Charles H. Baldwin

Charles Henry Baldwin (September 3, 1822 – November 17, 1888) was an officer in the United States Navy, who served during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. Biography Born in New York City, he joined the Navy on April 24, 1839, and served as a midshipman aboard the frigate (1839–40) and the sloop (1840–43) in the Mediterranean Squadron, before returning to the U.S. aboard the sloop in 1843 to attend the Naval School at Philadelphia, graduating with the rank of passed midshipman on July 2, 1845. He served through the Mexican–American War on the frigate in the Pacific Squadron, serving on operations around Mazatlán, during the time that it was occupied by U.S. naval forces between November 1847 to June 1848. He received his commission as lieutenant in November 1853, but left the Navy on February 28, 1854. Baldwin re-entered the naval service in 1861, on the outbreak of the Civil War, with the rank of acting-lieutenant. In February 1862 he commissioned the steamer , and sailed from New York to Ship Island for duty with the Mortar Flotilla of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. In April, during the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, Clifton towed 21 mortar schooners into the Mississippi River, and supported them as they bombarded the fortifications below New Orleans. The next month, after the capture of the city, the ship sailed upriver to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where it was damaged by enemy gunfire.