Date: 1807-01-22
President: Thomas Jefferson

TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES:Agreeably to the request of the House of Representatives, communicated in their    resolution of the 16th instant, I proceed to state under the reserve therein    expressed, information received touching an illegal combination of private individuals    against the peace and safety of the Union, and a military expedition planned    by them against the territories of a power in amity with the United States,    with the measures I have pursued for suppressing the same.I had for some time been in the constant expectation of receiving such further    information as would have enabled me to lay before the legislature the termination    as well as the beginning and progress of this scene of depravity, so far it    has been acted on the Ohio and its waters. From this the state and safety of    the lower country might have been estimated on probable grounds, and the delay    was indulged the rather, because no circumstance had yet made it necessary to    call in the aid of the legislative functions. Information now recently communicated    has brought us nearly to the period contemplated. The mass of what I have received,    in the course of these transactions, is voluminous, but little has been given    under the sanction of an oath, so as to constitute formal and legal evidence.    It is chiefly in the form of letters, often containing such a mixture of rumors,    conjectures, and suspicions, as render it difficult to sift out the real facts,    and unadvisable to hazard more than general outlines, strengthened by concurrent    information, or the particular credibility of the relater. In this state of    the evidence, delivered sometimes too under the restriction of private confidence,    neither safety nor justice will permit the exposing names, except that of the    principal actor, whose guilt is placed beyond question.Some time in the latter part of September, I received intimations that designs    were in agitation in the western country, unlawful and unfriendly to the peace    of the Union; and that the prime mover in these was Aaron Burr, heretofore distinguished    by the favor of his country. The grounds of these intimations being inconclusive,    the objects uncertain, and the fidelity of that country known to be firm, the    only measure taken was to urge the informants to use their best endeavors to    get further insight into the designs and proceedings of the suspected persons,    and to communicate them to me.It was not until the latter part of October, that the objects of the conspiracy    began to be perceived, but still so blended and involved in mystery that nothing    distinct could be singled out for pursuit. In this state of uncertainty as to    the crime contemplated, the acts done, and the legal course to be pursued, I    thought it best to send to the scene where these things were principally in    transaction, a person, in whose integrity, understanding, and discretion, entire    confidence could be reposed, with instructions to investigate the plots going    on, to enter into conference (for which he had sufficient credentials) with    the governors and all other officers, civil and military, and with their aid    to do on the spot whatever should be necessary to discover the designs of the    conspirators, arrest their means, bring their persons to punishment, and to    call out the force of the country to suppress any unlawful enterprise in which    it should be found they were engaged. By this time it was known that many boats    were under preparation, stores of provisions collecting, and an unusual number    of suspicious characters in motion on the Ohio and its waters. Besides despatching    the confidential agent to that quarter, orders were at the same time sent to    the governors of the Orleans and Mississippi territories, and to the commanders    of the land and naval forces there, to be on their guard against surprise, and    in constant readiness to resist any enterprise which might be attempted on the    vessels, posts, or other objects under their care; and on the 8th of November,    instructions were forwarded to General Wilkinson to hasten an accommodation    with the Spanish commander on the Sabine, and as soon as that was effected,    to fall back with his principal force to the hither bank of the Mississippi,    for the defence of the intersecting points on that river. By a letter received    from that officer on the 25th of November, but dated October 21st, we learn    that a confidential agent of Aaron Burr had been deputed to him, with communications    partly written in cipher and partly oral, explaining his designs, exaggerating    his resources, and making such offers of emolument and command, to engage him    and the army in his unlawful enterprise, as he had flattered himself would be    successful. The general, with the honor of a soldier and fidelity of a good    citizen, immediately despatched a trusty officer to me with information of what    had passed, proceeding to establish such an understanding with the Spanish commandant    on the Sabine as permitted him to withdraw his force across the Mississippi,    and to enter on measures for opposing the projected enterprise.The general's letter, which came to hand on the 25th of November, as has been    mentioned, and some other information received a few days earlier, when brought    together, developed Burr's general designs, different parts of which only had    been revealed to different informants. It appeared that he contemplated two    distinct objects, which might be carried on either jointly or separately, and    either the one or the other first, as circumstances should direct. One of these    was the severance of the Union of these States by the Alleghany mountains; the    other, an attack on Mexico. A third object was provided, merely ostensible,    to wit: the settlement of a pretended purchase of a tract of country on the    Washita, claimed by a Baron Bastrop. This was to serve as the pretext for all    his preparations, an allurement for such followers as really wished to acquire    settlements in that country, and a cover under which to retreat in the event    of final discomfiture of both branches of his real design.He found at once that the attachment of the western country to the present    Union was not to be shaken; that its dissolution could not be effected with    the consent of its inhabitants, and that his resources were inadequate, as yet,    to effect it by force. He took his course then at once, determined to seize    on New Orleans, plunder the bank there, possess himself of the military and    naval stores, and proceed on his expedition to Mexico; and to this object all    his means and preparations were now directed. He collected from all the quarters    where himself or his agents possessed influence, all the ardent, restless, desperate,    and disaffected persons who were ready for any enterprise analogous to their    characters. He seduced good and well-meaning citizens, some by assurances that    he possessed the confidence of the government and was acting under its secret    patronage, a pretence which obtained some credit from the state of our differences    with Spain; and others by offers of land in Bastrop's claim on the Washita.This was the state of my information of his proceedings about the last of November,    at which time, therefore, it was first possible to take specific measures to    meet them. The proclamation of November 27, two days after the receipt of    General Wilkinson's information, was now issued. Orders were despatched to every    intersecting point on the Ohio and Mississippi, from Pittsburg to New Orleans,    for the employment of such force either of the regulars or of the militia, and    of such proceedings also of the civil authorities, as might enable them to seize    on all the boats and stores provided for the enterprise, to arrest the persons    concerned, and to suppress effectually the further progress of the enterprise.    