On the Trail of the Treasonous - Chapter 3
The Beginnings of Burr’s and Wilkinson’s Secession Plot
The Unveiling of Canadian History, Volume 5
On the Trail of the Treasonous
Chapter 3 - The Beginnings of Burr’s and Wilkinson’s Secession Plot
Before the treasonous plan of the British Empire with Burr and Wilkinson was hatched, another separate plan for Spanish American independence was attempted by Francisco Miranda, beginning in 1798.
While later attempts to separate the Spanish American colonies from Spain were run by British intelligence operations, this initial attempt by Miranda and his allies, in my opinion, seems to be a legitimate quest for independence. I think the key is Miranda’s seeking out Alexander Hamilton as an ally in the plan, and also the hatred that would be shown between Burr and Miranda. But with a war looming between the United States and France, Hamilton envisioned a co-operation – NOT an alliance - between the United States and the government of Great Britain, in supporting Spanish American independence. But President Adams wanted NO part of Miranda’s plan, and wanted NO advice from anyone on it.
Wilkinson however would begin to piece together an alternate version of Hamilton’s plan, but one that would suit the interests of Wilkinson, and then he would begin his treasonous association with Burr.
The British Empire would string Miranda along, in order to be on top of any legitimate attempts for independence launched by any Spanish America revolutionaries, while at the same time, the British Empire would use Miranda’s plan as a bargaining chip to be played in their great game with France and Spain.
Until Miranda finally tired of being played.
Francisco Miranda
The Burr-Wilkinson treasonous secessionist plot, that included an invasion of West Florida and Mexico, was not, however, the only plan afoot, regarding the future of Spain’s colonies in the Americas.
Rufus King, the American Minster to Great Britain, wrote to Secretary of State Timothy Pickering, on February 7th 1798, that:
“I have had some reason to believe that the prospect of our being engaged in the war has revived the project that on more than one occasion has been meditated against South America … Miranda came to this country a few weeks since. He has been with the Ministry here by their desire or with their permission. The object is the compleat independence of South America; to be effected by the cooperation of England and the United States.”
In January 1798, Francisco de Miranda secretly departed from Paris, after failing to win support for his project from the French government, having ‘forsaken a system so abominable as that which France was pursing’. With war between Britain and Spain having come to pass, he made his way to London and he was able to immediately meet with British Prime Minster Pitt!
Miranda explained to Pitt that he was the ‘principal agent of the Spanish-American colonies’, appointed by a ‘junta of deputies’ representing Mexico, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela and New Grenada, that had resolved to declare their independence from Spain and to establish their liberty. Miranda was seeking military assistance from Britain, and was proposing a triple alliance of Britain, the United States and Spanish America.
Miranda also warned Pitt that a French invasion of Spain
“will precipitate another convulsion in the new world; for the Spanish colonists, finding themselves loosened from the bonds which unite them to the Mother Country, will be compelled to seek a new system of government … unless prompt and efficacious measures are taken during the interval which will elapse before a new system can be formed, the anarchic and subversive principles of the French regime will slip in.”
Miranda soon visited Rufus King, believing him to be one of Alexander Hamilton’s close friends, and explained his plan of liberation to King, and that he desired $5,000 in aid from the United States as part of his plan. Miranda would write to Alexander Hamilton on February 7th, and later on March 29th to President Adams.
King informed Secretary of State Timothy Pickering on February 26th that:
“two points have within a fortnight been settled in the English cabinet respecting South America. If Spain is able to prevent the overthrow of her present government and to escape being brought under the entire control of France, England, between whom and Spain, notwithstanding the war, a certain understanding appears to exist, will at present engage in no scheme to deprive Spain of the possessions of South America.”
“But if, as appears probable, the army destined against Portugal, and which will march thro’ Spain, or any other means which may be employed by France, shall overthrow the Spanish government, and thereby place the resources of Spain and of her colonies at the disposal of France, England will immediately commence the execution of a plan long since digested and prepared for the compleat independence of South America. If England engages in this plan, she will propose to the United States to cooperate in its execution. Miranda will be detained here, under one pretence or another, until events shall decide the conduct of England.”
