Alexander Hamilton – WCS

Alexander Hamilton

When historians write about the most important founding fathers of the United States, Alexander Hamilton always appears in the first rank with George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Of those men, Hamilton was the least likely to achieve greatness, had by far the greatest obstacles to overcome, and some of whose achievements set the course America would follow even to this day.

Providence afforded young Alexander Hamilton a future far from the dead end life that seemed to becloud his future. Articulate, a good writer with a colorful imagination, fluent in French, Hamilton came to the attention of local merchants who read an article he wrote describing the aftermath of a devastating hurricane that had swept through the Caribbean. With their help and the support of his aunts, Alexander matriculated at The King’s College in New York (later Columbia) where he settled in as a burgeoning scholar in 1773. Within two years, at the age of seventeen, Hamilton had organized a volunteer militia company and had penned several tracts against British tyranny, showing in his writing and conduct “moderation and maturity.”

Hamilton was awarded the captaincy of the Provincial Company of the New York Artillery in March of 1776, commanding ninety three gunners in the Battles of Long Island, Harlem Heights and White Plains in the disastrous campaign that almost ruined Washington’s army and ended the war. General Nathaniel Greene was so impressed with Captain Hamilton’s skills he introduced him to General Washington. His work in the New Jersey Campaign so impressed the commander that he made the twenty year old Hamilton a Lieutenant Colonel and a member of his personal staff, an honor bestowed on very few and which required the highest standards of leadership, loyalty, and penmanship.

While Hamilton became one of George Washington’s most trusted advisors for more than four years, and drafted a number of important papers on improving the military system as well as “invigorating the government,” he also revealed a negative side of his personality. Hamilton ambition for higher command came out in letters to his confidant, John Laurens. General Washington had rewarded others of his staff in that way but apparently valued Hamilton too highly to let him go. He denied him field command and Hamilton could not abide the frustration. After a brief confrontation with the commander in chief, Hamilton resigned from the staff in a pique. Even so, both men continued to respect one another and Hamilton got his command, leading the final charge in person at Yorktown. He left the service as a breveted Colonel.

The Hamilton is a perfectly balanced cigar.

Vitola – Perfecto – 50 x 5

Body – Mild to Medium

Wrapper – Ecuadoran Desflorado

Binder – Sumatra

Long Filler – Dominican