James Wilkinson (March 24, 1757 – December 28, 1825) was an American soldier / officer, politician, and later discovered to be Royal Spanish secret agent #13, who was associated with multiple scandals and controversies, including the Burr conspiracy .[2]
He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, but he was twice compelled to resign. He was twice the Senior Officer of the U.S. Army, also known as the "General-in-Chief", appointed to be the first Governor of the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase of 1803, later organized by the United States Congress as the new Louisiana Territory in 1805-1807,[3] and commanded two unsuccessful military invasion campaigns in the St. Lawrence River theater north in Canada during the War of 1812. He died while seeking to serve as a diplomat in Mexico City, the capital of the newly independent Republic of Mexico.
Four decades later in 1854, following extensive archival research in the Royal Spanish archives in their capital of Madrid, Louisiana historian Charles Gayarré (1805-1895), exposed Gen. Wilkinson as having been a highly paid spy in the service of the Kingdom of Spain and its Spanish Empire.[4] In the 170 years since Gayarré's research became public, Wilkinson has been savagely condemned by American historians and politicians. According to amateur historian / author and 26th President Theodore Roosevelt, "[I]n all our history, there is no more despicable character."[5] However, he has been defended, especially in breaking up the Burr conspiracy.[6]
James Wilkinson was born on March 24, 1757, the son of Joseph Wilkinson and Alethea (Heighe) Wilkinson. Wilkinson's birthplace was about three miles (5 km) northeast of Benedict, Charles County, Maryland, on a farm south of Hunting Creek in Calvert County.[7][8]
Wilkinson's grandfather had been sufficiently wealthy to buy a large property known as Stoakley Manor in Calvert County.[2]: 9 Even though James Wilkinson's family lived on a smaller estate than those of Maryland's elite, they still saw themselves as members of the higher social class.[2]: 9 According to historian Andro Linklater, Wilkinson grew up with the idea that "the image of respectability excused the reality of betrayal".[9] His father inherited Stoakley Manor but by then the family was in debt.[2]: 10 Joseph Wilkinson died in 1763 and in 1764 Stoakley Manor was broken up and sold.[2]: 10 Wilkinson's older brother Joseph inherited what was left of the manor property after his father died.[2]: 10 As the second son, James Wilkinson inherited no land.[2]: 10
Wilkinson's father had left him with the last words "My son, if you ever put up with an insult, I will disinherit you."[9] Biographer Andro Linklater argued that this upbringing led to Wilkinson's aggressive reaction toward perceived insults.[2]: 7–14 Wilkinson's early education by a private tutor was funded by his maternal grandmother.[2]: 11 His study of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, also funded by his grandmother, was interrupted by the American Revolutionary War.[10]
Wilkinson married Ann Biddle (1742–1807) of the prominent Biddle family of Philadelphia[11] on November 12, 1778, in Philadelphia.[11] She was a first cousin of Charles Biddle, an associate of Aaron Burr,[12] and Wilkinson's marriage to the dynamic Biddle helped his career as a politician and general.[12][13] She died on February 23, 1807.[14][15]
The couple had four sons: John (1780–1796), James Biddle (c. 1783–1813),[16] Joseph Biddle (1785[17]–1865), and Walter (born 1791). James and Walter both served as Captains in the U.S. Army.[18]: 34 [19]
On March 5, 1810, Wilkinson married Celestine Laveau Trudeau, widow of Thomas Urquhart and daughter of Charles Laveau Trudeau.[20] They were the parents of twin girls Marie Isabel and Elizabeth Stephanie[21] as well as a son, Theodore. Celestine's father, known in Louisiana as Don Carlos Trudeau, had served in the Spanish government of New Orleans.[22] When the United States gained control of the city, he remained in New Orleans and anglicized his name.[22]
Marie Isabel Wilkinson died in infancy.[21] Elizabeth Stephanie Wilkinson (1816–1871) married Professor Toussaint Francois Bigot (1794–1869) in 1833.[21] Theodore J. Wilkinson (1819–1853) resided in New Orleans.
Wilkinson first served in a Maryland militia unit in the summer of 1775.[23]: 8 He then served in Thompson's Pennsylvania rifle battalion from September 1775 to March 1776, when he was commissioned as a captain in the 3rd New Hampshire Infantry, backdated to September 1775.[23]: 8 He served as an aide to Nathanael Greene during the Siege of Boston, participated in the placing of guns on the Dorchester Heights in March 1776.[23]: 8 Following the British abandonment of Boston, Wilkinson went with the rest of the Continental Army to New York where he left Greene's staff and was given command of an infantry company in the 3rd New Hampshire.[23]: 8
Sent to Canada as part of the reinforcements for Benedict Arnold's army besieging Quebec, he arrived just in time to witness the arrival of 8,000 British reinforcements under General John Burgoyne – which precipitated the collapse of the American effort in Canada.[23]: 10 He became aide to Arnold just prior to the final retreat and left Canada with Arnold on the very last boat out.[23]: 10 In August 1776, he left Arnold's service and became an aide to General Horatio Gates.[23]: 14
When Gates sent him to Congress with official dispatches about the victory at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777, Wilkinson kept the Continental Congress waiting while he attended to personal affairs. When he finally showed up, he embellished his own role in the victory, and was brevetted as a brigadier general (despite being only 20 years old at the time) on November 6, 1777, and appointed to the newly created Board of War. The promotion over more senior colonels caused an uproar among Continental officers, especially because Wilkinson's gossiping seemed to indicate he was a participant in the Conway Cabal, a conspiracy to replace George Washington with Horatio Gates as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. Gates soon had enough of Wilkinson, and the young officer was compelled to resign in March 1778. On July 29, 1779, Congress appointed him clothier-general of the Army, but he resigned on March 27, 1781, due to his "lack of aptitude for the job".[2]: 68
After his resignation from the Continental Army, Wilkinson reluctantly became a brigadier general in the Pennsylvania militia in 1782 and also a state assemblyman in 1783, due to the wishes of George Washington.[2]: 62 He moved to Kentucky (at that time, just three counties still belonging to Virginia) in 1784, and he was active there in efforts to achieve independence from Virginia. In Kentucky, Wilkinson in 1788 vigorously opposed the new U.S. Constitution. Kentucky had very nearly achieved statehood under the old Articles of Confederation, and there was widespread disappointment when this was delayed because of the new constitution.
