day, 1 July, 1846, the commission of brigadier-general. He distinguished himself at Monterey, and commanded his division after Gen. William O. Butler was wounded. He died shortly afterward, and congress, in recognition of his gallantry, presented a sword to his nearest male relative.
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HAMILTON, Alexander, statesman, b. in the island of Nevis, West Indies, 11 Jan., 1757; d. in New York city, 12 July, 1804. A curious mystery and uncertainty overhang his birth and parentage, and even the accounts of his son and biographer vary with and contradict each other. The accepted version is, that he was the son of James Hamilton, a Scottish merchant, and his wife, a French lady named Faucette, the divorced wife of a Dane named Lavine. According to another story, his mother was a Miss Lytton, and her sister came subsequently to this country, where she was watched over and supported by Hamilton and his wife. A similar doubt is also connected with his paternity, which now cannot be solved, even were it desirable. His father became bankrupt "at an early day," to use Hamilton's own words, and the child was thus thrown upon the care of his mother's relatives. His education seems to have been brief and desultory, and chiefly due to the Rev. Hugh Knox, a Presbyterian clergyman of Nevis, who took a great interest in the boy and kept up an affectionate correspondence with him in after-days when his former pupil was on the way to greatness. In 1777 his old tutor wrote to Hamilton that he must be the annalist and biographer, as well as the aide-de-camp, of Gen. Washington, and the historiographer of the American war of independence. Before Hamilton was thirteen years of age it was apparently necessary that he should earn his living, and he was therefore placed in the office of Nicholas Cruger, a West Indian merchant. His precocity was extraordinary, owing, perhaps in some measure, to his early isolation and self-dependence, and at an age when most boys are thinking of marbles and hockey he was writing to a friend and playmate of his ambition and his plans for the future. Most boys have day-dreams; but there is a definiteness and precision about Hamilton's that make them seem more like the reveries of twenty than of thirteen. Even more remarkable was the business capacity that he displayed at this time. His business letters, many of which have been preserved, would have done credit to a trained clerk of any age, and his employer was apparently in the habit of going away and leaving this mere child in charge of all the affairs of his counting-house. The boy also wrote for the local press, contributing at one time an account of a severe hurricane that had devastated the islands, which was so vivid and strong a bit of writing that it attracted general attention. This literary success, joined probably to the friendly advocacy of Dr. Knox, led to the conviction that something ought to be done for a boy who was clearly fitted for a higher position than a West Indian counting-house. Funds were accordingly provided by undefined relatives and more distinct friends, and thus equipped, Hamilton sailed for Boston, Mass., where he arrived in October, 1772, and whence he proceeded to New York. Furnished by Dr. Knox with good letters, he speedily found friends and counsellors, and by their advice went to a school in Elizabethtown, N. J., where he studied with energy to prepare for college, and employed his pen in much writing, of both prose and poetry. He entered King's college, New York, now Columbia, and there with the aid of a tutor made remarkable progress. While he was thus engaged, our difficulties with England were rapidly ripening. Hamilton's natural inclinations were then, as always, toward the side of order and established government, but a visit to Boston in the spring of 1774, and a close examination of the questions in dispute, convinced him of the justice of the cause of the colonies. His opportunity soon came. A great meeting was held in the fields, 6 July, 1774, to force the lagging Tory assembly of New York into line. Hamilton was among the crowd, and as he listened he became more and more impressed, not by what was said, but by what the speakers omitted to say. Pushing his way to the front, he mounted the platform, and while the crowd cried "A collegian! A collegian!" this stripling of seventeen began to pour out an eloquent and fervid speech in behalf of colonial rights.
Once engaged, Hamilton threw himself into the struggle with all the intense energy of his nature. He left the platform to take up the pen, and his two pamphlets—"A Full Vindication" and "The Farmer Refuted"—attracted immediate and general attention. Indeed, these productions were so remarkable, at a time when controversial writings of great ability abounded, that they were generally attributed to Jay and other well-known patriots. The discovery of their authorship raised Hamilton to the position of a leader in New York. Events now moved rapidly, the war for which he had sighed in his first boyish letter came, and he of course was quick to take part in it. Early in 1776 he was given the command of a company of artillery by the New York convention, and by his skill in organization, and his talent for command, he soon had a body of men that furnished a model of appearance and discipline at a time when those qualities were as uncommon as they were needful. At Long Island and at White Plains the company distinguished itself, and the gallantry of the commander, as well as the appearance of the men, which had already attracted the notice of Gen. Greene, led to an offer from Washington of a place on his staff. This offer Hamilton accepted, and thus began the long and intimate connection with Washington which suffered but one momentary interruption. Hamilton filled an important place on Washington's staff, and his ready pen made him almost indispensable to the commander-in-chief. Beside his immediate duties, the most important task that fell to him was when he was sent to obtain troops from Gen. Gates, after the Burgoyne campaign. This was a difficult and delicate business; but Hamilton conducted it with success, and, by a wise admixture of firmness and tact, carried his point. He also took such part as was possible for a staff officer in all the battles fought by Washington, and in the André affair he was brought into close contact both with André and Mrs. Arnold, of whom he has left a most pathetic and picturesque description. On 16 Feb., 1781, Hamilton took hasty offence at
