Hamilton Returns to New York, 1781-1782 (Hamilton 39)

In October 1781, immediately after the British surrendered at Yorktown, Hamilton set off on the three-week trip to Albany, arriving there in November. By December 29, 1781, he was writing to his…

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Yorktown: “The World Turned Upside Down”? (Hamilton 38)

Chernow's Alexander Hamilton, Fleming's Beat the Drum: The Siege of Yorktown, and dozens of other scholarly works state that at Yorktown on October 19, 1781, when the British marched out to surrender to the…

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Yorktown, August to Early October, 1781 (Hamilton 34)

Here are the main characters on the American Revolutionary scene, in September and October 1781 - skewed, of course, to those who appear in Hamilton: An American Musical. The Americans George…

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Hamilton Resigns from Washington’s Staff (Hamilton 30)

In mid-February 1781, after four years as Washington's aide-de-camp, Hamilton resigned. The reasons behind this and the relationship between Washington and Hamilton, are the subject of nearly as much speculation…

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The Lee-Laurens Duel (Hamilton 29)

Months ago, I found John Laurens's letter to Hamilton about General Charles Lee's "infamous publication," and Hamilton's account of the Lee-Laurens duel. But  it took me weeks to find the "strong…

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Duelling Codes, Part 2 (Hamilton 28)

Last week, I looked at the Royal Code and (disdainfully, because I think it was made up as joke) at the Irish Code. This week, we move on to two other…

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Duelling Codes, Part 1 (Hamilton 27)

This post, I thought blithely, will be fast and easy.  Wouldn't every gentleman carry a pocket-sized copy of the Code Duello for reference in affairs of honor? I'll find a printed dueling code and…

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Meanwhile: Aaron Burr (Hamilton 26)

Forty-seven-year-old General Charles Lee, who had been a career military man since age 14, was bitterly angry when a court martial after the Battle of Monmouth found him guilty of disobeying…

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Hamilton to take home with you (Hamilton 25)

On Wednesday July 20, 2016, a bronze bust of Alexander Hamilton by Zenos Frudakis (a noted American sculptor) is coming up at auction in Philadelphia, at Freeman's. I asked Zenos's…

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Charles Lee on Trial (Hamilton 24)

In which we see Alexander Hamilton in a frenzy of valor, and Dianne indulging in a historiographical rant. Most prominent American leaders during the Revolutionary War period wrote well, often…

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