LAFAYETTE, GILBERT DU MOTIER, Marquis de . Autograph letter signed ("Lafayette") TO ALEXANDER HAMILTON, Paramus, [New Jersey], 28 November 1780. 3 pages, 4to, docketed on verso of second leaf, silked, blank section of second leaf repaired, minor foxing . LAFAYETTE RECOMMENDS HAMILTON TO WASHINGTON A revealing war-date letter, written in haste but emanating Lafayette's characteristic warmth, illustrating the warm feelings between two of the youngest officers associated with Washington. Lafayette here paraphrases (in his rather awkward English) his recommendation of the 23-year old Hamilton, at the time secretary and aide-de-camp on Washington's staff, for the important post of Adjutant-General, recently vacated by Colonel Scammel. "Dear Hamilton Here I arriv'd last night and am going to set out for Philadelphia...[ illegible ] goes...to Windsor [Washington's headquarters, near Newburgh, N.Y.] and by him I write to the General [Washington]. I speack [ sic ] of...Smith whom I recommend and add[:] Unless however you care to cast your eye on a man who I think would suit you better than any other in the world. Hamilton is, I confess, the officer whom I would like to see in that station. Then I go on with the idea that at equal advantage you deserve from him the preference, that your advantages are the greatest. I speack for a cooperation, of your being in the family, and conclude that in every public or private account I advise him to take you. I know the General's friendship and gratitude for you, my dear Hamilton. Both are greater than you perhaps imagine. I am sure he needs only to be told that something might suit you, and when he thinks he can do it, he certainly will. My best compliments wait on my friend Schuyller [General Philip Schuyler, Hamilton's father-in-law], the ladies and particularly Mrs. Hamilton. Tell her that as your dear friend I have a write [ sic ] to be hers. So that from this moment, I begin to claim all the rights and privileges annexed to this station. Before this campaign I was your friend and your very intimate friend agreable to the ideas of the world. Since my second voyage my sentiment has increas'd to such a point the world knows nothing about. So that both from want and from scorn of expositions I shall only tell you adieu." In the end, although Hamilton was warmly recommended by both Lafayette and General Nathanael Greene, Washington appointed Brigadier General Edward Hand, a seasoned Pennsylvania veteran, to the post Hamilton desired. A few months later (on 16 February 1781) during preparations for the Yorktown campaign the famous quarrel took place between Washington and Hamilton which resulted in Hamilton's application for a field command. In July, he was assigned to command a battalion in Hazen's Brigade assigned to Lafayette's division. At Yorktown, "he acquitted himself with great credit" (Boatner, p. 479).
LAFAYETTE, GILBERT DU MOTIER, Marquis de . Autograph letter signed ("Lafayette") TO ALEXANDER HAMILTON, Paramus, [New Jersey], 28 November 1780. 3 pages, 4to, docketed on verso of second leaf, silked, blank section of second leaf repaired, minor foxing . LAFAYETTE RECOMMENDS HAMILTON TO WASHINGTON A revealing war-date letter, written in haste but emanating Lafayette's characteristic warmth, illustrating the warm feelings between two of the youngest officers associated with Washington. Lafayette here paraphrases (in his rather awkward English) his recommendation of the 23-year old Hamilton, at the time secretary and aide-de-camp on Washington's staff, for the important post of Adjutant-General, recently vacated by Colonel Scammel. "Dear Hamilton Here I arriv'd last night and am going to set out for Philadelphia...[ illegible ] goes...to Windsor [Washington's headquarters, near Newburgh, N.Y.] and by him I write to the General [Washington]. I speack [ sic ] of...Smith whom I recommend and add[:] Unless however you care to cast your eye on a man who I think would suit you better than any other in the world. Hamilton is, I confess, the officer whom I would like to see in that station. Then I go on with the idea that at equal advantage you deserve from him the preference, that your advantages are the greatest. I speack for a cooperation, of your being in the family, and conclude that in every public or private account I advise him to take you. I know the General's friendship and gratitude for you, my dear Hamilton. Both are greater than you perhaps imagine. I am sure he needs only to be told that something might suit you, and when he thinks he can do it, he certainly will. My best compliments wait on my friend Schuyller [General Philip Schuyler, Hamilton's father-in-law], the ladies and particularly Mrs. Hamilton. Tell her that as your dear friend I have a write [ sic ] to be hers. So that from this moment, I begin to claim all the rights and privileges annexed to this station. Before this campaign I was your friend and your very intimate friend agreable to the ideas of the world. Since my second voyage my sentiment has increas'd to such a point the world knows nothing about. So that both from want and from scorn of expositions I shall only tell you adieu." In the end, although Hamilton was warmly recommended by both Lafayette and General Nathanael Greene, Washington appointed Brigadier General Edward Hand, a seasoned Pennsylvania veteran, to the post Hamilton desired. A few months later (on 16 February 1781) during preparations for the Yorktown campaign the famous quarrel took place between Washington and Hamilton which resulted in Hamilton's application for a field command. In July, he was assigned to command a battalion in Hazen's Brigade assigned to Lafayette's division. At Yorktown, "he acquitted himself with great credit" (Boatner, p. 479).
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