1From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 13 March 1808 (Jefferson Papers)
I recieved last night your favor of the 10th. there can certainly be no present objection to the forwarding the letters therein mentioned, according to their address. We have nothing new of importance, except that at the last reading of an Amendatory bill a few days ago, the H. of R. were surprised into the insertion of an insidious clause permitting any merchant having property abroad, on...
2From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 13 November 1808 (Jefferson Papers)
Between 3 & 4. years ago I recieved the inclosed petitions praying for the pardon or the enlargement of Thomas Logwood, then & still confined in the Penitentiary of Richmond for counterfieting the bank notes of the US. I consulted Govr. Page on the subject who, after conferring with his council, informed me that tho’ he was for a pardon himself he found a division of opinion on the question, &...
3From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 9 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
In my letter of the 7th. I informed you that on consultation at Washington it had been concluded best to commit the whole business of flags to Capt Decatur. I now find that I had not recollected our conclusion correctly, and that it had been understood that the commanding officers, by land & water should have equal authority to license the sending & recieving flags: which is not only proper,...
4From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 16 July 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Your letter of the 10th. has been recieved, and I note what is said on the provision which ought to be made by us for the militia in the field. an arrangement by the Secretary at war to meet certain other persons at N. York to concert a plan of defence for that place has occasioned necessarily his temporary absence from this place, and there is no person sufficiently informed to take the...
5From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 8 July 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
You will have recieved from the Secretary at War a letter requesting that the quota of the state of Virginia of 100,000. militia be immediately organised and put in readiness for service at the shortest warning; but that they be not actually called out until further requisition. the menacing attitude which the British ships of war have taken in Hampton road, the actual blockade of Norfolk, and...
6From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 29 June 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favor by express was safely recieved on Saturday night, and I am thankful to you for the attention of which it is a proof. considering the general & state governments as co-operators in the same holy concerns, the interest & happiness of our country, the interchange of mutual aid is among the most pleasing of the exercises of our duty. Captn. Gordon, the 2d in command of the Chesapeake...
7From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 19 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Your letters of Aug. 11. 12. 13: had been before acknoleged, and in mine of this morning I acknoleged yours of the 16th. and returned the papers inclosed in it. since writing that I have recieved another letter of yours of Aug. 11. which by an error of the post-office had been sent to a wrong office. I now inclose the papers recieved in that. they call for but one observation which is, that...
8From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 11 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favor of the 7th. is recieved. it asks my opinion on several points of law arising out of the act of Congress for accepting the service of 30,000 volunteers. altho’ your own opinion, & those of some of your counsellors, more recent in the habits of legal investigation, would be a safer guide for you than mine, unassisted by my ordinary & able associates, yet I shall frankly venture my...
9From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 25 October 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Your letters of the 21st. & 22d. are recieved, & I now return you Capt. Read’s of the 18th. we conclude it unnecessary to call for another corps of militia to relieve that now in service at Lynhaven. Genl. Dearborn will write & give the necessary directions for discharging, paying &c. I suspect the departure of the British armed vessels from our waters is in consequence of orders from their...
10From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 7 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Your letters of July 31. & Aug. 5. were recieved yesterday. the ground taken, in conformity with the act of Congress, of considering, as public enemies, British armed vessels in, or entering, our waters, gives us the benefit of a system of rules, sanctioned by the practice of nations in a state of war, and consequently enabling us with certainty & satisfaction to solve the different cases...
11From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 31 July 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I shall tomorrow set out for Monticello, considering the critical state of things, it has been thought better, during my stay there, to establish a daily conveyance of a mail from Fredericksburg to Monticello. this enables me to hear both from the North & South every day. should you have occasion then to communicate with me, your letters can come to me daily by being put into the...
12From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 19 July 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Your letter of the 15th. was recieved yesterday, and the opinion you have given to General Matthews against allowing any intercourse between the British Consul & the ships of his nation remaining in our waters in defiance of our authority, is entirely approved. certainly while they are conducting themselves as enemies defacto, intercourse should be permitted only, as between enemies, by flags...
13From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 27 July 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
The Secretary at War having returned from New York, we have immediately taken up the question respecting the discharge of the militia which was the subject of your two last letters, and which I had wished might remain undecided a few days. from what we have learnt of the conduct of the British squadron in the Chesapeake since they have retired from Hampton roads, we suppose that until orders...
14From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 17 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favors of the 11th. 12th. & 14th. were recieved yesterday being the first day for some days past that the obstruction of the water courses has permitted the post to come through. I now return you the letters of Genl. Matthews & Capt. Hardy. I inclose you also two offers of volunteers from Montgomery & Fauquier counties, because they are expressly made, under the late act of Congress. I...
15From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 7 September 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I now return you Majr. Newton’s letters. the intention of the squadron in the bay is so manifestly pacific, that your instructions to him are perfectly proper, not to molest their boats merely for approaching the shore. while they are giving up slaves & citizen seamen & attempting nothing ashore, it would not be well to stop this by any new restriction. if they come ashore indeed, they must be...
