“A Journal, Kept on Board the U.S. Frigate Constellation” together with Two Holograph Letters, by Midshipman William Alexander, while Fighting Piracy in the West Indies, 1825-27

(West Indies): (1825-27).

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Hardcover. Commercial ledger book. Quarto (8½” x 11”). 264 pages in manuscript, written in ink on the rectos and versos. Contemporary textured calf over boards, marbled endpapers, dark red titling label stamped in gold on spine: “Journal” and on front board: “W.H. Alexander | U.S. Navy." The calf is worn, front joint is partially split, very good, with later scattered jottings by Alexander’s daughter Emily (1842-43) and some of her penmanship exercises on about 20 pages at the back of the volume. Laid in are two holograph letters from 1826, written by Alexander from the U.S. Naval base at Pensacola, Florida. Housed in a handsome cloth clamshell box with a gilt-stamped leather titling label on the spine.

A detailed naval journal kept by Midshipman William Alexander during his 18 month cruise aboard the 38-gun frigate USS *Constellation* under the command of Captain M.T. Woolsey (December, 1825-February, 1827) and Commodore Charles Ridgely (February-May, 1827). A young man from Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, Alexander’s journal documents the entirety of the cruise in the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico for the suppression of piracy. Departing from Norfolk, Virginia, the *Constellation* joined up with the West Indies Squadron and patrolled mostly along the northern and southern coast of Cuba, in areas which had been notorious for harboring pirate hideouts, especially among the island’s northern keys.

A professionally trained engineer and seaman, Alexander records the position of the ship, its various courses, directions of the wind, the trimming of sails, and weather conditions. He also includes daily “remarks” on the activities of the crew (beating to quarters, repairing sails and rigging, cleaning chores, the provisioning of water, beef and vegetables, whiskey, oranges and limes, etc.); all unusual or notable events; the *Constellation*’s frequent contacts with merchantmen of multiple nations; and their collaboration with other American warships in the West Indies Squadron.

Notable events include the temporary grounding of the *Constellation* on the Isle of Pines (Isla de la Juventud) off Cuba’s southern coast; the arrival of Commodore Lewis Warrington on the USS *Hornet* (later replaced by Commodore Ridgely, who made the *Constellation* his flagship); and the sighting of “strange sails,” including on one occasion having beat to quarters for armed action.

Also notable are Alexander’s accounts of the Constellation’s contacts with British and Spanish warships, and with numerous merchantmen vessels (mostly American or Spanish), several of which they inspected. Throughout the cruise the *Constellation* returns to Pensacola (for refitting, delivering ill crew members to hospital, etc.) and collaborates with other American ships at or near Havana, Matanzas, Santiago, and the Isle of Pines. In January 1827 Captain Woolsey launched two expeditions against suspected pirate hideouts among the Keys lying off the northern coast of Cuba.

In February when Commodore Ridgley took command of the *Constellation*, the ship went to St. Thomas to meet up with the USS *Shark* “which arrived from the coast of Africa,” returned to Cuba, and then on to Pensacola, where Alexander’s account ends in May 1827. At the request of his mother, he left the navy and returned to Wilkes Barre.

Throughout the journal Alexander records the *Constellation*’s frequent contacts with several of America’s most important naval officers and warships of the day. A remarkable and historically important firsthand account of the United States' expanding naval activities and projection of its military power after the War of 1812.

A few short extracts from the Journal and both Letters are available upon request.


Item #445470

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Item #445470 “A Journal, Kept on Board the U.S. Frigate Constellation” together with Two Holograph Letters, by Midshipman William Alexander, while Fighting Piracy in the West Indies, 1825-27. Melancthon Taylor Woolsey, Charles Ridgely, William H. ALEXANDER.
“A Journal, Kept on Board the U.S. Frigate Constellation” together with Two Holograph Letters, by Midshipman William Alexander, while Fighting Piracy in the West Indies, 1825-27
“A Journal, Kept on Board the U.S. Frigate Constellation” together with Two Holograph Letters, by Midshipman William Alexander, while Fighting Piracy in the West Indies, 1825-27
“A Journal, Kept on Board the U.S. Frigate Constellation” together with Two Holograph Letters, by Midshipman William Alexander, while Fighting Piracy in the West Indies, 1825-27
“A Journal, Kept on Board the U.S. Frigate Constellation” together with Two Holograph Letters, by Midshipman William Alexander, while Fighting Piracy in the West Indies, 1825-27
“A Journal, Kept on Board the U.S. Frigate Constellation” together with Two Holograph Letters, by Midshipman William Alexander, while Fighting Piracy in the West Indies, 1825-27
“A Journal, Kept on Board the U.S. Frigate Constellation” together with Two Holograph Letters, by Midshipman William Alexander, while Fighting Piracy in the West Indies, 1825-27
“A Journal, Kept on Board the U.S. Frigate Constellation” together with Two Holograph Letters, by Midshipman William Alexander, while Fighting Piracy in the West Indies, 1825-27
“A Journal, Kept on Board the U.S. Frigate Constellation” together with Two Holograph Letters, by Midshipman William Alexander, while Fighting Piracy in the West Indies, 1825-27
“A Journal, Kept on Board the U.S. Frigate Constellation” together with Two Holograph Letters, by Midshipman William Alexander, while Fighting Piracy in the West Indies, 1825-27