NJ, USA
Alexander Hamilton Courts Elizabeth Schuyler
February 1, 1780
During the second Morristown encampment, Alexander Hamilton, serving as Washington's aide-de-camp, courted Elizabeth Schuyler at the home of Dr. Jabez Campfield. The Schuyler sisters had traveled to Morristown as part of the social circle that gathered around the army's winter quarters. The courtship took place against the backdrop of the army's suffering — officers attended social gatherings and dances while enlisted men starved in their huts at Jockey Hollow. Hamilton and Elizabeth married on December 14, 1780.
People Involved
Washington's chief aide-de-camp during both Morristown encampments, Hamilton managed correspondence, gathered intelligence, and grew increasingly frustrated with the weak central government that left the army starving.
Joined Washington at Morristown during both winter encampments, managing the headquarters household, organizing sewing circles to produce clothing for soldiers, and hosting events to maintain officer morale.
Virginia planter and Continental Army commander-in-chief who owned and managed Mount Vernon's enslaved workforce. Absent from his estate for most of the war, he directed Lund Washington's management by correspondence and returned to find the plantation's human community shaped by eight years of wartime disruption.