Hamilton Fish II (June 27, 1873 - June 24, 1898) was a wealthy New Yorker who was a member of a prominent

Fish family The Fish family is a prominent American family, members of which became influential in politics, diplomacy, and business. The family is of English origin and is descended from Jonathan Fish (1615–1663), who was born in East Farndon, Northamptons ...

. He joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

's 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, the

Rough Riders The Rough Riders was a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one to see combat. The United States Army was small, understaffed, and di ...

, during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

. Fish attained the rank of sergeant, and died after he was shot during the

Battle of Las Guasimas The Battle of Las Guasimas of June 24, 1898 was a Spanish rearguard action by Major General Antero Rubín against advancing columns led by Major General "Fighting Joe" Wheeler and the first land engagement of the Spanish–American War. The ba ...

Biography

Fish was son of diplomat and banker

Nicholas Fish Nicholas Fish (August 28, 1758 – June 20, 1833) was an American Revolutionary War soldier. He was the first Adjutant General of New York. Early life Fish was born on August 28, 1758 into a wealthy New York City family. He was the son of Jon ...

and Clemence Smith (Bryce) Fish. He was the nephew of namesake

Hamilton Fish II Hamilton Fish II (April 17, 1849 – January 15, 1936) was an American lawyer and politician who served as Speaker of the New York State Assembly and a member of the United States House of Representatives. Early life Fish was born in Albany, N ...

, the former speaker of the New York State Assembly, and grandson of the 26th

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

Hamilton Fish Hamilton Fish (August 3, 1808September 7, 1893) was an American politician who served as the 16th Governor of New York from 1849 to 1850, a United States Senator from New York from 1851 to 1857 and the 26th United States Secretary of State ...

. Fish attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

as a member of the class of 1895 and was a member of St. Anthony Hall. To prepare for a career as a railroad executive, he was employed through family connections by the

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south from D ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

, where he worked in the maintenance and repair shops, as a

brakeman A brakeman is a rail transport worker whose original job was to assist the braking of a train by applying brakes on individual wagons. The earliest known use of the term to describe this occupation occurred in 1833. The advent of through brakes, ...

, and in other

blue collar A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and power ...

positions within the company. Fish was a member of "L" troop commanded by Captain Allyn K. Capron Jr. He was not the only soldier from a prominent family in the unit: "... To this rugged crew, Roosevelt added some 50 men with backgrounds closer to his own:

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

rs from wealthy Eastern families. In citing their qualifications for active duty, Roosevelt touted their athletic accomplishments. Dudley Dean was "perhaps the best quarterback who ever played on a Harvard 11." Bob Wrenn was "the champion tennis player of America." Other Easterners included "Waller, the high jumper;

Craig Wadsworth Craig Wharton Wadsworth (January 12, 1872 – May 20, 1960) was a diplomat, steeplechase rider, and member of Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Early life He was born in Philadelphia to Gen. Craig Wadsworth (1841–1872) and Evelyn Willing ( né ...

, the steeplechase rider; Joe Stephens, the crack polo player; and Hamilton Fish, the ex-captain of the Columbia crew." He was one of the first Americans killed in the

, near

Santiago, Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains ...

, on June 24, 1898. He died of a gunshot just near the heart and survived less than a minute, according to a Rough Rider, trooper Ed Culver, who was wounded by the same bullet.

Movies

Hamilton Fish was played by

Holt McCallany Holt McCallany (born Holt Quinn McAloney; September 3, 1963) is an American actor. He is known for portraying FBI Special Agent Bill Tench on the series '' Mindhunter'' (2017–2019) and has had leading and supporting roles in various television ...

in the 1997 TV movie ''Rough Riders''.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118453/

References

General References

External links

Picture of Sgt. Fish in account of battle by fellow officer Meyer Hurwitz

IMDB Database Rough Riders 1997
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fish, Hamilton Ii 1873 births 1898 deaths Hamilton II Military personnel from New York City Rough Riders Columbia University alumni People from Garrison, New York American military personnel killed in the Spanish–American War