Hamilton Alexander - Alexander Hamiltons revolution: his vital role as Washingtons Chief of Staff

Praise for Phillip Thomas Tucker

Praise for George Washingtons Surprise Attack

Tuckers account brims with colorful information that vivifies this pivotal episode in American history. Of most interest to military historians and Revolutionary War buffs.

Kirkus Reviews

Pulls back the shroud of legend surrounding the battle of Trenton, revealing the details of the turning point of the American Revolution . Contrary to longstanding theories that Washington won because of the incompetence of Hessian leader Col. Johann Gottlieb Rall, Tucker validates Ralls tenacity and deep military leadership. He also gives credit to unsung heroes in Washingtons army.

Publishers Weekly

Extensively researched and superbly argued in Tuckers compelling narrative, this in-depth examination of George Washingtons military miracle at the Battle of Trenton unquestionably confirms the vital importance of that stunning victory.

Jerry D. Morelock, PhD, editor in chief, Armchair General magazine

Tucker combines a detailed analysis of Trenton as a brilliantly conceived and executed military operation with a convincing argument for the battle as the defining event of the American Revolution.

Dennis Showalter, PhD, professor of history, Colorado College

Praise for Picketts Charge A Main Selection of the History Book Club

The account is a mosaic of thousands of tiny pieces that, seen whole, amounts to a fascinating picture of what probably was the most important moments of the Civil War.

The New York Times Book Review

Tucker aims to pierce the myth that Lees plan was doomed. He argues that given the Souths need to strike a decisive blow, Lees tactics, a complex mix of artillery, infantry, and cavalry, were sound, that in spite of officers failures of leadership, communication, and execution, the assault came excruciatingly close to succeeding . Contains much to interest and provoke Civil War enthusiasts.

Kirkus Reviews

In his almost minute-by-minute account of the most famous infantry charge in history, Phillip Thomas Tucker provides a thoughtful and challenging new look at the great assault at Gettysburg, from planning to aftermath. Not afraid to lay blame where he thinks it belongs, Tucker is fresh and bold in his analysis and use of sources. Even though any reader knows in advance the outcome, still Picketts Charge maintains suspense to the sound of the last gun.

William C. Davis, author, Crucible of Command: Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. LeeThe War They Fought, The Peace They Forged

Replaces 150-plus years of uninterrogated mythology with meticulously researched history to give us a new and long-overdue understanding of what tradition dismisses as Robert E. Lees most tragic error in pursuit of a Lost Cause.

Alan Axelrod, author, The 20 Most Significant Events of the Civil War

A thought-provoking and eye-opening study of this pivotal moment in American history.

Louis P. Masur, Rutgers University professor of history author, The Civil War: A Concise History

You are certainly emerging as one of the most prolific Civil War historians.

James McPherson, acclaimed Civil War historian, professor emeritus, Princeton University, to Phillip Thomas Tucker

Copyright 2017 by Phillip Thomas Tucker

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Rain Saukas

Cover art from Alexander Hamilton (17571804) in the Uniform of the New York Artillery by Alonzo Chappell, 1856

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-1659-9

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-1660-5

Printed in the United States

To Americas distinguished chiefs of staff and Captain Louis McLane Hamilton, the grandson of Alexander Hamilton. The youngest captain in the United States Army and a proud member of the 7th Cavalry, Captain Hamilton, as promising in the early years after the Civil War as his grandfather had been at the beginning of the American Revolution, was killed during a charge by one of the first hostile shots fired during Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custers surprise attack on the Southern Cheyenne village on the Washita River on a snowy November 27, 1868.

Contents

Prologue

Despite being only twenty-six years old and still considered by elitists inside and outside the Continental Army as only a lowly immigrant and newcomer from the West Indies when situated just outside the British and Hessian defenses of Yorktown, Virginia, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton had gained one of the most important combat missions of the American Revolution in October 1781. However, Hamilton was a combat veteran and not concerned about the risks or dangers of the battlefield; this was exactly the kind of a vital assignment that he had long coveted. Of Scottish heritage on his fathers side and with handsome Scottish looks that were almost boyishmuch to the delight of the ladiesHamilton was every inch of a grizzled fighter, a distinctive quality of a Celtic heritage and his undying belief in the cause of liberty.

Not long after the red-streaked sunset of October 14, 1781, descended over the autumn-hued landscape of the Virginia Tidewater, Hamilton prepared to lead a desperate assault on one of the most formidable British defensive bastions along Yorktowns siege lines, Redoubt Number Ten. If his relatively small force of Continental light troops could overwhelm the imposing earthen redoubt, and if the French allies could capture adjacent Redoubt Number Nine on this chilly autumn night, then Lord Charles Cornwallis, who had been handed the mission to conquer the South, would be forced to surrender his entire garrison.

As he fully realized, General George Washington had chosen precisely the right officer to lead this crucial attack on Redoubt Number Ten, which anchored Cornwallis left flank along with Redoubt Number Nine. Washington knew this highly capable native West Indian extremely well, ever since he had joined his staff at Morristown, New Jersey, on March 1, 1777. Therefore, Washington possessed complete confidence in what the newly married Continental officer could accomplish against any odds. No one in the Continental Army was quite like the irrepressible and brilliant Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton, and Washington had early realized as much.

As a tactically flexible leader on the battlefield, Hamilton had long ago far exceeded the highest of expectations as Washingtons invaluable right-hand man at his headquarters for most of the war. Most importantly, there was nothing insignificant about young Hamiltons many outsized accomplishments on and off the battlefield, especially as Washingtons trusted chief of staff in the modern sense from March 1777 to early 1781. Hamiltons tenure was not only the longest (nearly four years) of any member of Washingtons staff, but also by far the most important and crucial from beginning to end.