HAMILTON, Alexander, American states man and soldier: b. Charles Town, in the island of Nevis, W. I. 11 Jan. 1757; d. New York, 12 July 1804. I., mother, Rachel Fau cette (Fawcett) of Huguenot descent, the daughter of a French physician, unhappily married to John Michel Levine, a Danish land proprietor of Saint Croix, left him to live with James Hamilton, a Scotch merchant at Saint Christopher, and by the latter had two sons, Alexander and James. On the father's side they were grandsons of Elizabeth, daughter of Sir R. Pollock, and of Alexander Hamilton of Grange Lanarkshire, Scotland. In 1759 Le vine secured a divorce, but his wife was for bidden to remarry, Hamilton's father was unfortunate in his business ventures, and hav ing become a bankrupt it was necessary for Alexander, at the age of 12 years, to earn his own living. He secured a position as clerk in the counting-house of Nicholas Cruger of Saint Croix. His °genius for affairs° was soon ap parent, and after two years we find him en trusted with the full management of the busi ness. But ambition for something more than a commercial career had already taken hold of the young man's mind, and he began to write for the local press. A very strong and vivid description of a West Indian hurricane, which had devastated the islands, attracted general attention and aroused the lad's friends to pro vide the necessary funds to enable him to come to America to complete his education. He ar rived at Boston in 1772, and was put in a school at Elizabethtown, N. J., where he industriously prepared himself for college, and in 1774 he entered King's College (now Columbia Univer sity), and made a brilliant record as a student, The friction between England and the Amer ican colonies was constantly growing more ous, and after studying the question and being convinced that the colonists were right, Hamil ton began the advocacy of their cause in a speech at a public meeting, 6 July 1774. The meeting assembled to discuss the calling of a general congress and was held in the fields (now City Hall Park). He also published two pamphlets, asserting the colonists' in relation to the Crown and to Parliament, and justifying their appeal to arms. The pamph
lets were at first thought to be productions of well-known leaders, and when their authorship became known it gave Hamilton a national reputation. Hamilton now turned his atten tion to preparation for military service in the Revolution. He secured a commission as cap tain of the first Continental artillery company and entered the patriot service in March 1776. His natural aptitude for organization and com mand soon made the company a model of disci pline and efficiency. He participated in the battles of Long Island, White Plains, Trenton and Princeton, and won the commendation of his superiors for his skill and courage. On 1 March 1777 Hamilton was appointed lieutenant colonel and aide-de-camp on the staff of Wash ington, whose entire confidence he secured, be coming the general's confidential secretary. He took an active part in his chief's battles, as sisted in planning campaigns and in devising means for the support of the army, and was entrusted with the important and delicate mis sion of going to Albany to obtain troops from General Gates (who had previously been or dered to send troops to Washington and had failed to do so)— a duty which Hamilton per formed with skill and success. It was while on this mission that he first met Elizabeth Schuyler, the daughter of Gen. Philip Schuyler of New York, whom he afterward married (14 Dec. 1780). Having received a reprimand from Washington for a supposed delay he took offense and resigned from the staff 16 Feb. 1781. He had no intention, however, of re signing from the Continental Army,, and be coming the head of an infantry regiment, he took part in the siege of Yorktown, heading a storming party and capturing one of the strong est British redoubts. The war was now prac tically ended, and there being no further oppor tunity for success in the army, Hamilton re turned to civil life. He was bin 24 years old and by his natural abilities and capacity for leadership he had attained a foremost place among the great men of his day.