Existing comment:
Soldier and Scribe
The most important event in Alexander Hamilton's service in the Revolutionary War was his introduction to George Washington. It is difficult to pinpoint when they met, but by late January 1777, Washington knew enough about Hamilton's leadership, energy and intelligence -- as well as his fluency in French -- to ask the young captain to join his staff. Hamilton hesitated to relinquish his field command but believed that assisting the commander in chief would offer experience and prestige he could find nowhere else. Washington officially announced Hamilton's appointment as his aide-de-camp on March 1, 1777.
Hamilton became Washington's principal aide as well as a military advisor, contributing his opinions on matters ranging from battlefield strategy to troop enlistments. The two men never developed a close friendship but forged a bond based on shared struggles and triumphs in war, and common aspirations for America's future. "There are few men to be found, of his age, who has a more general knowledge than he possesses, and none whose Soul is more firmly engaged in the cause, or who exceeds him in probity and Sterling virtue," Washington said of Hamilton in February 1781. Witnessing the ineffectiveness of Congress to support the army, discontent and mutinies among the ranks, and the unreliability of Continental currency convinced Hamilton that an independent America would only survive if the states united under a strong central government with a national army and other institutions.
Washington depended on Hamilton so much that the general repeatedly refused his pleas for a field command. Hamilton's frustration with his role on the general's staff, Washington's exasperation with the tenuous state of the army, and long-standing personality differences between the two men collided in February 1781. A small disagreement escalated and resulted in Hamilton's resignation from Washington's staff.
Hamilton's relentless campaign for a field command was finally successful in late July 1781, when he received command of a New York light infantry battalion. His leadership of the daring attack on a critical redoubt at Yorktown -- which helped force the British surrender in October 1781 -- made him an American hero. Although the war would drag on for two more years, Hamilton resigned his commission in March 1782 and looked ahead to life in an independent, united country. |