Alexander Hamilton, Young Hopeful: Quartz Character

The real history

As a King's College student, Hamilton drilled with a volunteer militia company in 1775. On March 14, 1776, New York commissioned him a captain and authorized him to raise a company of artillery to defend New York City. He fought in the battles for New York, including Kip's Bay and White Plains, and then at Trenton and Princeton.

The young captain caught the eye of senior officers. In January 1777 Washington invited him onto his staff, and he became an aide-de-camp with the rank of lieutenant colonel. For the next four years he was one of Washington's most valued aides, and his work was mostly writing: letters to Congress, to state officials and to other officers. On December 14, 1780, he married Elizabeth Schuyler, daughter of General Philip Schuyler.

Staff work did not satisfy him, because he wanted to lead troops. In March 1781 he left the staff after a quarrel with Washington tied to that wish. Washington later gave him command of a light infantry battalion in Lafayette's division.

At Yorktown the allies needed two British outposts, Redoubts 9 and 10, to move their guns closer. Men from Lafayette's division were picked to storm Redoubt 10, and Hamilton claimed seniority to lead them. On the night of October 14, 1781, he led about 400 troops in a bayonet attack while French forces struck Redoubt 9. Both fell. On October 17, Cornwallis raised a white flag to ask for terms. Hamilton was brevetted a colonel in 1782 and left the army a few months later.

Sources

1. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton, Yorktown Battlefield, Colonial National Historical Park, National Park Service
2. Alexander Hamilton, George Washington's Mount Vernon
3. Yorktown: Assaults on Redoubts 9 and 10, Oct 14, 1781, American Battlefield Trust

Checked against these sources on October 2, 2026. Spot a mistake? Report an error. How we check facts.