16From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 21 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Th: Jefferson salutes the Governor with esteem and respect, & returns him the papers recieved in his letter of the 18th. he thinks there can be no doubt but that the sealed letter from the British Consul at New York to the Commander of the Bellona should be returned. Vi .
17From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 12 October 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I now return you several of Major Newton’s letters some of which have been kept awhile for consideration. it is determined that there shall be no relaxation in the conditions of the Proclamation, nor any change in the rules of intercourse by flag. if the British officers set the example of refusing to recieve a flag, let ours then follow it by never sending or recieving another. the interval...
18From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 24 July 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Yours of the 20th. has been duly recieved. the relation in which we stand with the British naval force within our waters is so new, that differences of opinion are not to be wondered at respecting the captives who are the subject of your letter. are they insurgents against the authority of the laws? are they public enemies acting under the orders of their sovereign? or will it be more correct...
19From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 19 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I return you the papers recieved in your letter of the 16th. the Secretary of State communicated to me yesterday a letter from mr Erskine containing assurances from Sr. Thomas Hardy that he should carefully abstain from acts of violence, unless he recieved orders from his superiors. altho’ Barclay’s character does not give the same confidence, yet I see no reason to doubt that matters will...
20From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 27 November 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
We have lately recieved from Europe 7. or 8. models of the swords most approved in practice there; out of which we have had selected two of the finest in the opinion of the best judges we have had an opportunity of consulting, foreigners as well as citizens. as the swords made at the manufactory of Virginia are spoken of as equal to any in the important article of temper, I have thought it...
21From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 18 September 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
On my return to this place yesterday I found your favor of the 15th. and now return the papers it covered. I am glad to see the temperate complexion of Lowrie’s correspondence. I presume the intelligence from England since the arrival there of the information respecting the Chesapeake will produce a moderate deportment in their officers. your instructions to Major Newton on the opening of...
22From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 19 September 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
The honble mr Clay, in addressing the within to me, seems not to have recollected that the appointments to command in the militia or volunteer corps were with the state authorities. presuming therefore that I cannot better answer his views than by forwarding his letter to you, I now take that liberty & salute you with great esteem & respect. Vi .
23From Thomas Jefferson to William H. Cabell, 1 November 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Your late letters have been regularly referred to the Secretary at War, who has already answered their several enquiries, or will do it immediately. I am inclined to believe that the departure of the British vessels from our waters must be in consequence of orders from England to respect the authorities of the country. within about a fortnight we think we may expect answers from England which...
24To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 21 January 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I laid before the General Assembly of Virginia the letter which I had the honor to receive from you enclosing the Act of Congress for laying out and making a road from Cumberland in the State of Maryland to the State of Ohio, together with the partial report of the Commissioners: and I have now the honor to enclose you the Copy of an Act of the General Assembly, giving the assent of this State...
25To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 15 September 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I have the honor to enclose you Major Newton’s letters from the 4th to the 11th instant inclusive. In all cases of sealed letters coming from the Squadron, addressed to persons residing in Norfolk, I have informed him that he would be authorized to open them, with the consent of the persons to whom they are addressed, and after having examined them, to deliver or withhold them according to the...
26To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 15 July 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I do myself the pleasure to enclose for your perusal, a copy of a letter this morning received from General Mathews, together with copies of certain other papers accompanying it, giving the latest intelligence from Norfolk—you will perceive that the British Vessels have left Hampton Roads, but it does not appear from any information afforded by the enclosed papers, that they have left our...
27To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 22 January 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Mr. William McKindley, a member of the General Assembly from the County of Ohio, having informed me of his intention to return to his County by way of the City of Washington, I have requested him to take charge of a letter to you enclosing the copy of an Act of the General Assembly “giving the assent of this State to an Act of Congress for laying out and making a road from the river Patowmac...
28To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 14 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
There was no mail this morning beyond Petersburg. I have therefore again to regret that I can give you no information from Norfolk. Should I receive any letters of importance tomorrow morning, I will send them by express to overtake the Fredericksburg mail, which generally leaves this place before the arrival of the Norfolk mail— I am with the highest respect Sir yr. Ob. St. DLC : Papers of...
29To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 16 September 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I now enclose to you Major Newton’s last letter, and am with the highest respect Sir yr. ob. St. DLC : Papers of Thomas Jefferson.
30To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 15 October 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favor of the 12th. was received yesterday evening, and the course which it prescribes shall be strictly observed. I now forward you Major Newton’s letters of the 8th. 9th. & 13th instant—It appears by the last that the British Ships of War have gone out of our waters—Tomorrow’s mail will, I presume, enable us to ascertain whether this departure is temporary, as on a former occasion, or...
31To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 5 October 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I now forward Major Newton’s letters of the 30th of September, and of the 1st. and 2nd of this month, together with the extraordinary letter of Sir Robert Laurie to Major Newton, declaring his determination to put a stop to all intercourse whatever between the squadron and our officers, unless he shall be permitted to carry on, with the British Consul, a correspondence under seal—You will...
32To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 25 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I now enclose you the last letter from Norfolk. The next will I presume be from Major Newton to whom the command has been transfered, & to whom I have communicated your opinion on the subject of supplies for the Columbine. I am with the highest respect Sir yr. Ob. St. DLC : Papers of Thomas Jefferson.
