Nicholas Fish, Revolutionary War officer and close friend of Alexander Hamilton, was born in New York City on 28 August 1758. He joined a New York regiment in 1775, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and serving as Hamilton's second-in-command at Yorktown. Following the war, he was New York State adjutant general, supervisor of the revenue for the District of New York, and a New York City alderman (1806–17).