How to Handle Spies, circa 1796

In May 1796, Secretary of War James McHenry wrote a private letter to Major General Anthony Wayne at Fort Washington, warning him of the presence of three men with “traitorous intentions.” The men—Thomas Powers, Georges-Henri-Victor Collot, and Joseph Warin—were on a mission for the French government to reconnoiter the United States’ military position in the Western Territory, and encourage people to secede from the Union.

What was really happening at this time? Louisiana was under Spanish control, but holding the colony was proving too costly. The Spanish realized that they would inevitably be forced to return the territory to the French. Collot, a French general and one time governor of Guadalupe, was paroled by the British to the United States following his surrender of that island. Collot was recruited to undertake a detailed reconnaissance mission of the area, from Pittsburgh to New Orleans via the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Although he was provided with official papers from both the French and the Spanish, his mission was regarded with immediate suspicion by the Federalists. McHenry wasted no time ordering Wayne and Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, to be alert to the movements of Collot and his confederates. McHenry’s goal was to find grounds to detain Collot and search his papers, while at the same time offering this proviso: “You will not however understand by this that either vigorous or unlawful means are to be employed to obtain them; for tho’ the crimes of traitors affect a whole people, it is nevertheless proper to respect the rights of humanity in their chastisement.”

Kind and Friendly Treatment of the Indians

During the mid-1790s the Indian policy of the federal government under George Washington was to accommodate the southern Indian tribes as much as possible. Even though the northern Indians had been defeated in 1794, it still behooved Washington and his advisers to avoid conflict with the southern tribes so as not involve the United States in another costly Indian war. Also it seemed that Washington genuinely wanted to treat the Indians as fairly as he would other Americans. Evidence of that attitude can be seen in a document contained in the William Irvine Papers of the Papers of the War Department. In a lengthy letter, dated 11/26/1795, sent to James Byers, who was to be in charge of two new trading posts in Georgia and the Southwest Territory, Secretary of War Timothy Pickering describes in detail how the Indians are to be treated as they do business at the two posts. Business with the Indians should manifest the “liberality and friendship of the United States” which he hoped would “lay the foundation of a lasting peace.” “Unfair dealing” was strictly prohibited and the value of the skins traded by the Indians should be the same as their market value in Philadelphia. The use of credit by either the traders or the Indians was strictly regulated and allowed on a case-by-case basis only by the War Department. Those who were employed at the posts were to maintain “a character of perfect probity and sobriety.” Pickering would have preferred that whiskey not be sold to the Indians but, if sales could not be avoided, whiskey was to be sold in “such small quantities as may guard them against drunkenness.” He closes this five-page letter, by stressing “the necessity of kind and friendly treatment of the Indians who may visit your station.”

The Legion System

In December, 1792,  President Washington restructured the U.S. Army into what became known as the Legion of the United States.  Most of the stubby pencil work can be traced to Secretary of War Henry Knox.  Briefly, the Legion concept was designed to bring together multiple military capabilities-infantry, cavalry, and artillery-under a single organization and commander. The Legion would be comprised of four Sub-Legions, each consisting of two infantry battalions, a rifle battalion, an artillery company, and a cavalry company.   It was this military organization that General Wayne led to victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in August 1794.

Deranged and Unemployed

Casualties of military service existed in many forms during the infancy of America’s army, the overwhelming majority of which were monetary.  Many soldiers worked without pay for months and in some cases were left unpaid until their discharge.  Injuries sustained during war also rendered soldiers incapable of earning a living after their discharge.  Many soldiers petitioned Congress for supplementary income in the form of a pension to offset the cost of living.  With limited means of income, the Federal government attempted to justify a tax on the general public to provide funds for Federal government operations.  Pay of pensions was one such responsibility.

What should be the official title of the President?

Today we take it for granted that the President of the United States should simply be addressed as “Mr. President” or “President X”. But following the American Revolution the question of what should be the official title of the President was unclear and even contested. In the decade following Independence, monarchs were still the heads of States in Europe, including in Britain and France. Part of what made the American Revolution so radical and revolutionary was its rejection of the idea of a monarch. The divine right of kings remained a prominent idea into the late eighteenth century, even as it was challenged by Enlightenment thinkers.

Executive Hands Fettered: Governor Jackson and Secretary McHenry

During the entire history of the United States there has been tension between the federal government and the governments of the states. The federal system created in the U.S. Constitution, in which power is shared by the states and the central government, made these tensions inevitable. The bloodiest and most costly manifestation of this strife was of course the Civil War. During the presidential administration of John Adams (1797–1801), however, this animosity was manifested by the struggle between officials of the State of Georgia and the General Government in Philadelphia. The source of much of the conflict was Georgia’s hostile relations with the southern tribes, particularly the Creek Nation, whose claims to land on the western frontier of Georgia were bitterly contested by Georgia and its citizens.

