“Adams’ Army” was a popular nickname for the military forces that formally began to be built up in July, 1798, in preparation for what many Americans anticipated would become a full-blown war with France.

France, which had embarked upon a turbulent and bloody revolution in 1789, was now no longer an American-allied monarchy. A revolutionary government called “The Directory” was in charge for now. And soon, Napoleon Bonaparte would seize power and transform France yet again into a conquering empire.

But in the meantime, the Directory had gone to war with Great Britain. And France actively expected the United States to join its side.

The United States, however, had not cooperated. George Washington’s administration had issued a Proclamation of Neutrality in April, 1793. No small number of Americans considered France a sacred partner in furthering the same Enlightenment ideals that had helped inspire the American Revolution, and Washington’s policy—continued by President John Adams when he became chief executive in March, 1797—was decried by Thomas Jefferson and his political ilk.

If the Proclamation of Neutrality was controversial at home, it incensed the people of France. France began taking active measures against the U.S., particularly by attacking and capturing ships bearing its flag.

Initial diplomatic attempts to settle the conflict seemed only to breed further scandals and misunderstandings. Soon the countries seemed destined to come to blows.

Alexander Hamilton—who as a youth thirsty for social mobility and greatness had memorably penned the lines “I wish there were a war’—likely felt the same desire again welling up in his heart during this period. With George Washington in retirement and a forceful political opposition mounting, Hamilton no longer enjoyed his previous power and influence. His private life practicing law was failing to deliver the sorts of satisfactions he sought.

But, Hamilton reckoned, were a war with France to break out, he could leverage his remaining allies in the Adams administration and break out of his doldrums.

Hamilton dreamed of return to military uniform and getting promoted to high rank. He played his cards right (if not entirely deftly) and steered his way to becoming Major General. Shuttling back and forth between New York and Philadelphia during this period, he hurried to help organize the powerful Provincial Army that Congress provided for in a vote on July 16, 1798.

This stage of Hamilton’s career, however, would not last long. And the opportunities he lusted for would fizzle.

Although Alexander Hamilton and John Adams were political compatriots in name, they did not like each other. Adams suspected—not groundlessly—that Hamilton was trying to manipulate national policy behind the scenes and even use his own cabinet members against him.

Adams saw danger not only in open hostilities against France, but also in runaway war fever. He didn’t want Hamilton in a position to continue to empower himself through the means of a swelling and combative army.

So Adams shocked many of his fellow Federalists by launching a renewed diplomatic mission to France which, to his credit, began to pay off. War began to seem less and less likely. And Hamilton was dealt a crippling blow when, on May 20, 1800, his Provisional Army received the order to disband over the coming months. 

However, during the short life of “Adams’ Army,” the town of Oxford, Massachusetts, was made a camp for the 14th, 15th, and 16th U.S. Regiments. Such new recruits as the regiments could find were drilled here by Revolutionary War vets, making Oxford a kind of modern boot camp.

As the Provisional Army wound down, Alexander Hamilton traveled to Oxford and spent a period of days there. Ostensibly, he came to oversee the storing of the local regiments’ supplies so they could be used for future conflicts. In reality, however, Hamilton was on a mission of political revenge to undermine John Adams.

Hamilton wanted to see Adams ejected from the presidency in the next election, and was touring the Federalist stronghold of New England to discreetly advocate for South Carolina Federalist Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.

In what might be his final chance to present himself to the outside world in the resplendency of his uniform and general rank, Hamilton wanted the New England Federalists to receive him as a statesmanlike figure. He wanted to boost his own legacy and discover new opportunities for himself.

In the company of his military entourage, Hamilton arrived in Oxford on June 10, 1800. Two days later, he threw a grand, public dinner for the Provisional Army officers complete with a drum and fife band and a patriotic colonnade erected for the occasion. The next day, the men under Hamilton’s command assembled, and he “treated” them to a reportedly ninety minute long speech. Friendly newspapers heralded him as charismatic hero. But the efforts would be inadequate to silence his enemies or meaningfully affect the immediate political future. Indeed, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr would defeat John Adams at the ballot box in just months.

The first white residents of Oxford, Massachusetts, were primarily French Huguenots—that is, French men and women converted to the Protestant faith, and subsequently driven from their native land due to religious prejudice. They began settling the area in the 1720s, at first struggling for permanence against local native populations. The initial French character of the town would come under threat during the French and Indian War, and would soon be little more than a historical footnote.