offensive from Canada. Hamilton dutifully
complied and also recruited the services of
frontier renegades such as Simon Girtyto
assist him. However, he insisted that the war-
riors be kept on a short leash to minimize
atrocities. The very nature of frontier war
mitigated against such precautions, unfortu-
nately, and Americans condemned Hamilton
as the “Hair-buyer” for allegedly offering
bounties for scalps. This despicable practice
had, in fact, a long and pervasive history. If
Hamilton did pay for scalps, he was no worse
than scores of American, British, and French
officials before him who encouraged the
practice and did the same. As it was, Hamil-
ton had only enough resources to support a
major raid against Wheeling, Virginia (now
West Virginia), in September 1777 before
most of his warriors were withdrawn in sup-
port of Burgoyne.
The tempo of confrontation in the west ac-
celerated dramatically on July 20, 1778, when
an American expedition under Col. George
Rogers Clark of Virginia captured the settle-
ment of Vincennes in the Illinois Territory.
Hamilton reacted promptly to this threat by
organizing an expedition of his own to re-
claim it. On October 7, 1778, he departed De-
troit with 500 Indians and frontiersmen and
commenced a difficult midwinter journey.
Braving snowdrifts and flooded rivers, he ex-
pertly led his force to Vincennes and recap-
tured it without a struggle on December 17. It
was an impressive foray achieved under try-
ing conditions. But Hamilton mistakenly as-
sumed it was too cold for further enemy activ-
ity, so he dismissed the force save for a
garrison of 80 men under his immediate com-
mand. The governor did not reckon with the
resolve of Colonel Clark, unfortunately. Upon
hearing of Hamilton’s activities, Clark
rounded up another 200 rough-hewn fron-
tiersmen and set out for Vincennes in Febru-
ary 1779—the dead of winter. The Americans
braved horrific conditions, but their sudden
arrival completely surprised Hamilton. After a
brief siege of several days, he surrendered to
Clark on March 8, 1779, and was marched to
Virginia as a prisoner of war. His capture was
a serious setback for British power in the
Great Lakes region.
Hamilton’s reputation as the “Hair-buyer”
preceded him, for, contrary to the laws of war,
he was treated with the utmost contempt and
harshness following his arrival at Williams-
burg in June 1780. Upon the orders of no less
an authority than Governor Thomas Jeffer-
son, he was clapped in irons and confined to a
10-foot-square dungeon in solitary confine-
ment. Following British protests, and the per-
sonal intercession of Gen. George Washing-
ton, the irons were removed, but Hamilton
remained closely held until August 1780. That
fall he signed a parole and was dispatched to
New York City, then under British control,
and returned to England the following year.
Despite his unsavory—if unfounded—rep-
utation, Hamilton remained highly regarded
by the British government and, following the
recommendation of Governor-General Fred-
erick Haldimand, gained the appointment as
lieutenant governor of Quebec in June 1782.
Unable to weather the differences between
competing French and British factions there,
his tenure in Quebec was stormy, even after
assuming complete control of the province in- Continuing political friction resulted in
his recall in August 1785, but three years later
he found more accommodating work as the
governor of Bermuda. He served with high-
minded distinction for six years, and the is-
land’s capital, Hamilton, was subsequently
named in his honor. His last appointment was
as governor of Dominica, which he assumed
in 1794. The much-abused “Hair-buyer” died
on an official visit to Antigua on September
26, 1796.
Bibliography
Allen, Robert S. His Majesty’s Allies: British Indian
Policy in the Defense of Canada, 1774–1815.
Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1992; Barnhart, John D., ed.
Henry Hamilton and George Rogers Clark in the
American Revolution.Crawfordsville, IN: R. E. Ban-
tin, 1951; Jaebker, Orville J. “Henry Hamilton: BritishHAMILTON, HENRY