1806. Governor Tiffin seizes Burr's Boats. 501 which could not be had, however, in consequence of the impossibility of obtaining Davis Floyd as a witness. Thus far the public generally sympathized with Burr, whose manners secured all suffrages, and who on the 1st of December was able to write to Henry Clay, his attorney, in these terms: "I have no design, nor have I taken any measure to promote a dissolution of the Union, or a separation of any one or more States from the residue. I have neither published a line on this subject, nor has any one through my agency or with my knowledge. I have no design to intermeddle with the government, or to disturb the tranquillity of the United States, nor of its territories, or of any part of them. I have neither issued nor signed, nor promised a commission to any person, for any purpose. I do not own a musket nor bayonet, nor any single article of military stores, nor does any person for me, by my authority, or my knowledge. My views have been explained to, and approved by, several of the principal officers of government, and, I believe, are well understood by the administration, and seen by it with complacency; they are such as every man of honor and every good citizen must approve. Considering the high station you now fill in our national councils, I have thought these explanations proper, as well to counteract the chimerical tales, which malevolent persons have industriously circulated, as to satisfy you that you have not espoused the cause of a man in any way unfriendly to the laws, the government or the interests of his country.' The agent from government, who was all along actively engaged in procuring evidence relative to Burr's plans, finding abundant proof of his Mexican project, and learning also that he thought the West ought to separate from the East,† determined in December, to take measures to arrest his boats and provisions. This he effected by an application to the Legislature of Ohio, through Governor Tiffin. The Legislature authorized the Governor to take the necessary steps, || and before the 14th of December, ten boats with stores were arrested on the Muskingum, and soon after, four more were seized by the troops at Marietta.§ Blennerhassett, Tyler, and thirty or forty men, on the night of December 10th, * Butler's Kentucky, 313. 316. See Jefferson's Message, American State Papers, xx. 469. + So Blennerhassett told him. American State Papers, xx. 529. Journal of the Senate, p. 36. § See Governor Tiffin's Letters. Cist's Cincinnati Miscellany, i. 259. 260. His message of December 15th. Journal of Senate, 36. 502 Swartwout and Bollman arrested. 1806. left the Island, and proceeded down the river,*-barely escaping an arrest by General Tupper, on behalf of the State of Ohio.† On the 16th, this party united with that of Floyd at the Falls; and on the 26th, the whole, together, met Burr at the mouth of the Cumberland. On the 29th, the company passed Fort Massac.i But while Daviess and Graham were laboring to put a stop to Burr's progress, the General Government had received information which enabled the President to act with decision; this was the message of Wilkinson,¶ bearing an account of Burr's letter already quoted. This Message was sent from Natchitoches upon the 22d of October,** and reached the seat of Government, November 25th; on the 27th, a proclamation was issued,†† and word sent westward to arrest all concerned.‡‡ About the same time, (November 24th or 25th,)|||| Wilkinson, who had done, unauthorized, upon the 1st of November,§§ the very thing he had been ordered on the 8th to do,—namely, to make an accommodation with the Spanish commander on the Sabine, ¶¶ and fall back to the Mississippi,*** reached New Orleans, and prepared to resist any attack thereon: at this city he arrested Swartwout, Peter V. Ogden, who was discharged, however, on Habeas Corpus, and Dr. Erick Bollman, who had also borne messages from Burr and Dayton.††† * American State Papers, xx. 500. 596. At former reference date is misstated, should be "Sunday, 7th." See other depositions, pp. 509. 596, &c., &c. † American State Papers, xx. 504. 505. 509. 523. 534. American State Papers, xx. 524. American State Papers, xx. 522.514. Burr went down the Cumberland, December 2. American State Papers, xx. 469. § American State Papers, xx. 473. 516. ¶ Given in Wilkinson, ii., appendix xcv. ** Colonel Smith, in Wilkinson ii., appendix xciv. ++ Given in Wilkinson, ii., appendix xcvi. ‡‡ Jefferson, in American State Papers, xx. 468. II American State Papers, xx. 469. 600. §§ Colonel Burling, in Wilkinson, ii., appendix xcvii. ¶¶ Wilkinson reached Natchitoches, September 24; he at once requested the Spanish commander to re-cross the Sabine and save bloodshed; the Spaniard did as requested, about the 30th of September. (American State Papers, xx. 544.) In a week after, Swartwout arrived. (American State Papers, xx. 557.) *** Jefferson, in American State Papers, xx. 466. ttt Wilkinson, ii. 318. American State Papers, xx. 470. wwwwww What Burr may have felt or intended after he met his fugitive followers at the mouth of Cumberland river, late in December, 1806, it is impossible to say, but it is certain that he went on openly and boldly, protesting against the acts of Ohio, and avowing his innocence. If he had relied on Wilkinson, he was as yet undeceived with regard to him. On the 4th of January he was at Fort Pickering, Chickasaw Bluffs; and soon after at Bayou Pierre. From this point he wrote to the authorities below, referring to the rumors respecting him, alledging his innocence, and begging them to avoid the horrors of civil war. Word had just been received from Jefferson, however, of the supposed conspiracy; the militia were under arms; and the acting Governor of the Mississippi Territory, Cowles Mead, on the 16th of January, sent two aids to meet Colonel Burr; one of these was George Poindexter. At this meeting, an interview between the acting Governor was arranged, which took place on the 17th: at which time Burr yielded himself to the civil authority. He was then taken to Washington, the capital of the territory, and legal proceedings commenced. Mr. Poindexter was himself Attorney-general, and as such advised that Burr had been guilty of no crime within Mississippi, and wished to have him sent to the seat of government of the United States: the presiding Judge, however, summoned a Grand Jury, which, upon the evidence before them, presented— not Burr for treason-but the acting Governor for calling out the militia! That evening, Colonel Burr, fearing an arrest by officers sent by Wilkinson, forfeited his bonds and disappeared.