From Alexander Hamilton to Benjamin Stoddert, [21 August 1798]
To Benjamin Stoddert
[New York, August 21, 1798]
Dear Sir
I, about a fortnight since, wrote to you1 on the subject of a relation of mine desirous of entering into our Navy and recommending him as a first Lieutenant; to which letter not having received an answer, I am apprehensive it may have miscarried. You will oblige me by your opinion as speedily as convenient how far there is a prospect for him. I anticipate that there may be scruples from his character of foreigner; but on full reflection I am satisfied it is possible to carry this objection too far. The young man I recommend is every way worthy—I really believe he will be an acquisition. It has occurred to me that Capt Talbot2 lately arrived who is to take the command of the frigate building here, though an excellent man, is not a thorough bred seaman. Such a man as Capt Hamilton would be an excellent second.
The Secry. of the ⟨Marine⟩
AL[S], RG 45, Naval Records Collection of the Office of Naval Records and Library, Subject File: Personnel (NN), National Archives.
2. Silas Talbot, a native of Massachusetts, had served during the American Revolution, first as a lieutenant colonel in the Army and then as a captain in the Navy. After the war he settled in upstate New York. He was a member of the New York Assembly in 1792 and 1793 and a member of the House of Representatives from 1793 to 1795. On June 4, 1794, he was appointed one of the six “Captains of the ships to be procured in pursuance of the act to provide ‘a naval armament’” ( 350–51 [March 27, 1794]) with the understanding that he would assist in “the building of the said ships” (, 160, 161). He was then placed in charge of the vessel that was to be built at New York. When work on the frigate at New York was discontinued in 1796 by “An Act supplementary to an act entitled ‘An act to provide a Naval Armament’” ( 453–54 [April 20, 1796]), Talbot either lost his commission or was placed on the inactive list. On May 31, 1796, he was appointed agent “for the purpose of obtaining the release of impressed American citizens” in the West Indies (, 231), a position provided for by “An Act for the relief and protection of American Seamen” ( 477–78 [May 28, 1796]). On May 11, 1798, he was reappointed a captain in the Navy (, 274, 275) and, as H notes, was reassigned to the frigate under construction in New York.