To Alexander Hamilton from George Washington, [20 January 1777]
From George Washington
[Morristown, New Jersey, January 20, 1777. A statement in George Washington’s letter to Lieutenant Colonel Robert Hanson Harrison1 of this date reads: “Be so good as to forward the Inclosed to Captn. Hamilton.”2 Letter not found.]
1. Before the Revolution, Harrison, who was a native of Maryland, was a lawyer in Alexandria, Virginia, where he met Washington and became his occasional legal adviser. On November 25, 1775, he was appointed aide-de-camp to Washington, and in May, 1776, he replaced Joseph Reed as Washington’s secretary.
2. “Captn. Hamilton” is identified by Fitzpatrick ( , VII, 519) as Alexander Hamilton. It is probable that it was in this letter that Washington asked H to join his staff as an aide-de-camp.