1Introductory Note: From George Washington, [14 July 1798] (Hamilton Papers)
This letter contains the first mention in Hamilton’s extant correspondence of the question of who was to serve directly under Washington in his capacity as “Commander in Chief of all the armies raised, or to be raised, in the United States.” When Washington wrote this letter, he assumed that Congress would pass “An Act to augment the Army of the United States, and for other purposes,” which...
2To Alexander Hamilton from George Washington, [14 July 1798] (Hamilton Papers)
Your letter of the 8th. instant, was presented to me by the Secretary of War on the 11th., and I have consented to embark once more on a boundless field of responsibility & trouble, with two reservations—first, that the principal Officers in the line, and of the Staff, shall be such as I can place confidence in; and, that I shall not be called into the field until the Army is in a situation to...