Lt. Colonel John M. Hamilton Papers

Series 1: Biographical (1871-1918) This series has been divided into two subseries: military and personal. Both subseries primarily comprise newspaper and magazine clippings. The military subseries includes Frederic Remington’s April 1898 Harper’s New Monthly Magazine article about the 9th U. S. Cavalry at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. The “Colonel” referred to in the article is Lt. Colonel Hamilton; during Remington’s research trip to Fort Robinson he became quite friendly with Hamilton and his wife. After Hamilton’s death in Cuba later in the year, Isabel Hamilton wrote to solicit Remington’s assistance in obtaining a widow’s pension (see Correspondence series). Also included is a published account of the pivotal November 1876 battle with Dull Knife and the Cheyenne in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming in which Hamilton is mentioned. Other material includes a newspaper cartoon of the members of a court martial on which Hamilton served. The bulk of the military subseries comprises 1898 newspaper articles about the 9th U. S. Cavalry and the death of Lt. Colonel Hamilton at the Battle of San Juan Hill. Two typescript accounts of Lt. Colonel Hamilton’s death by firsthand observers are also included.

The personal subseries consists entirely of newspaper clippings documenting important events in the Hamilton family: an 1871 announcement of the marriage of John M. Hamilton and Isabel Bowie, several accounts of the reinterment of Lt. Colonel Hamilton in Geneva, New York, two articles about Isabel Hamilton’s attempt to secure a widow’s pension, and obituaries for Isabel Hamilton and Hamilton’s mother.

Series 2: Correspondence (1873-1925) Comprises primarily letters concerning the death of Lt. Colonel Hamilton and its aftermath. Included is Hamilton’s last letter home, written on the S. S. Miami en route to Cuba; several eyewitness accounts of Hamilton’s death on San Juan Hill, including one by his orderly, Private William H. Lee; and letters written to Isabel Hamilton in response to her pleas for a widow’s pension, including several letters from Theodore Roosevelt, who gained national fame after the Battle of San Juan Hill, three holographic letters from artist Frederic Remington, and letters from several generals and senators, including two from General ‘Fightin’ Joe’ Wheeler, who served in the Spanish-American War in the twilight of his career. Other notable correspondents include Lieutenant (later Major General) Leonard Wood. A letter from an unknown correspondent to one of Hamilton’s daughters provides an interesting description of San Juan Hill as it appeared in 1925. Several other letters refer to Hamilton’s experiences in the Indian Wars, including his own firsthand account of the battle with the Cheyenne Indians in the Big Horn Mountains in November 1876.

Series 3: Documents (1863-1900) Includes 15 documents, which show the arc of Hamilton’s military career from his service with Co. H of the 33rd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War to the widow’s pension awarded to Isabel Hamilton by way of a private bill in the U. S. House of Representatives in 1900. Notable documents in the series include Hamilton’s 1863 discharge from Co. H of the 33rd New York Volunteer Infantry; officer appointment documents signed by presidents Andrew Johnson and Grover Cleveland; General Orders No. 14, Department of Arizona, which cites Hamilton for “conspicuous services and gallantry” in engagements with the Tonto Apaches in February and March 1873; and General Orders No. 9, Headquarters, Cavalry Division, which changes the name of the main cavalry encampment in Cuba to Camp Hamilton in honor of Lt. Colonel Hamilton.

Series 4: Ephemera (1864-circa 1896) Includes several items Hamilton collected through his life, some related to his personal life, some to his military career. Personal items include a sash from the Loyal Orange Lodge No. 331, Charleston, Ontario that belonged to his father, David Hamilton; holographic copies of The Gettysburg Address and Abraham Lincoln’s favorite poem, “Oh, Why Should the Spirit of Mortal be Proud” (also known as “Mortality”); and a lock of Isabel Hamilton’s hair. Items related to Hamilton’s military career include the autographs of Generals George Crook and Adna R. Chaffee, two 1886 broadsides advertising plays presented at Fort Riley, Kansas in which Isabel Hamilton acted; two invitations to a 9th U. S. Cavalry Band concert at Fort Robinson, Nebraska; and two pencil drawings done by soldiers while in the field during the Indian Wars. One is a colored pencil drawing of cavalry soldiers on foot patrol during the 1873 Tonto Apache campaign and the other shows a soldier doing laundry at the White River Agency near Meeker, Colorado.

Series 5: Photographs (circa 1871-1898) Includes 24 photographs. Photographs include two of Isabel Hamilton, one in middle age and the other in old age; several photographs and one negative of Hamilton in uniform; an image of the main street of Charleston, Ontario with the Hamilton family home indicated; and a photograph of the Hamilton grave marker in Arlington National Cemetery. Images documenting Hamilton’s military service include a group portrait of soldiers taken at Fort Assinniboine, Montana, an 1898 group portrait of officers taken at Tampa, Florida (with Hamilton indicated), and a group of 12 snapshots of life at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, including photographs of Hamilton, soldiers at target practice, family life at the Fort, and a 9th U. S. Cavalry bugler.