King would later write to Pickering on April 6th that:
“England, since the arrival of Miranda here but without this knowledge, has informed Spain that she will not countenance or assist the Spanish Colonies in becoming independent, but that she will join her in resisting the endeavours of others to accomplish it, provided that Spain will oppose the views of France against her own dominions and those of Portugal. At the same time that this communication has been made to Spain, an expedition has been prepared, and the correspondent arrangements at Trinidad have been ordered, for the purpose of beginning the Revolution of South America; in this event, as I have before intimated to you, England will at Philadelphia open herself to, and ask the cooperation of, the United States.”
On August 22nd 1798, (six months later) Alexander Hamilton wrote to Rufus King that:
“I have received several letters from General Miranda. I have written an answer to some of them, which I send you to deliver or not according to your estimate of what is passing in the scene where you are. Should you deem it expedient to suppress my letter, you may do it & say as much as you think fit on my part in the nature of a communication through you. With regard to the enterprise in question I wish it much to be undertaken but I should be glad that the principal agency was in the United States – they to furnish the whole land force necessary. The command in this case would very naturally fall upon me – and I hope I should disappoint no favourable anticipation. The independency of the separated territory under a moderate government, with the joint guarantee of the cooperating powers, stipulating equal privileges in commerce would be the sum of the results to be accomplished ...”
“Are we yet mature for this undertaking? Not quite – But we ripen fast, and it may (I think) be rapidly brought to maturity, if an efficient negotiation for the purpose is at once set on foot upon this ground. Great Britain cannot alone ensure the accomplishment of the object. I have some time since advised certain preliminary steps to prepare the way consistently with national character and justice …”
When Hamilton wrote to King that ‘the command in this case would very naturally fall upon me’, he had recently accepted his appointment as Inspector General (second-in-command under General George Washington) of the Provisional Army of the United States – to prepare the nation in case of open war with France.
Hamilton’s letter to Miranda had stated that:
“the sentiments I entertain with regard to that object have been long since in your knowledge. But I could personally have no participation in it unless patronised by the Government of this country. It was my wish that matters had been ripened for a cooperation in the course of this fall on the part of this Country. But this can now scarcely be the case. The winter however may mature the project and an effectual cooperation by the United States may take place. In this case I shall be happy in my official station to be an instrument of so good a work. The plan in my opinion ought to be, a fleet of Great Britain, an army of the United States, a Government for the liberated territory agreeable to both the cooperators, about which there will be probably no difficulty. To arrange the plan a competent authority from Great Britain to some person here is the best expedient. Your presence here will in this case be extremely essential.”
On July 31st King had written to Hamilton (about Miranda’s plan) that:
“the destiny of the new world, and I have a full and firm persuasion that it will be both happy and glorious, is in our hands: we have a right, and it is our duty to deliberate, and to act not as secondaries, but as principals. The object and the occasion are such as we ought not in respect to ourselves or others to suffer to pass unimproved.”
On October 2nd, Hamilton replied to King that:
“Mr. Rutledge delivered me your letter of the 31 of July. The opinion in that and other of your letters concerning a very important point has been acted upon by me from the very moment that it became unequivocal that we must have a decisive rupture with France. In some things my efforts succeeded, in others they were disappointed – in others I have had promises of conformity to lay the foundation of future proceeding, the performance and effect of which promises are not certainly known to me. The effect indeed cannot yet be known. The public mind of the country continues to progress in the right direction.”
On September 31st, President Adams finally approved the commissions for General Washington’s list of Major-Generals – meaning that Hamilton would become second in command of the Provisional Army. But, the next day, October 1st, Elbridge Gerry, the last of President Adams’s peace commissioners sent to France (during the infamous XYZ affair), had arrived back at Boston from Paris, and had sent a message to President Adams, that revived his desperate hope of an accommodation with France – without a war!
