early years, he re-enlisted at the rank of fireman, second class in the U.S. Navy in Philadelphia in February 1864. Military records at the time described him as being a 22-year-old native of Philadelphia and "Saw Grinder" who was 5' 7-1/2" tall with brown hair and blue eyes.
  Assigned with his Wyalusing shipmates to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Crawford and his fellow crewmen joined the U.S. Navy's forces which were stationed in Albemarle Sound, North Carolina, beginning on April 29, 1864. On May 5, the Wyalusing first engaged the Albemarle, a Confederate States Navy warship which had previously rammed two Union Navy ships and caused havoc for federal land and sea forces along the Roanoke River. As the Union Navy gunboats Mattabesset, Sassacus, Whitehead, and Wyalusing formed a line of battle that afternoon, they were supported by the Miami, Ceres and Commodore Hull. When the Albemarle appeared, the Mattabesset, Whitehead and Wyalusing immediately opened fire. The Wyalusing then rounded the Albemarle, but kept its distance from 150 yards away as it repositioned itself to attack the Confederate Navy's Bombshell. When the Wyalusing's crew realized that the Bombshell had already surrendered, they renewed their attack on the Albemarle. Although the fight was an intense one, it was brought to a close by darkness, enabling the Albemarle to escape along the Roanoke River. The Wyalusing's crew then resumed their blockate duties in North Carolina's Albemarle Sound region.
  On May 25, 1864, while the Wyalusing was sailing the Roanoke River, Crawford and fellow crewmembers Charles H. Baldwin, John Lafferty, Benjamin Lloyd, and John W. Lloyd volunteered for a mission to destroy the Confederate ironclad CSS Albemarle. The mission failed, but the men evaded capture and eventually made it back to the Wyalusing. For their actions, the five men were each awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor.
  In addition, Crawford was recognized for his valor by the U.S. Navy via General Order No. 45, which was issued on December 31, 1864:
  Fireman on board of the U.S.S. Wyalusing; volunteered May 25, 1864, in a night attempt to destroy the rebel ram Albemarle, in Roanoke River, and, although it was unsuccessful, he displayed courage, zeal, and unwearied exertion on the occasion.
  In his report on the incident, Captain Melancton Smith of the U.S.S. Mattabesset, wrote the following from Albermarle Sound, North Carolina, on May 30, 1864:
  SIR: I have to report that an effort was made on the 25th instant at 11 o’clock by five volunteers from the steamer Wyalusing to destroy the ironclad Albemarle.
  The party left at 2 o’clock p.m. of the 25th (having made a reconnaissance two days before) and ascended the Middle River in the Mattabesett’s dingey with two torpedoes, each containing 100 pounds of powder and their appendages, which they transported on a stretcher across the island swamp. Charles Baldwin, coal heaver, and John W. Lloyd, coxswain, then swam the Roanoke River with a line and hauled the torpedoes over to the Plymouth shore above the town. They were then connected by a bridle, floated down with the current, and guided by Charles Baldwin, who designed to place them across the bows of the ram, one on either side, and Alexander Crawford, who was stationed on the opposite side of the river in the swamp, was to explode them upon a given signal.
  Everything had worked favorably from the time of starting until the torpedoes were within a few yards of the ram, when Baldwin was discovered and hailed by a sentry on the wharf. Two shots were then fired and a volley of musketry followed, which induced John W. Lloyd, who heard the challenge and report of small arms, to cut the guiding line, throw away the coil, and swim the river again to join John Laverty, who was left in charge of his clothes and arms.
  These two men, with the boat keeper, Benjamin Lloyd, returne
caption: USS Wyalusing provides covering fire for boats dragging the Roanoke River for mines, December 9, 1864.
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