(1758 - 1843) Revolutionary War soldier and aide to generals Mercer and Gates. The distribution of his 'Newburgh letters' which cited wrongs done unto officers and called for organized action, alarmed Washington, who took firm steps to avoid a possible mutiny. INQUIRING WHEN ALEXANDER HAMILTON FIRST SERVED AS WASHINGTON'S AIDE Fine content A.L.S. in his old age, 1p. 4to., 'Lower Red Hook, Dec. 6,1832 in response to an inquiry (attached) by an unidentified fellow Revolutionary War veteran, possibly an aide to George Washington. In part: 'Dear. Col[onel], Can you ascertain the time at which the late Gen. [Alexander] Hamilton entered the military family of Gen. Washington? It was I know during the Campaign of -76, and upon the recommendation of [Gen. Nathaniel] Green, who had made his acquaintance at N.Y. but what I do not know, is the point of time - whether before or after the defeat of our troops at Long Island - or still later in the Campaign? The first place I recollect seeing him, in the suite of the General, was at Morristown whither the army had retired, after the Princeton affair. Be good enough to let me hear from you...' At bottom Armstrong attached the response from the unknown colonel. It reads, in part: '...I distinctly recollect that the late Genl H. was not in the military family of Washington while our troops were on Long Island and can not with precision say at what point in time he joined it - I think however it was shortly before the Princeton affair...I am pretty confident...' Very good. Hamilton served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington from March 1, 1777 to April, 1781 - months after the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776. He had previously refused to accept invitations to serve as an aide to William Alexander, Lord Stirling, and another general, perhaps Nathanael Greene or Alexander McDougall.