Captain Hamilton, who was killed in the battle of the Washita, fought between United States cavalry under General Custar, and Indians under Big Kettle, on the 27th of November, 1868, was the youngest officer of his rank in the regular service. He was born in the city of New York on the 21st of July, 1844. He was the eldest son of Philip Hamilton, Esq., of Poughkeepsie, who is the youngest of the surviving sons of the eminent statesman, Alexander Hamilton.

His maternal grandfather was Louis McLane, of Delaware, who was twice minister to England, and was a member of President Jackson's cabinet, as Secretary of the Treasury, and also as Secretary of State.

In the second year of the late Civil War, young Hamilton, then not eighteen years of age, went into the service for three months at Harper's Ferry, as a volunteer private in the Twenty-second New York State militia. On his return to Poughkeepsie he immediately engaged in raising a company of volunteers for the service, and while so employed he received (September 21, 1862,) the commission of second lieutenant in the Third Regular Infantry. In that capacity he commanded a company in the battle of Fredericksburg, in December following. There, where the regulars were fearfully exposed under the most trying circumstances, young Hamilton's calmness, fortitude and bravery were fully tried. He was again in command of a company in the desperate struggles at Chancellorsville, early in May, 1863, when the regulars covered the retreat of the army across the Rappahannock. So conspicuous was his soldierly behaviour on that occasion, that on the day after the passage of the river he was placed on the staff of General Ayres, who commanded the division of regulars. In that capacity he performed excellent service in the battle of Gettysburg, when he was not yet nineteen years of age. He soon afterward received two brevets, on the recommendation of a board of officers, one for "gallant and meritorious conduct" at Chancellorsville, and the other for the same at Gettysburg. In every position in which he acted during the remainder of the war, young Hamilton was distinguished for his ability and faithfulness.

On the reorganization of the army in 1866, Lieutenant Hamilton was appointed captain of the Seventh regiment of regular cavalry, and went with General Custar to the hostile Indian country. He at once took rank as one of the best officers in that arm of the service. During the winter and spring of 1867, he so perfected the discipline of his company that the Inspector-General, in his report, mentioned it as the best at the post. In the ensuing summer he was in active service on the Plains. In June he had his first conflict with the Indians, concerning which General Custar said in his report to General Sherman: "On the 24th ultimo, forty-five Sioux warriors attacked a detachment of twenty-five men of this regiment under Captain Louis M. Hamilton, near the Forks of the Republic. Captain Hamilton's party, after a gallant fight, defeated and drove off the Indians. * * *. To Captain Hamilton, as well as to his men, great praise is due for the pluck and determination exhibited by them in this, their first engagement with the Indians."

Since last August, the service of the Seventh regiment has been particularly severe and perilous. General Sheridan had determined to carry on the campaign against the Indians, with great vigor. General Custar was restored to his command early in November; and under that, his old gallant and energetic commander, Captain Hamilton, full of the chivalric spirit of his profession, addressed himself assiduously to the important business before them. In a letter written to his parents only a week before his death, and received after the sad intelligence had reached them, he said, in describing the new arrangements in the regiment, made by Custar: "He has transferred the horses from squadron to squadron, so as to have them assorted by color. I have got black horses (picked), and he has given me the honor of arming my squadron with Colt's revolvers, and making mine the light squadron."

A few days afterwards the troops, marching, struck the trail of an Indian war party in snow a foot deep. The savages were pursued with vigor until past midnight, when they were discovered in fifty lodges, with their families and provisions. A simultaneous charge of the troops, in four columns, was made at dawn on the 27th of November. The national forces were victorious. Big Kettle, the leader of the hostile band, and others, were killed; and all the survivors, with their effects, were captured. In the charge that struck this first serious blow which the savages have received during the war, Captain Hamilton fell. General Sheridan, in a congratulatory order to the troops dated in the field, Nov. 29, 1868, says: "The energy and rapidity shown during one of the heaviest snow storms that has visited this section of the country, with the temperature below freezing point, and the gallantry and bravery displayed, resulting in such signal success, reflects the highest credit upon both the officers and men of the Seventh Cavalry; and the Major-general commanding, while regretting the loss of such gallant soldiers as Major Elliot and Captain Hamilton, who fell, while gallantly leading their men, desires to express his thanks to the officers and men engaged in the Battle of the Washita."

Such is a brief outline of the military record of one of the most promising young men of our country. His character and his achievements during his short but eventful life deserve more than a passing notice, yet only such may here be given. Goodness, integrity, and a deep religious sentiment, formed the basis of his moral character. From earliest childhood he was governed in his conduct towards others by the nicest sense of honor. His ever-flowing good humor, sparkling wit, quiet vivacity and generous modesty, made him one of the most loveable companions, and the favorite among officers and men. While he possessed all the tenderness of a woman, when human sympathies and sweet emotions stirred his heart, and was oblivious of self, he was stern, inflexible and uncompromising towards all that was mean, false, oppressive and unrighteous.

