8th. The light Company of the 2d. York Regiment (the first having been down some days) having joined the Army, were formed with two Companies of Yk. levies into a Battn. under the Command of Lieutt. Colo. Hamilton1 & Major Fish2 & placed under the orders of Colo. Scammell as part of the light Troops of the Army.
1. Lt. Col. Alexander Hamilton (1755–1804) had resigned as GW’s aide-de-camp in Feb. 1781 after a dispute with the commander in chief (see , 2:563–68), and in July 1781 he was successful in securing command of a battalion composed of New York levies (General Orders, 31 July 1781, DLC:GW).
2. Nicholas Fish (1758–1833), of New York City, was at this time a major in the 2d New York Regiment and during the Yorktown campaign served as Alexander Hamilton’s second-in-command.