Born in New York City, he joined the Navy on April 24, 1839, and served as a midshipman aboard the frigate and the sloop 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. Baldwin was promoted to commander in November 1862, given command of the steamer in early 1863 and ordered to hunt down the notorious Confederate commerce raider. Over the next year Baldwin took his ship to the West Indies, the eastern coast of South America, the Cape of Good Hope, St. Helena, Cape Verde, the Canary Islands, Spain and Portugal, but his quarry always eluded him, sometimes only by a few hours. During the voyage Vanderbilt also served as the flagship of Commodore Charles WilkesFlying Squadron in the West Indies, and captured several British blockade runners, including the. Baldwin eventually returned to New York in January 1864 without ever having sighted the Confederate vessel. He was then assigned to ordnance duty, serving at the Mare Island Navy Yard in California until 1867. He returned to sea as the Fleet Captain of the North Pacific Squadron in 1868-9, and received promotion to the rank of captain in 1869. He then served as the Inspector of Ordnance at Mare Island from 1869–71, and commanded the frigate, flagship of the Asiatic Squadron in 1871-73. He was commander of the Naval Rendezvous at San Francisco in 1873, and was commissioned as commodore on August 8, 1876, serving as a Member of the Board of Examiners from 1876-79. In early 1883 Baldwin was promoted to rear admiral, and assumed command of the European Squadron on 10 March. He then sailed to Kronstadt in his flagship, and on 27 May he and his staff attended the coronation of Tsar Alexander III in Moscow.
Personal life
Charles Henry Baldwin was married to a Caroline Permelia Tolfree, by whom he had two children: Charles Adolphe Baldwin and Florence Baldwin. In 1875, Baldwin married Mary H. Morgan. His daughter Florence married Edward P. Deacon in 1879. Their eldest daughter, Gladys Marie Deacon, married Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, the 9th Duke of Marlborough in 1921 who then became the Duchess of Marlborough.