His intellectual qualities were in unison with those of his moral nature. He was fluent and impressive in conversation; and he wrote with force, perspicuity and purity of diction. His contributions to the press before he was seventeen years of age, were marked by a breadth and strength of thought, and by terseness of language seldom displayed excepting by experienced writers; and his private letters from the camp and field would need very little revision to please the most fastidious taste. He possessed the elements of an accomplished artist. The products of his pencil, thrown off as occasion offered, generally in illustration of something ludicrous in his experience, were quite remarkable. His patriotism led him into the military service in defence of the life of his country. He acquired such a taste for the profession of arms, and so perfect a knowledge of its requiremenis, that he chose it as his vocation. His bravery, General Ayres said, was "perfect." His devotion to his country, on all occasions, was most generous and disinterested, and gives him an abiding place among the purest patriots...........B. J. L.

Dear Sir:--

I respectfully transmit herewith the proceedings of a meeting lately held in this Regiment, expressing in a feeble manner the estimation in which your beloved Son LOUIS was held by his cotemporaries here, and the sincere sorrow they feel for his untimely end.

The resolutions fail entirely to express the depth of our affection for the deceased, or the extent of the loss we sustain by his death.

In the earnest hope that the sympathy we have endeavored to express, may serve in some measure, however slight, to assuage the grief which this sad bereavement has brought upon you, I remain, dear sir, with profound respect,

Your obedient servant,
ROB'T. M. WEST, 7th Cavalry, Bvt Col. U. S. A., Secretary of the meeting.

A meeting of the officers of the 7th U. S. Cavalry was held in the camp of the Regiment, on the North Fork of Canadian River, Indian Territory, the fourth day of December, 1868, to take into consideration the untimely death of Captain Louis M. Hamilton, of the Regiment, who was killed in the battle of the Washita, Nov. 27th, 1868, and to testify by resolution the respect and estimation in which the deceased was held by his comrades in arms; Brev. Major General Geo. A. Custer was chosen to preside over the meeting, and a committee was appointed to draft resolutions.

The following were reported by the committee:

Resolved, That the death in battle of our late comrade, Capt. Louis M. Hamilton, has bereft us of a dear and valued friend, who, while living, we cherished as a rare and gifted gentleman of unsullied honor and spotless fame; that we miss the genial face, the sparkling wit, the well-tried, warm and trusty heart of him whose loss we mourn more deeply than words can tell.

Resolved, That by the death of the heroic Hamilton, the Army has lost one of its brightest ornaments; that he was a thorough, gallant soldier, with heart and hand in his work, whose highest aim was to be perfect "without fear, and without reproach" in all things pertaining to his profession; that among the brilliant soldiers who were selected after the closest scrutiny from the Armies of the East and of the West, for the new Army which was organized at the close of the late war, our lamented Hamilton stood in the foremost rank; that the genius of his mind, and the qualities of heart stamped him as one of the purest and brightest soldiers of his years and time; that his blameless life and glorious death entitle him to a place among the departed heroes of his race.

Resolved, That the patriotic ardor and devotion to country and duty, which rendered the Grandsire Alexander Hamilton illustrious, were truthfully perpetuated in the Grandson, the best efforts of whose life were directed towards the re-establishment of the government which his progenitor had aided to build; whose life's blood was shed in visiting just retribution upon those who had savagely outraged every principle of humanity, and who had persistently refused to recognize the authority of that government which he had learned from infancy to venerate, and for the supremacy of which he had fought on many famous fields.

Resolved, That the officers and soldiers of the Seventh Cavalry do hereby express their heartfelt sympathy with all who mourn the loss of the deceased, especially do they tender the same to his relatives and family friends.

Resolved, That the Secretary of the meeting be directed to transmit a copy of these proceedings to the relations of the deceased, and that he also be directed to transmit a copy of the same for publication to the Army and Navy Journal, and to the Daily Eagle, a paper published at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where the deceased resided.

The report of the committee was approved, and the meeting adjourned sine die.

• R. M. West, Brev. Col., U. S. A., Sec'y.

• G. A. CUSTER, Brev. Maj. Gen. U. S. Army, President.

A correspondent of the New York Herald, wrote as follows, from the Camp: "Captain Louis M. Hamilton, killed in the battle of the Washita, was buried this afternoon with military honors. The entire regular troops at present here turned out. The body of the deceased captain was carried in an ambulance as a hearse and covered with a large American flag. The ambulance was preceded by Captain Hamilton's squadron, commanded by Brevet Lt. Col. Weir, as escort, and was followed by his horse, covered with a mourning sheet. Major General Sheridan, Brevet Major General Custer, Brevet Lieut. Colonels Crosby, Cook and T. W. Custer; Brevet Major Beebe and Lieut. Hale acted as pall bearers."

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