A little before the receipt of these orders in the State of Ohio, our confidential    agent, who had been diligently employed in investigating the conspiracy, had    acquired sufficient information to open himself to the governor of that State,    and apply for the immediate exertion of the authority and power of the State    to crush the combination. Governor Tiffin and the legislature, with a promptitude,    an energy, and patriotic zeal, which entitle them to a distinguished place in    the affection of their sister States, effected the seizure of all the boats,    provisions, and other preparations within their reach, and thus gave a first    blow, materially disabling the enterprise in its outset.In Kentucky, a premature attempt to bring Burr to justice, without sufficient    evidence for his conviction, had produced a popular impression in his favor,    and a general disbelief of his guilt. This gave him an unfortunate opportunity    of hastening his equipments. The arrival of the proclamation and orders, and    the application and information of our confidential agent, at length awakened    the authorities of that State to the truth, and then produced the same promptitude    and energy of which the neighboring State had set the example. Under an act    of their legislature of December 23, militia was instantly ordered to different    important points, and measures taken for doing whatever could yet be done. Some    boats (accounts vary from five to double or treble that number) and persons    (differently estimated from one to three hundred) had in the meantime passed    the falls of the Ohio, to rendezvous at the mouth of the Cumberland, with others    expected down that river.Not apprized, till very late, that any boats were building on Cumberland, the    effect of the proclamation had been trusted to for some time in the State of    Tennessee; but on the 19th of December, similar communications and instructions    with those of the neighboring States were despatched by express to the governor,    and a general officer of the western division of the State, and on the 23rd of    December our confidential agent left Frankfort for Nashville, to put into activity    the means of that State also. But by information received yesterday I learn    that on the 22rd of December, Mr. Burr descended the Cumberland with two boats    merely of accommodation, carrying with him from that State no quota toward his    unlawful enterprise. Whether after the arrival of the proclamation, of the orders,    or of our agent, any exertion which could be made by that State, or the orders    of the governor of Kentucky for calling out the militia at the mouth of Cumberland,    would be in time to arrest these boats, and those from the falls of the Ohio,    is still doubtful.On the whole, the fugitives from Ohio, with their associates from Cumberland,    or any other place in that quarter, cannot threaten serious danger to the city    of New Orleans.By the same express of December nineteenth, orders were sent to the governors    of New Orleans and Mississippi, supplementary to those which had been given    on the 25th of November, to hold the militia of their territories in    readiness to co-operate for their defence, with the regular troops and armed    vessels then under command of General Wilkinson. Great alarm, indeed, was excited    at New Orleans by the exaggerated accounts of Mr. Burr, disseminated through    his emissaries, of the armies and navies he was to assemble there. General Wilkinson    had arrived there himself on the 24th of November and had immediately put into    activity the resources of the place for the purpose of its defence; and on the    tenth of December he was joined by his troops from the Sabine. Great zeal was    shown by the inhabitants generally, the merchants of the place readily agreeing    to the most laudable exertions and sacrifices for manning the armed vessels    with their seamen, and the other citizens manifesting unequivocal fidelity to    the Union, and a spirit of determined resistance to their expected assailants.Surmises have been hazarded that this enterprise is to receive aid from certain    foreign powers. But these surmises are without proof or probability. The wisdom    of the measures sanctioned by Congress at its last session had placed us in    the paths of peace and justice with the only powers with whom we had any differences,    and nothing has happened since which makes it either their interest or ours    to pursue another course. No change of measures has taken place on our part;    none ought to take place at this time. With the one, friendly arrangement was    then proposed, and the law deemed necessary on the failure of that was suspended    to give time for a fair trial of the issue. With the same power, negotiation    is still preferred and provisional measures only are necessary to meet the event    of rupture. While, therefore, we do not deflect in the slightest degree from    the course we then assumed, and are still pursuing, with mutual consent, to    restore a good understanding, we are not to impute to them practices as irreconcilable    to interest as to good faith, and changing necessarily the relations of peace    and justice between us to those of war. These surmises are, therefore, to be    imputed to the vauntings of the author of this enterprise, to multiply his partisans    by magnifying the belief of his prospects and support.By letters from General Wilkinson, of the 14th and 18th of September, which    came to hand two days after date of the resolution of the House of Representatives,    that is to say, on the morning of the 18th instant, I received the important    affidavit, a copy of which I now communicate, with extracts of so much of the    letters as come within the scope of the resolution. By these it will be seen    that of three of the principal emissaries of Mr. Burr, whom the general had    caused to be apprehended, one had been liberated by habeas corpus, and the    two others, being those particularly employed in the endeavor to corrupt the    general and army of the United States, have been embarked by him for our ports    in the Atlantic States, probably on the consideration that an impartial trial    could not be expected during the present agitations of New Orleans, and that    that city was not as yet a safe place of confinement. As soon as these persons    shall arrive, they will be delivered to the custody of the law, and left to    such course of trial, both as to place and process, as its functionaries may    direct. The presence of the highest judicial authorities, to be assembled at    this place within a few days, the means of pursuing a sounder course of proceedings    here than elsewhere, and the aid of the executive means, should the judges have    occasion to use them, render it equally desirable for the criminals as for the    public, that being already removed from the place where they were first apprehended,    the first regular arrest should take place here, and the course of proceedings    receive here its proper direction. 