Leading up to Kentucky's seventh convention regarding separation from Virginia in November 1788, Wilkinson attempted to gauge the support for Kentucky to seek union with Spain. Wilkinson's ability to win people over with his charm and seeming sincerity got him elected committee chairman at the convention. He advocated for Kentucky to seek independence from Virginia first, and then to consider joining the Union of states as a second step. For many, joining the Union was conditional upon the Union negotiating with Spain to arrange free navigation on the Mississippi River, a contentious point which many doubted the eastern states would act upon.
Unable to gather enough support for his position at the convention, Wilkinson then approached Spanish Governor Esteban Rodríguez Miró with a proposal. His intention was to obtain a grant of 60,000 acres (243 km2) in the Yazoo lands, at the junction of the Yazoo River and the Mississippi (near present-day Vicksburg). The land was to serve as payment for Wilkinson's efforts on behalf of Spain, and to serve as a refuge in the event he and his supporters had to flee from the United States. Wilkinson asked for and received a pension of $7,000 from Miró, while requesting pensions on behalf of several prominent Kentuckians, including: Harry Innes, Benjamin Sebastian, John Brown, Caleb Wallace, Benjamin Logan, Isaac Shelby, George Muter, George Nicholas, and even Humphrey Marshall (who at one time was a bitter rival of Wilkinson's).
However, by 1788 Wilkinson had apparently lost the confidence of officials in Spain. Miró was not to grant any of the proposed pensions and was forbidden from giving money to support a revolution in Kentucky. Furthermore, Wilkinson continued to secretly receive funds from Spain for many years.
In May 1791, Lieutenant Colonel James Wilkinson led a subsequent raid that August, intended to create a distraction that would aid St. Clair's march north. In the Battle of Kenapacomaqua, Wilkinson killed 9 Wea and Miami, and captured 34 Miami as prisoners, including a daughter of Miami war chief Little Turtle.[24] Many of the confederation leaders were considering terms of peace to present to the United States, but when they received news of Wilkinson's raid, they readied for war.[citation needed] Wilkinson's raid thus had the opposite effect, uniting the tribes against St. Clair instead of distracting them. St. Clair's horrific defeat would take place shortly after.[25]
When the United States government reorganized the Army as the Legion of the United States, President George Washington was faced with the decision of whom to name as its commanding general. The two major candidates for this promotion were Wilkinson and Anthony Wayne. In the end, the cabinet chose Wayne due to Wilkinson's suspected involvement with the Spanish government.[26] The cabinet promoted Wilkinson to brigadier general as consolation, since the President was aware of Wilkinson's fragile ego.[27]
Wilkinson developed a jealousy of Wayne, but he maintained an ostensible respect toward the general. Throughout the Ohio campaign, Wilkinson secretly tried to undermine him. Wilkinson wrote anonymous negative letters to local newspapers about Wayne and spent years writing negative letters to politicians in D.C. Wilkinson also urged contractors not to perform, in the hope that Wayne's campaign would fail and that he would be appointed to replace Wayne.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).
Wilkinson proceeded to file formal complaints against Wayne and his decisions to President Washington. Upon finding out about the complaints against him, Wayne decided to launch an investigation into Wilkinson's history with the Spanish. During all of this time, Wilkinson had renewed his secret alliance with the Spanish government (through the Governor of Louisiana Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet), alerting them to the actions of both the US and the French occupancy in North America. When Spanish couriers were intercepted carrying payments for Wilkinson, Wayne's suspicions were confirmed and he attempted to court martial Wilkinson for his treachery. However, Wayne developed a stomach ulcer and died on December 15, 1796; there was no court-martial. Instead, Wilkinson began his first tenure as Senior Officer of the Army, which lasted for about a year and a half. He continued to pass on intelligence to the Spanish in return for large sums in gold, but most of his information was of little value.[28] Wilkinson claimed credit for undermining George Rogers Clark plan to become "Major General in the Armies of France and Commander-in-chief of the French Revolutionary Legion on the Mississippi River" and for preventing supplies from being shipped down the Ohio River. He submitted receipts of $8,640 to Spanish Governor Carondelet