Major General William Alexander, Lord Stirling

MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM ALEXANDER, LORD STIRLING WILLIAM ALEXANDER, LORD STIRLING (1726-1783) WAS BORN IN NEW YORK CITY AND WAS AN AMERICAN MAJOR-GENERAL DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR. WHEN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BEGAN, STIRLING WAS A COLONEL IN THE NEW JERSEY MILITIA. IN MARCH 1776, CONGRESS APPOINTED HIM BRIGADIER GENERAL IN THE CONTINENTAL ARMY. IN AUGUST OF THAT YEAR, AT THE BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND (BROOKLYN), STIRLING LED THE 1ST MARYLAND REGIMENT IN REPEATED ATTACKS AGAINST A SUPERIOR BRITISH FORCE AT THE OLD STONE HOUSE AT WHAT IS PRESENT DAY 5TH AVENUE AND 3RD STREET IN PARK SLOPE. OUTNUMBERED 25-1, HIS BRIGADE WAS EVENTUALLY OVERWHELMED AND STIRLING WAS TAKEN PRISONER, BUT NOT BEFORE REPELLING THE BRITISH FORCES LONG ENOUGH FOR THE MAIN BODY OF TROOPS TO ESCAPE TO DEFENSIVE POSITIONS AT BROOKLYN HEIGHTS. BECAUSE OF THESE ACTIONS HE WAS PRAISED BY BOTH WASHINGTON AND THE BRITISH FOR HIS BRAVERY AND AUDACITY. STIRLING WAS RELEASED IN A PRISONER EXCHANGE, PROMOTED TO MAJOR GENERAL, AND BECAME ONE OF WASHINGTON'S MOST ABLE AND TRUSTED GENERALS. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, HE IS BURIED AT THE TRINITY CHURCHYARD IN LOWER MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY.