An Artist in Treason: The Extraordinary Double Life of General James Wilkinson

First Descent to New Orleans in 1787.”

CHAPTER 8: SPANISH TEMPTATION

From the moment that JW descended to New Orleans, his actions become the subject of at least three differently motivated accounts: JW’s version in volume 2 of his Memoirs, designed to demonstrate his patriotism; Daniel Clark’s Proofs of the Corruption of General James Wilkinson and His Connexion to Aaron Burr, composed, as the title suggests, to prove the opposite; and the relevant legajos in the Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, together with some other documents in the Archivo General de Indias, written in triplicate to show that JW’s influence and information were being used to Spain’s best advantage. Apart from those already cited, the later historians involved are William Shepherd, an early pioneer in the Spanish archives, Isaac Joslin Cox, and Arthur P. Whitaker.

81 “a considerable annual supply of tobacco”: Memoirs, 2:113.

82 “thence round the western shores of Lakes Erie and Huron”: John Jay’s account of negotiations with the Spanish envoy Count d’Arande in Paris in July 1782, quoted in The Life of John Jay: With selections from his correspondence and miscellaneous papers by his son, William Jay (1833: repr. 2000), Bridgewater, VA: American Foundation Publications, 2:472.

82 JW’s first journey to New Orleans: Arthur P. Whitaker, “James Wilkinson’s First Descent to New Orleans in 1787,” Hispanic American Historical Review 8, no. 1 (February 1928).

83 Humboldt’s estimate might have been too low; silver production in Mexico mint in 1783 is estimated to have been 23.1 million pesos in Stanley J. Stein and Barbara H. Stein, Apogee of Empire: Spain and New Spain in the Age of Charles III (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003).

83 Navarro’s dispatch dated September 25, 1780, No. 23, cited in Whitaker, “The Commerce of Louisiana and the Floridas at the End of the Eighteenth Century.” See also Navarro to Marquis de la Sonora, minister for the treasury and the Indies: “The only way to check them [the Americans] is with a proportionate population, and it is not by imposing commercial restrictions that this population is to be acquired, but by granting a prudent expansion and freedom of trade.” February 12, 1787, quoted in Gayarre, History of Louisiana.

84 Miro and Navarro to Antonio de Valdes y Bazan, September 25, 1787, Papeles de Cuba, legajo 3893A, cited in Shepherd, “Wilkinson and the Beginnings of the Spanish Conspiracy.” This document, given the number 13 reservado (secret) among papers sent to Madrid by Miro and Navarro, gave rise to JW’s nom d’espionnage. In another document from Navarro to the king, dated April 30, 1789, JW is referred to as “a person endowed with high talents, and in whom the aforesaid [western] settlements have placed their hope of future happiness; and he informed the governor and myself that it was the intention of all to put themselves under the protection or vassalage of his Catholic Majesty.” Museo- Biblioteca de Ultramar, Madrid, Papeles relativos a la I.uisiana, vol. 3, quoted Shepherd, “Wilkinson and the Beginnings.” The reference to Kentucky being prepared to seek protection as “vassals” of the Spanish king was the major difference between the “First Memorial” as sent to Madrid and as referred to later by JW.

84 “He is a young man”: Miro 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 Miro, quoted Gayarre, History of Louisiana, 242.

91 For the New Orleans fire, see Gayarre, 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”: Miro to Valdes, August 28, 1788, quoted in Gayarre, 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 Gayarre’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 Miro that provided proof of the conspiracy’s existence.

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

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

94 “This affair progresses more rapidly”: Miro 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 Kentucke 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 Miro, 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”: Miro to Valdes, June 15, 1789, legajo 3893A. This remarkable assessment is quoted at length in Gayarre, 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”: Jose, 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 Miro, 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 Miro to Madrid, legajo 2373.

99 “I still continue to hold you as the principal actor in our favor”: Miro to JW, April 23, 1789, Gayarre, 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