An Artist in Treason: The Extraordinary Double Life of General James Wilkinson (60 page)

94 The seventh Danville convention was covered in detail by Marshall, whose uncle, Thomas, apparently took verbatim notes of the proceedings.

94 John Brown wrote to George Muter, July 10, 1788, about his talks with Gardoqui, “I have been assured by him in the most explicit terms, that if Kentucky will declare her independence, and impower some proper person to negociate with him, that he has authority, and will engage to open the navigation of the Mississippi, for the exportation of their produce, on terms of mutual advantage.” This was the letter published in the
Kentucké Gazette
, September 4, 1790. It became a central document in the abortive charges against JW and Brown for their parts in the Spanish Conspiracy in September 1806.

95 “He is a young man of respectable talents”: JW to Miró, February 14, 1789, legajo 3893.

95 JW’s account of the convention and his speech was contained in his February 14 message.

96 “I am aware that it may be possible”: Miró to Valdes, June 15, 1789, legajo 3893A. This remarkable assessment is quoted at length in Gayarré,
History of
Louisiana
, 212–13. Jon Kukla,
A Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and
the Destiny of America
(New York: Knopf, 2003).

96 “to attract to our side the inhabitants of the Ohio and Mississippi”: José, Count of Floridablanca, to Diego de Gardoqui, May 24, 1788, in Kukla,
A Wilderness So Immense
. 97 “unanimous in their vehement desire”: John Sevier to Gardoqui, September 12, 1788, quoted by Gardoqui to Miró, legajo 104, cited in Whitaker, “Spanish Intrigue in the Old Southwest.”

97 JW’s story about Connolly, and St. Clair’s letter deploring JW’s involvement with the conspirators, were part of his February 14, 1789, message; also referred to in Jacobs,
Tarnished Warrior
, 77.

98 The
Speedwell
saga was referred to repeatedly in Clark’s
Proofs
, notes 30, and by Miró to Madrid, legajo 2373.

99 “I still continue to hold you as the principal actor in our favor”: Miró to JW, April 23, 1789, Gayarré,
History of Louisiana
.

99 Dunn’s suicide: Jacobs,
Tarnished Warrior
, 87.

99 Ballinger’s carriage of silver to pay the tobacco farmer was presented in Clark’s
Proofs
as evidence of Spanish payment to JW for his services as a spy. His clumsy lie was easily exposed by an affidavit from Ballinger: “I arrived at Frankfort and delivered the money to General Wilkinson in the presence of many person who were expecting it. They were Lincoln county farmers and were much disappointed because the entire shipment of money had not been sent.” Clark’s lie thus strengthened JW’s claims that all Spanish payments were for commercial transactions.

100 Second memorial quoted extensively in Clark’s
Proofs
, appendix 105, and referred to in JW’s
Memoirs
2:113. Jacobs and Hay were both at pains to play down JW’s assistance to Spain, but there was real value in his specific recommendation for a garrison of two hundred men and galleys with fifty rowers at New Madrid, and for organizing the militia on American lines by companies, battalions, and regiments “officered by the most respectable of their countrymen” so that military duty would be seen as patriotic and socially desirable.

101 “My anxiety about him is so great”: Hay, “Letters of Mrs. Ann Biddle Wilkinson.”

102 “a valuable tract of land of 10,000 acres”: Ibid.

C
HAPTER 10:
E
NSHACKLED
BY
D
EBT

Details of JW’s increasing indebtedness are to be found in the Harry Innes Papers and Daniel Clark’s
Proofs
and demonstrate his failings in respectively real estate and commerce.

103 “On my arrival here”: JW to Miró, January 26, 1790, legajo 2374, quoted in Gayarré,
History of Louisiana
, 278.

104 “The great falling off which I observe”: Miró to Valdes, May 22, 1790, ibid.

104 “that Congress strongly suspects my connection with you”: ibid.

104 “I much regret”: Miró to JW, April 30, 1790, ibid.

105 “I am of opinion that said brigadier-general”: Miró to Valdes, May 22, 1790, ibid.

105 “Let me conjure you to be rigid”: JW to Miró, undated, legajo 2374.

106 For JW’s partnership with Peyton Short, see Clark,
Proofs
. Clark wrote, “I am authorised without the fear of contradiction to state, that this gentleman felt for years the embarrassments caused by the connection,” 38.

106 “appalled my Spirit”: JW to Michael La Cassagne (also written “Lacassagne”), January 20, 1790,
First American West:The Ohio River Valley, 1750–1820
, LoC.

107 For the impact of General Harmar’s defeat, see especially Kohn,
Eagle and
Sword
, and Cress, “Reassessing American Military Requirements.”

107 “The voice of all ranks called me”: JW to Miró, February 14, 1791, legajo 2374, cited in Jacobs,
Tarnished Warrior
, 98.

107 “The consternation arising”: Henry Knox to George Washington, September 22, 1791, GWP.

107 “During a residence of more than seven years in these woods”: JW to Knox, August 26, 1791, GWP.

108 “in the name of the President of the United States”: Knox to St. Clair, September 29, 1791, GWP, requiring him to pass on the message.

108 “to effect a violent seperation from the United States”: Thomas Marshall to Washington, February 12, 1789, GWP.

108 “I was greatly alarmed”: Washington to Marshall, March 27, 1789, GWP.

108 James O’Fallon’s letter to Washington, September 30, 1790, GWP.

109 “To hold a post of such responsibility”: Washington to Alexander Hamilton, June 25, 1799, GWP.

