My Dear Hamilton

Flashing back to 1777, when she was 20, Eliza’s father Phillip Schuyler, a general in the Continental army, returns home with several British prisoners of war, to whom he has been ordered to show hospitality. Eliza admonishes her younger sister Peggy for flirting with one of them. Their father was recently accused of treason, when another daughter, Angelica, eloped with an Englishman named Jack Carter. Eliza feels responsible because she assisted the elopement. Though Schuyler forgives Eliza, it is hard for her to forgive herself.

Eliza goes with her father to the hospital in their town of Albany. General Benedict Arnold, the hero of the recent Battle of Saratoga and a friend of the Schuylers, tells them of a young soldier from France named Lafayette who was given a command. Arnold invites the Schuylers to a dinner with Lafayette, who is nearly Eliza’s age.

At dinner, Lafayette is angry that the troops are not prepared for a winter campaign, and he rails against Schuyler. James Monroe, a major in Lafayette’s forces, tries to assuage Eliza’s worries about Lafayette. Despite their disagreements, Lafayette wants to take Schuyler and Arnold into his confidence, as he believes all three have been sent out of the way to Albany as part of a plot to overthrow George Washington, their common friend and commander-in-chief. Lafayette fears that one amongst them will betray them.

The Schuyler women begrudgingly prepare for a dinner with Lafayette’s men. Eliza sits with Monroe at dinner and feels drawn to him and his patriotism. They discuss the conspiracy against Washington, and Monroe says he no longer fears for Washington’s safety since Colonel Hamilton became his aide-de-camp. Narrating from the future, Eliza says she remembers how fondly Monroe said his name that night. Eliza is then invited to attend an upcoming meeting of the Six Nations—an Iroquois confederacy. She accepts, seeing it as a way to contribute to the war effort.

Eliza accompanies Schuyler, Lafayette, and Monroe to the meeting of the Six Nations. Eliza tells Lafayette and Monroe that she was adopted by the Iroquois when she was 13 and given a name that means “one of us.” The people of the Six Nations take to Lafayette, but Eliza hears talk of a conspiracy to overthrow him and her father from women of the Onondaga Nation. The Six Nations cannot agree on a policy toward the war between America and Britain. Warriors from the Oneida Nation agree to fight with the Americans, while others remain neutral. Lafayette invites Eliza and Schuyler to Washington’s camp with him, but they are unable to go.

Eliza’s mother, Catherine, gives birth to another child but becomes ill. On her sickbed, she tells Eliza she forgives her for helping Angelica elope and tells her she should marry too. The baby dies but Catherine recovers. Shortly afterward, Schuyler is found not guilty of treason. He becomes a member of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

Eliza is invited by her aunt Gertrude, the wife of General Washington’s physician, to come to Washington’s camp at Morristown, where Angelica and her husband are also living. Gertrude intends to introduce Eliza and her travel companion, Kitty Livingston, to the troops in hopes they will find husbands. The women visit George and Martha Washington, who recognize Eliza from Angelica’s talk of her. Washington speaks warmly of Schuyler and invites the women to a ball.

At the ball, Angelica and Kitty tell Eliza about the noted rake, Alexander Hamilton. Later, Hamilton asks Eliza to dance. As Hamilton and Eliza begin to bond, Colonel Tilghman, an admirer of Eliza, attempts to ask her to dance, but Hamilton pulls her to the dance floor first. Eliza dances and talks with many men at the ball, but she only thinks of Hamilton the next day.

The next day, Eliza’s uncle, Dr. Cochran, takes her to the nearby makeshift hospital, where she helps to tend to the sick and injured men. Hamilton finds her there and offers to walk her home. They talk about how the Americans are losing the war. The two seem to be falling for one another, but Hamilton believes Eliza is too pure for him and avoids her over the following days.

Eliza goes with her uncle to a war encampment where a deserter was tortured. She attempts to help the man, but her uncle prevents her and sends her away. She finds Alexander Hamilton and asks about the flogged man. He tells her his feelings for her but says they cannot marry because he has no family or fortune. The two kiss, and over the following days Hamilton is constantly at her uncle’s house. They talk of Hamilton’s ambitions but also his longing for death as an end to his troubles. One night, Hamilton tells her his mother was arrested for adultery and suspected of sex work. This makes no difference to Eliza, so he proposes marriage, and she accepts. Eliza wants to marry right away, but Hamilton knows it will look better if he obtains her father’s blessing first.

Eliza begins to doubt her judgment when she discovers her old friend, Benedict Arnold, was secretly working with the British. Schuyler’s friendship with Arnold taints his reputation further. The Schuylers bless the union of Eliza and Hamilton. After six months on campaign, Hamilton arrives at the Schuyler home in Albany. The night before the wedding, the Schuylers hold a dinner. Angelica tells Eliza what to expect on the wedding night. Eliza and Hamilton marry on December 14, 1780.