Alexander Kelly (April 7, 1840 – June 19, 1907) was an African-American coal miner and native of Pennsylvania who fought with the Union Army as a member of the 6th United States Colored Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War.

He "and his siblings were orphaned by 1850, when he was about 10 years old, and lived with an uncle, David Kelly, a 'salt boiler,' and his probable wife Nancy, described [on the 1850 federal census] as 'Keeping House'....

The family was part of a small black community, some working as coal miners and 'salt boilers' in Saltsburg, where the Conemaugh River carried salt deposits."

[4] Reportedly reaching a stature of just 5'3" by his early adult years, according to U.S. military records, Alexander Kelly became one of those who found work in the coal mines of Western Pennsylvania.

Stationed initially with the 6th USCT Fortress Monroe and Yorktown, Virginia, he participated with his regiment and other Union troops in the capture of Confederate earthenworks near Petersburg on June 15, 1864.

[3][5] First Sergeant Kelly's official Medal of Honor citation reads: Gallantly seized the colors, which had fallen near the enemy's lines of abatis, raised them and rallied the men at a time of confusion and in a place of the greatest danger.