‡ A pro· clamation being issued by the Governor for his apprehension,|| he was seized on the Tombigbee river§ on his way to Florida,¶ and was sent at once to Richmond, where he arrived March 26th. On the 22d of May, Burr's examination began in the Circuit Court of the United States at Richmond, before Judge Marshall; two bills were found against him, one for treason against the United American State Papers, xx. 567, 610. + Ibid, 477, 478. Poindexter in American State Papers, xx. 568 to 570.-Wilkinson in do. 545.Graham in do. 530 to 531.-Mead in do. 478. | American State Papers, xx. 602. § Davis, ii. 383. Butler, 318. 504 Burr's trial and purposes. #99.66 1807. States, the other for a misdemeanor in organizing an enterprise against Mexico, while at peace with the United States: but on both these charges the Jury found him "not guilty,* upon the principle that the offence, if committed anywhere, was committed out of the jurisdiction of the Court." The Chief Justice, however, upon the latter charge, subsequently ordered his commitment for trial within the proper jurisdiction. This commitment, however, being impliedly upon the supposition that the United States wished, under the circumstances, to prosecute the accused, and the Attorney for the government declining to do so, no further steps were taken to bring the supposed culprit to justice, and the details of his doings and plans have never yet been made known. Although a mystery still hangs about Burr's plans, in conse quence of the discontinuance of the suit by the United States, we think it has been clearly proved by the trial at Richmond and other evidences-1st, that Burr went into the West in 1805 with the feeling that his day at the East was over; in New York he feared even a prosecution if he remained there :§ 2nd, that his plans, until late in that year, were undefined; speculations of various kinds, a residence in Tennessee, an appointment in the Southwest, were under consideration, but nothing was determined: 3d, that he at length settled upon three objects, to one or the other of which, as circumstances might dictate, he meant to devote his energies: these were— A separation of the West from the East under himself and Wilkinson: Should this be, upon further examination, deemed impossible, then an invasion of Mexico by himself and Wilkinson, with or without the sanction of the federal government: And in case of disappointment in reference to Mexico, then the foundation of a new state upon the Washita, over which he might preside as founder and patriarch.¶ Davis, ii. 385. † Judge Marshall's language, American State Papers, xx. 641. American State Papers, xx. 645. The verdicts were of September 1st and 15th; the commitment of October 20th. In the opinion given on this last occasion, the whole subject and evidence is reviewed by the Chief Justice. (American State Papers, xx. 641 to 645.) Burr's Journal in Davis, ii. 412. § Adairs' letter in Wilkinson, ii. Apdendix, lxxvii. See American State Papers, xx. 530, where Burr speaks to Graham of the Washita lands and "a separate government." 1807. Burr's Purposes. 505 That the Washita scheme was not a mere pretence, we think evident from the fact that Burr actually paid toward the purchase four or five thousand dollars:* that it was not the only object, and that the conquest of Mexico, if it could be effected, was among his settled determinations, his friends all acknowledged,† but said this conquest was to take place upon the supposition of a war with Spain, and in no other case: that Burr may have thought the government would wink at his proceedings, is very possible; and that Wilkinson either meant to aid him, or pretended he would, in order to learn his plans, is certain ;‡ but the secrecy of his movements, the language of his letter to Wilkinson in July, 1806, and his whole character, convince us that he would, if he could, have invaded Mexico, whether the United States were at war or peace with Spain.§ But we cannot doubt that, going beyond a violation of the laws of the Union, he was disposed to seek a separation of that Union itself. During his visit of 1805, he was undoubtedly made fully acquainted with the old schemes for independence entertained in Kentucky, and was led to question the real attachment of the western people to the federal government. So long as he thought there was a probability of disunion, it would naturally be his first object to place himself at the head of the republic beyond the mountains, and should he find himself deceived as to the extent of disaffection in the Great Valley, all his means could be brought to bear upon Mexico. His conversations with the Morgans at Pittsburgh; the views of the "Querist" prepared by Blennerhasset under Burr's eye;¶ and the declarations of Blennerhasset to Henderson and Graham,** seem to leave no room for doubting the fact that a dissolution of the United States had been contemplated by the ex Vice-President, although we think there is as little reason to doubt that it had been abandoned as hopeless, long before his arrest. With regard to Wilkinson, it is not easy to form a decided * Lynch's testimony, American State Papers, xx. 599. + See Davis, ii. chap. xx. Wilkinson's Memoirs, ii. 311. 312. I See Burr's conversation with Graham, American State Papers, xx. 530. § American States Papers, xx. 501. 503. American State Papers, xx. 526. 527. 528.-Judge Marshall says, (American State Papers, xx. 644,)" that the object of these writings was to prepare the western states for a dismemberment, is apparent on the face of them." ** American State Papers, xx. 525. 526, 531. |