And now, 2 days later, on October 3rd, President Adams sent a letter to Pickering that
“enclosed is a duplicate of a letter from Miranda with some estimates. Read it and think of it. A number of questions and considerations. We are friends with Spain. If we were enemies, would the project be useful to us. – It will not be in [. . .] for me to answer the letter. Will any notice of it, in any manner be proper, I shall send it by Mr. Humphreys, with Mr. Gerry’s papers.”
President Adams was not to provide any support or advice to Miranda. And in a few months, the Senate’s impeachment trail of Blount (and the western secession plot) was set to begin.
Much later, in a series of letters written to James Lloyd in February, March and April of 1815, John Adams would write of his thoughts concerning the Miranda project, that
“I read all these papers, over and over, with great and very serious attention: and the oftener I read them, the more my astonishment was increased. After mature deliberation I knew not whether I ought to laugh or weep. In the sequel laugh I did, most heartily: weep I did not, for I too cordially despised the whole business to cry over it … Should I summon the heads of Departments, lay the packet before them and ask their opinion and advice? No. I wanted none of their advice, in so plain a case … Miranda’s project is as visionary, though far less innocent, than that of his countryman Gonzalez of an excursion to the moon in a cart drawn by geese, trained and disciplined for the purpose.”
The plans of Miranda must have still been in the back of Hamilton’s mind a year later when he requested that General Wilkinson, the Senior Officer in the ‘regular’ United States Army, prepare a report
“for the management of our western Affairs in their various relations. Objects –
1. The disposition of our western Inhabitants towards the United States & foreign powers.
2. The disposition of the Indians in the same aspect.
3. The disposition of the Spaniards in our vicinity. Their strength in numbers & fortifications.
4. The best expedients for correcting or controlling hostile propensities in any or all these quarters including:
5. The best defensive disposition of the Western army; embracing the country of Tennessee & the northern & north western lakes and having an eye to economy & discipline.
6. The best mode (in the event of rupture with Spain) of attacking the two Floridas.”
Hamilton viewed the security of the United States, in case of war with Spain, to be the capture of the Floridas – since rivers that flowed through the Georgia Territory, then flowed through Florida into the Gulf of Mexico, and seizing the Floridas would secure the mouths of these rivers for the United States – and to be done ‘consistently with national character and justice’.
After his meeting with Hamilton on August 4th, the next day Wilkinson visited an old friend that he had not seen for several years – Aaron Burr!!! Whatever evil these two discussed that day, we can assume that the conversation would resume – at another meeting six years later, in 1804!
Wilkinson presented his detailed report to Hamilton on September 6th 1799, that included his assessment that:
“… the quantum and disposition of our force, on the Mississippi and the southern frontier, are subjects, which in the present state of things, have claim to prompt deliberation & decisive action; the present calm in that quarter, may prove a deceitful one, and if the storm should take us unprepared sad scenes may ensue … The imbecility of the Spanish Government on the Mississippi is as manifest, as the ardor of the French fanatics of Louisiana is obvious. A single individual of hardy enterprise, presenting himself with directorial credentials, and hoisting the National Standard at New Orleans, might depose the Spanish administration in one hour, and have the population of the country at his disposal, for whatever desperate enterprise – under such circumstances will it be indecorous, should I express my apprehensions, that we repose in false security & that if we are not seasonably aroused, the dismemberment of the Union may be put to hazard. Whoever consults the passions and interests of the human breast, and is acquainted with the geography of the country, will discover, that the nation which holds the arbitrary control of the navigation of the Mississippi, must eventually direct the policies of the western Americans … For the safety, the subordination, and prosperity of our western possessions, the most cheap and conclusive plan, would be the capture of New Orleans, but as this step is at present unwarranted, we must turn our thoughts to the defensive protection of our settlements in that quarter …”
Wilkinson didn’t want the Floridas, but wanted New Orleans and Louisiana – for control of the Mississippi river.