109 For the evolution and composition of the army after 1783, see especially Kohn,
Eagle and Sword
; Cress,
Citizens in Arms
; and Skelton,
An American Profession
of Arms.

111 “My views in entering the Military Line are ‘Bread & Fame’ ”: JW to Peyton Short, December 28, 1791, quoted in Jacobs
, Tarnished Warrior
, 102.

C
HAPTER 11:
A G
ENERAL
A
GAIN

Information after JW rejoins the army divides into three types: they relate to his public duties as an officer, to his private ambitions to gain command, and to his activities in relation to New Orleans. Regarding the first, the sources already cited are invaluable; for the second, JW’s letters to Congressman, later Senator, John Brown, and Harry Innes (the Innes Papers) are useful; for the third, the Spanish archives remain essential. JW’s
Memoirs
, volume 2, throw an unreliable light on all three strands.

113 Of the many excellent and harrowing accounts of St. Clair’s defeat, William Darke’s firsthand version in his letter to Washington has an unequaled immediacy. William Darke to Washington, November 9, 1791, GWP.

114 “The [regular] Troops were instantly formed”: Ibid.

114 “[The Indians] could skip out of reach”:
The Military Journal of Major Ebenezer
Denny
(Philadelphia: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1849).

114 “To suffer that army to be cut to pieces”: Recounted by Tobias Lear to Dr. Benjamin Rush and retold by Richard Rush in
Washington in Domestic Life
(Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1857).

115 “my private interest”: JW to Miró, December 4, 1791, legajo 2374.

115 “The depth of the snow”: JW to Samuel Hodgdon, March 12, 1792.

116 Comments on candidates for commanding officer: “Memorandum on General Officers,” Philadelphia, March 9, 1792, PGW.

117 Thomas Jefferson’s notes:
Annals of Thomas Jefferson
, ed. Franklin Sawvel (New York: Round Table Press, 1904), 62.

117 “I regret much”: Hay, “Letters of Mrs. Ann Biddle Wilkinson.”

118 “Brigadier Wilkinson’s attention”: Washington to Knox, August 13, 1791, PGW.

119 “Political Conditions of the Province of Louisiana”: Original in
Papeles de Cuba,
Estados de Misisipi
, 313, quoted by James Alexander Robertson,
Louisiana under the Rule
of Spain, France, and the United States, 1785–1807
(Cleveland: Clark, 1911), 1:280–83.

119 Carondelet’s message confirming JW’s pension of two thousand dollars a year: Carondelet to JW, February 1, 1792, legajo 2374.

120 “To save me in this”: Peyton Short to JW, December 21, 1791, Innes Papers, vol. 23.

120 “I pray you, my friend”: JW to Innes, February 29, 1792, ibid.

120 “uncontrolled power over my whole property”: JW to Innes, April 10, 1792, ibid.

121 “The Vice of drunkeness”: Knox to Washington, September 17, 1792, GWP, 248.

121 “Be pleased therefore, Madam”: Major Armstrong to JW, June 1, 1792, quoted in Jacobs,
Tarnished Warrior
, 110.

122 The St. Tammany’s Day celebration: Jacobs,
Tarnished Warrior
, 110.

122 “2000 select troops composed of Musketeers”: JW to Carondelet, December 15, 1792, legajo 2374.

C
HAPTER 12:
D
ISCIPLINE AND
D
ECEIT

For the creation of the Legion of the United States, the military sources are those cited earlier, but of particular relevance is Birtle, “The Origins of the Legion of the United States.” For Wayne’s side of the toxic battle with JW, Paul David Nelson’s biography
Anthony Wayne, Soldier of the Early Republic
remains indispensable. The sources for JW’s double life are those cited earlier.

124 “It is painful to consider”: Knox to Washington, July 17, 1789, GWP.

126 Mad Anthony: The origin of Wayne’s nickname reflected his character. See Nelson,
Anthony Wayne
.

126 For the composition of the army, see Skelton, “Social Roots of the American Military Profession.”

128 “send as soon as possible a canoe to New Madrid”: Carondelet to Gayoso, October 29, 1793, quoted in Hay,
Admirable Trumpeter
, 136.

128 “the projected attack against Louisiana”: JW to Carondelet, November 23, 1793, ibid.

129 “Hell on earth”: Quoted in Jacobs,
Tarnished Warrior
, 113.

130
Journal of a Journey through the United States, 1795–6
(Morrisiana, N.Y., 1869).

130 “filled with ardent poison & Caitiff wretches”: quoted in Nelson,
Anthony
Wayne
, 241.

130 “I am persuaded your good sense”: Knox to JW, May 17, 1793, WDP.

131 “I have often expressed to her and to Colonel Biddle”: Knox to JW, ibid.

131 “the novelty of the thing”: JW to Washington, November 1, 1792, PGW.

131 “There is no calculating on anything but insult”: Quoted in Nelson,
Anthony
Wayne
, 249.

132 “the old man really is mad”: Ibid., 250.

132 “My General treats me with great civility”: JW to Innes, October 3, 1793, Innes Papers, vol. 23.

132 “into the nature and degree of the Confusion of Stores”: Knox to Wayne, December 28, 1793, WDP.

132 “Your remarks of the disproportionate punishments of death”: Knox to JW, July 17, 1792, WDP.

132 “Mrs. W. ventures to hope your Excellency”: JW to Wayne, December 20, 1793, quoted in Jacobs,
Tarnished Warrior
, 118.