Indian Assimilation and the Plan for Civilization

Some might be surprised to learn that  assimilation of the Indians by teaching them to farm was the official policy of the Washington Administration.  Since the War Department handled Indian affairs, we come across dozens of writings by Henry Knox and James McHenry  trying to implement policy into action (and keep the peace) through the Indian Agents.   As in most cases at the time, these  Federal appointees were card carrying Federalists, usually with strong Revolutionary War credentials. Agents  were usually assigned to a specific tribe or a group of Tribes.  One of the more accomplished of these frontier diplomats  was Creek Agent, Benjamin Hawkins.  Although the  Creeks (mostly the women) were already fairly accomplished farmers, Hawkins believed their methods to be substandard.  So to demonstrate the western world’s superior agricultural techniques, and perhaps win some hearts and minds along the way, he established the Creek Agency on the Flint River in  Georgia–a model  working farm which featured a blacksmith’s shop, cornfields, an orchard, a tannery, weaver’s shop, smokehouse, slave quarters, and a tavern.  In this letter,  Hawkins requests that “implements of husbandry” intended for the Creeks be forwarded.

Piracy and Boundary Disputes

William Augustus Bowles, an Englishman by birth a troublemaker by nature, repeated sabotaged Indian relations between tribes and between peace seeking tribes and the United States.  Known as a “freebooter,” Bowles  staged multiple attempts to overturn treaties and trade relations with the Creek, Coweta, and Cussetah tribes and instigated horse stealing, murder, and other aggressive acts as recounted by Governor William Blount of Georgia.  His malicious acts delayed several land treaties, including the Treaty of New York which granted land from the Creeks to the United States.
James Seagrove and Benjamin Hawkins were the Indian agents for the southwestern U.S. territory and dealt directly with Bowles on a regular basis.  Correspondence between Seagrove, Hawkins, McGillivray, and Knox yield insight into the effect Bowles has on frontier politics.  Bowles was eventually captured by the Spanish in 1792 and turned over to U.S. authorities.

Maine-Canada Boundary

Rising from a chain of wilderness lakes, the St. Croix River is now an international wilderness waterway,  constituting part of what is now the clearly defined boundary between  Maine and the province of New Brunswick, Canada.  In the 1790s though, boundaries throughout this region were far from clear. The meaning of the boundary descriptions outlined in the 1783 Peace of Paris was notoriously inexact and hard to decipher-mostly  because the region had not yet been fully explored or mapped.  During negotiations,  later known as Jay’s Treaty,  a joint commission agreed to establish the St. Croix River as part of the boundary between Downeast  Maine and New Brunswick Canada.  In this document,  written from his mansion he called “Montpelier”  in Thomaston, Maine, Secretary of War Henry Knox, an avid Maine land speculator himself, marvels at the region’s economic potential –its fisheries, waterways, lumber and agriculture.  Though Knox’s handwriting was notoriously bad, this is a copy made by a clerk.  The impeccable penmanship makes this an enjoyable read.  By the way, Knox’s mansion is a museum now.

Welcome to the PWD blog

We’re pleased to introduce the Papers of the War Department blog, a forum that provides space to share information about the archive, its documents, and the history of the United States War Office in the late-eighteenth century. In coming weeks, we will introduce more categories to the blog, highlight particularly interesting documents and figures, and offer some tips to better utilize the search engine and the collection.

Debtors Prison

Although debtors prisons were abolished in the United States in the 1830s (decades before European nations), they were a harsh reality in late-18th and early-19th century America.

Samuel Lewis was a clerk working for the War Department in 1798. But by 1800 he found himself confined in a debtors prison. On May 3 of that same year, he wrote the Secretary at War, James McHenry on his current state.

Lewis’s letter reveals a lot about the pain that many debtors experienced while in confinement. Lewis calls himself a “wretched being, now almost worn down to a mere shadow, debilitated and weak.”

The Yellow Fever Epidemic in Philadelphia 1793

Philadelphia 1793: It was an unusually hot and dry summer. Mosquitoes were ravaging the population of what was then America’s largest city. Philadelphia was also a major international port, and at the time hundreds of Caribbean refugees were filing off the ships bringing Yellow Fever. It was the mosquitoes that spread the disease among the inhabitants, but not even renowned Philadelphia physician Dr. Benjamin Rush, seemed to understand this.
Many simply fled the city until the fall, including Congress, the President and the War Department staff, including Secretary of War Knox. All told, about four thousand died. One of the War Department staffers who remained in the City was Quarter Master and Military Store Keeper Samuel Hodgdon.  Check out his heart-rending descriptions of the suffering.

America’s Birthday

Patriotism runs deep within the War Department documents.  This spirit is more of an unspoken common vision, expressed in how the officials deal with legal procedures, assess the use of public money, foreign relations, powers of the Executive Dept, and so on.   A search of documents written on July 4th by ANYONE to or from the War Department does not discuss the nations birth, growth, and progress.  There is a lone document by Samuel Hodgdon that gives a nod to the celebration of another year of independence.   Has anyone found other documentation within the archive that discuss patriotism and independence on the “birthday” of the United States of America?

Compensation for Refugees

The War Department has a surprising number of documents related to the compensation of refugees from Canada.  Most documents cite patriotism, military service, and good morals as reasons for compensation.  Men and women left their homes, property, and livelihoods in Nova Scotia and Quebec due to the invasion of American troops.  Congress approved the fiscal support of these refugees in 1798 and shortly thereafter claims were filed in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.  A more complete overview of these documents can be found with the search keyword, “refugees” in the War Department Papers database.  Oddly enough, the number of documents related to these claims are limited to a small number of people.  John McGown, the De Lesdernier family were two groups that communicated extensively on the subject.

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