Charles Stewart (28 July 1778 – 6 November 1869) was a United States Navy officer who commanded a number of warships, including USS Constitution.

Stewart attended Dr. Abercrombie's Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia where he met Stephen Decatur and Richard Somers.

[4][5] On 16 July 1800 he assumed command of the schooner USS Experiment and captured two armed French vessels and recapturing several American ships.

[6][7] While anchored at the island of Dominica for water, he secured the release of an American citizen impressed onboard a Royal Navy warship.

He later rescued approximately seventy people, mostly women and children from a vessel in distress at a reef near Saona Island, just before the schooner sank, for which the Governor of Santo Domingo sent a letter of thanks to President Jefferson.

He was promoted to the rank of captain on 22 April 1806 and returned home on leave from US Navy, joining the merchant fleet, where he remained until the late 1811.

The Treaty of Ghent had been ratified by the United States government three days earlier but both sides in the battle were unaware of that event.

Due to his capture of two enemy warships with only one ship, Stewart became a national hero and was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal on 22 February 1816.

In 1836 Stewart saw service in the West Indies and commanded a vessel that captured a Portuguese slave ship as it came into Havana.

Outraged at the conditions and health of the children, Stewart informed the British commissioner in Havana, a Mr. Kennedy, of the dire situation he had encountered.

[citation needed] By a joint resolution passed on 2 March 1859, Congress made Stewart "senior flag officer" on 22 April 1859, a rank created for him in recognition of his distinguished and meritorious service.

His age at the time of his retirement was 83 years, 4 months and 24 days – making him the second oldest officer on active duty in the history of the U.S. Navy (after William D. Leahy).