Alexander Graydon Jr. (1752–1818) was an author and officer in the American Revolution. He was commissioned captain on January 5, 1776 and commanded a company of men in the

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yor ...

and in the

Battle of Harlem Heights The Battle of Harlem Heights was fought during the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War. The action took place on September 16, 1776, in what is now the Morningside Heights area and east into the future Harlem neigh ...

. He was taken prisoner during the

Battle of Fort Washington The Battle of Fort Washington was fought in New York on November 16, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War between the United States and Great Britain. It was a British victory that gained the surrender of the remnant of the garrison of ...

. After the war, he was elected as

prothonotary The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. ''prothonotarius'' ( c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the B ...

Dauphin County Dauphin County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Daffin Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 286,401. The county seat and the largest city is Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's state capital and ninth ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

(1785–1799). He wrote his memoirs in 1811, chronicling his life and times in which he lived. His work became popular when it was republished posthumously in 1822, 1828, and 1846.

Life and family

Graydon was born on April 10, 1752 in

Bristol, Pennsylvania Bristol is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northeast of Center City Philadelphia, opposite Burlington, New Jersey on the Delaware River. It antedates Philadelphia, being settled in 1681 and first incorpora ...

to Alexander Graydon (d. 1761) and Rachel Marks (d. 1807). His parents were married on February 14, 1747. He died in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

on May 2, 1818.

Publications

* * * * Alexander Graydon. Life of an Officer, Written during a Residence in Pennsylvania, Edinburgh, 1828.

References

External links

* United States military personnel of the American Revolution American writers 1752 births 1818 deaths {{US-mil-bio-stub