On October 12th, Hamilton wrote to McHenry, Secretary of War, on his plans for the reorganization of the four regiments of the Regular Army –
1 battalion under General Pinckney in Tennessee to protect the frontier of Georgia;
1 battalion to guard the portals on the great lakes at Niagara, Detroit and Michilimackinac;
1 battalion to protect the north west territory at Presque’isle, Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Fort Massac;
1 battalion to guard the southern boundaries at Fort Adams and Fort Stoddard;
and a reserve force of 1 regiment and 1 battalion to be stationed near the Rapids of the Ohio –
“the position which has been chosen for the reserve corps has various aspects. It looks to the succour of the more Northern as well as the more Southern Posts … And it is convenient for a descent by the River Mississippi for offensive operations against our neighbours on the South, if future circumstances should recommend them. But as well with a view to defence as offence it is deemed requisite to prepare and keep ready below the rapids of the Ohio – a number of boats equal to the transportation of three thousand men with baggage stores, provisions, artillery and other apparatus.”
In Hamilton’s plan we can see precise measures for the defence of United States in case of any future eventuality – a war with France, or with Britain or with Spain; but in Wilkinson’s report, we can see glimpses of his future plot with Burr!
At this same time, Hamilton heard about the president’s decision to dispatch another peace mission to France, and even though he knew that the president despised him, he met with him to try to convince him to postpone the mission. President Adams would not listen to Hamilton, but would insist on sending three new peace commissioners to France, where the new French government (after a successful coup) was the consulate under Napoleon Bonaparte!
After the unfortunate death of General Washington on December 14th 1799, General Hamilton assumed the responsibility of the Provisional Army, but he would not become the commanding officer, as President Adams would leave that position unfilled – due to his jealous dislike of Hamilton.
Hamilton would also become the new President General of the Society of Cincinnati.
By May 1800, a vindictive President Adams had forced the resignations of Secretary of War McHenry and Secretary of State Pickering, and had disbanded the Provisional Army!
If President Adams had not choked, but had instead listened to the advice of Hamilton (and of his cabinet), perhaps the fate of the ‘federalist’ party may have been different, perhaps the fate of France may have been different (without the evil of the ‘Martinism’ of Bonaparte), and perhaps the fate of Miranda and the liberation of Spanish America may have been different.
Meanwhile, Miranda had felt that he must embark on his expedition without any aid from Britain and he tried to obtain a passport to the United States, but, even with the help of Rufus King, he was unable to secure one from the British government. However, by September 1799, he was informed that the British government wished him to stay in Britain, and so they would provide him a ‘sufficient allowance’.
But Miranda would write that
“in this country, every promise that has been made to us has been broken; I see nothing but perfidy and bad faith … I have demanded with vigor my passport to leave the country and perfidiously they detain me.”
During his time in London, Miranda was visited by many disgruntled and potential allies from throughout all of Spanish America. To them he would teach that
“we have two grand examples before our eyes: the American Revolution, and the French Revolution; let us discreetly imitate the first, but let us avoid with the greatest care the fatal effects of the second.”
General Hamilton had been asked by General Miranda (in February 1798) for his assistance in the liberation of Venezuela from the Spanish Empire – just as Hamilton would be asked a short time later (in February 1799) to assist General Toussaint in writing a constitution for Saint-Domingue (Haiti).
While Thomas Jefferson thought that he was the leader in spreading the ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity – au contraire monsieur – the freedom fighters in the world looked to Alexander Hamilton for leadership!!!
[next week - chapter 4. The Murder of General Hamilton]
For those who may wish to support my continuing work on ‘The Unveiling of Canadian History’, you may purchase my books, that are available as PDFs and Paperback (on Amazon) at the Canadian Patriot Review :
Volume 1 – The Approaching Conflict, 1753 – 1774.
Volume 2 – Forlorn Hope – Quebec and Nova Scotia, and the War for Independence, 1775 – 1785.
Volume 3 – The Storming of Hell – the War for the Territory Northwest of the Ohio, 1786 – 1796.
And hopefully,
Volume 4 – Ireland, Haiti, and Louisiana – the Idea of a Continental Republic, 1797 – 1804,
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Volume 5 – On the Trail of the Treasonous, 1804 - 1814.