The circumstances of Alexander Hamilton’s early life are largely unknown. He was born in the West Indies and gave the year of his birth as 1757, but modern inquiries have established 1755 as more likely. In 1772 he was sent to New York City, and sometime in 1773 or 1774 he enrolled at King’s College (now Columbia University). He was a fervent Revolutionary, and when the American Revolution broke out, he enlisted in the militia. In 1777 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and served as General George Washington’s aide-de-camp, though he persuaded Washington to allow him to lead a regiment of troops in the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. His fortunes took another turn for the better when he married a prominent and wealthy New York socialite in 1780.