Hamilton Douglas Halyburton (10 October 1763 – 31 December 1783) was a British Lieutenant who died at Sandy Hook, New Jersey

Sandy Hook, New Jersey

Sandy Hook is a barrier spit, approximately 6.0 miles in length and varying between 0.10 and 1 miles wide in Middletown Township in Monmouth County, along the Atlantic Ocean coast of eastern New Jersey in the United States. The barrier spit encloses the southern entrance of Lower New York Bay...

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Biography

He was born on 10 October 1763 to Sholto Douglas, 15th Earl of Morton

Sholto Douglas, 15th Earl of Morton

Sholto Charles Douglas, 15th Earl of Morton was the son of James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton.In February 1754 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society...

. He died on 31 December 1783 when he was in command of the barge

Barge

A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...

 of the . He was using it to chase deserters off of Sandy Hook

Sandy Hook

Sandy Hook is a barrier spit along the Atlantic coast of New JerseySandy Hook may also refer to:-Places:United States* Sandy Hook , a village in the town of Newtown, Connecticut* Sandy Hook, Kentucky, a city in Elliott County...

. He and his crew were caught in a winter storm

Winter storm

A winter storm is an event in which the dominant varieties of precipitation are formed that only occur at low temperatures, such as snow or sleet, or a rainstorm where ground temperatures are low enough to allow ice to form...

and they all died, all but one of the bodies washed ashore the next day. They were described as "12 gentlemen and one common sailor".

Katherine Hamilton, the Countess Dowager of Morton erected a monument, but it was destroyed by the French. The grave was rediscovered in 1908 during expansion of a road.