Andro Linklater - An Artist in Treason - The Extraordinary Double Life of General James Wilkinson

84 “He is a young man”: Miró and Navarro, document No. 13.

84 “Negroes, live Stock, tobacco”: JW’s “First Memorial,” document No. 13.

85 “First Memorial”: Document No. 13.

86 Instruction to McIlvain: May 10, 1790, Harry Innes Papers, LoC.

86 “[Self]- interest regulates the passions of Nations”: document No. 13.

87 “the prediction of our transatlantic foe!”: Washington to James Madison, November 5, 1786, GWP.

88 “one of the most complex ciphers”: Document No. 13.

88 “be rewarded generously”: Ibid.

89 “I have look’d for my Wilkinson”: quoted in Hay, “Letters of Mrs. Ann Biddle Wilkinson.” See the same source for her circumstances in Kentucky.

90 “your business was so pressing”: Washington to JW, February 20, 1788. As was his habit, JW had sent Washington a present of seeds and “Indian fabricks.” The rise in prices following JW’s visit is vouched for by Daniel Clark in testimony to the House of Representatives, January 11, 1808, Annals of Congress (AC).

90 “My much esteemed and honored friend”: JW to Miró, quoted Gayarré, History of Louisiana , 242.

91 For the New Orleans fire, see Gayarré, History of Louisiana , 204.

91 “you cannot be at a loss to know”: Dunn to Wilkinson, June 15, 1788,Wilkinson Papers, vol. 1, Chicago Historical Society.

91 JW’s profits were presented by Daniel Clark in Proofs of the Corruption of General James Wilkinson , 55.

91 “It is exceedingly important”: Miró to Valdes, August 28, 1788, quoted in Gayarré, History of Louisiana , 219.

CHAPTER 9: CASH AND CONSPIRACY

The spread of the Spanish Conspiracy was guessed at in 1824 by Humphrey Marshall in his History of Kentucky and given considerable substance in 1867 by Charles Gayarré’s History of Louisiana , written with the assistance of some Spanish documents discovered in Baton Rouge. But William Shepherd first found the documents in Madrid and Seville originally sent by Miró that provided proof of the conspiracy’s existence.

93 “the mischief that might arise from vexing him”: Miró to Valdes, June 15, 1788, legajo 3893A.

94 “The consequences of depending on a body”: JW to Miró, February 12, 1789, legajo 3893A, quoted in Gayarré, History of Louisiana , 224–26.

94 “This affair progresses more rapidly”: Miró to Valdes, November 3, 1788, ibid.

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.

CHAPTER 10: ENSHACKLEDBY DEBT

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.