Major General Alexander Hamilton - New York Militia

Item GAR-9069

Description

Cabinet Card image of Major General Alexander Hamilton - oldest grandson of Alexander Hamilton. (Wearing the Irish Brigade Veteran's badge)

The following record appears in the Annals of Alexander Hamilton Post, No 182, Department of New York, Grand Army of the Republic:

At the outbreak of the Civil War, General Hamilton was connected with the Sanitary Commission, afterwards appointed A.D.C. on the staff of Major General Charles W. Sandford, who was engaged in organizing and forwarding troops from New York to the war; subsequently, he reported to Lieutenant General Scott and was assigned to duty at Arlington, Virginia, with the 8th New York State Militia, May 25, 1861; was wounded while on inspection duty, June 21; after recovery was bearer of dispatches between Generals Scott, Sandford and Secretary Seward; in August 1861, was sent by President Lincoln to Fortress Monroe to obtain special information regarding defeat at Big Bethel; August 11 commissioned Colonel by Governor Morgan, and ordered to recruit a brigade of volunteers; appointed Brigadier General of Volunteers, October 20, 1861, reporting to Major General McClellan for duty; was appointed Major General at Falmouth, Virginia, by the President in May 1863, and was thereafter in special service until the close of the war.

The following information is from Wikipedia:

Hamilton joined the 11th Regiment of the New York Artillery, where he became a second lieutenant. When the Civil War broke out, he became the aide-de-camp to Major General Charles W. Sandford, and took part in active campaigns in Virginia.
He was promoted to Major General in the New York Militia for his use of a gas balloon constructed by Thaddeus S. C. Lowe or military observation during the war. He later reported directly to President Abraham Lincoln. He was placed in charge of troops during the New York Draft Riots in 1863.