33To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 30 September 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I have the honor to forward to you Major Newtons letters of the 26th. and also of the 27th and 28th. I am with the highest respect Sir yr. Ob. St. DLC : Papers of Thomas Jefferson.
34To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 19 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
After having written an answer to your letter of the 17th—I have barely time to acknowledge, with many thanks, the receipt of your particular favor of the 11th which did not come to hand until to day—It has removed every doubt from my mind—I will answer it more particularly tomorrow— Accept my assurances of the highest respect. DLC : Papers of Thomas Jefferson.
35To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 11 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I am this moment favored with yours of the 9th, but I fear the direct mail to Charlottesville is already closed—No inconvenience will arise from the circumstance mentioned in your letter because as I understood that Capt. Decatur was not in Norfolk. I did not state to General Mathews that he no longer had the power to receive and regulate the intercourse by flag with the British Squadron—Your...
36To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 20 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Your favor of the 11th. on the subject of the Volunteers, was not received until yesterday—I feel myself much indebted to you for the trouble you have been pleased to take in the solution of the questions propounded in my letter of the 7th. The difficulties I experienced, related principally to the appointment of the Majors and Colonels—Those relating to Captains yeelded to my own mature...
37To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 19 September 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I now forward to you two other letters from Major Newton, and have the Honor to be with the highest respect Sir yr. ob: St. Vi : Executive Letterbook.
38To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 16 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I have the honor to enclose you General Mathew’s letters of the 12th & 13th of this month, which were both received at a very late hour yesterday morning. Not knowing whether you take the Norfolk Ledger, I take the liberty to send you a paragraph from that paper, which gives information very interesting if true— I am with the highest respect Sir yr. Ob. St DLC : Papers of Thomas Jefferson.
39To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 25 June 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I have the honor to enclose you a copy of a letter this morning received from General Mathews covering the Copy of another which he had written to the Secretary of State; and also a Copy of a letter, without Signature, which I this morning received from Hampton. They State the daring insult offered to our Flagg, in the illegal and savage attack made by the British Ship of War Leopard on the...
40To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 26 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I have the honor to enclose you General Mathews’s letter of the 24th. I am with the highest respect Sir yr. Ob. St. DLC : Papers of Thomas Jefferson.
41To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 27 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
A letter from Norfolk, of the 25th. states, “the force of the British Squadron at 2. P.M this day, consisted of the Triumph, Leopard, Cleopatra, and two armed Brigs; their position as yesterday”—Nothing is said of the Columbine— I am with great respect Sir yr. Ob. St. DLC : Papers of Thomas Jefferson.
42To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 22 July 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
Yours of the 19th. was received by yesterdays mail—On the order for discharging that portion of the Militia that had been sent to Norfolk from this place and Petersburg, some farther explanation is necessary than what I had time to give when I wrote to you before on that subject. That information should be asked from you, and that a decision should be made before time has been given to impart...
43To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 6 October 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
You will receive inclosed Major Newtons letter of the 3rd. instant. I am with the highest respect Sir yr. Ob. St DLC : Papers of Thomas Jefferson.
44To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 20 July 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I am sorry that the information I must now give is not calculated to strengthen those hopes which might have been excited by my last that the British Squadron intended to respect the authority of our Government—I enclose for your perusal a copy of a letter this morning received from General Mathews, together with copies of his instructions to Captains Shepard & Taylor, and also of the report...
45To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 29 December 1808 (Jefferson Papers)
A powder Mill has been lately established in the immediate vicinity of this place, and it is now carried on by a company of gentlemen, of which the Mr. Browns, sons of Mr. John Brown, Clerk of the Court of appeals, are partners—This company wishes to obtain from the General Government some accommodation in supplies of Salt-petre, for which they will pay either in Cash, or in powder as the...
46To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 22 October 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I wrote to you yesterday and enclosed a letter from Capt: Reade of the 18th. stating that the British Vessels had actually left our waters but were still off the Capes. He also observed that the term of service of the company now under his command would expire on the 2nd. of next month, and that they would not willingly remain longer in service—A fear that some derangement in the Post office...
47To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 26 October 1808 (Jefferson Papers)
My friend Doctor William Upshaw is desirous to procure the appointment of Hospital Surgeon, in the Armies of the United States—I pray you to pardon the liberty I take, in recommending him to the attention of the Government. To say that he is upright, capable, honorable and republican, would be but common praise. I am persuaded the office he solicits could not be better filled. A long & painful...
48To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 10 July 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I have received your letter of the 8th. authorizing the Executive of this State to call into immediate service such a portion of the Militia as might be judged necessary & most convenient, for the defence of Norfolk, & the Gunboats at Hampton & in Mathews, & for the protection of the Country against the hostile acts of the British Squadron now blockading Norfolk—You will before this, have...
49To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 17 March 1808 (Jefferson Papers)
I received by the last nights mail your favor of the 13th. and shall forward the letters alluded to according to their address. I sent you by the mail before the last a copy of the Acts of our last Assembly, and requested your attention to that clause in the Militia law which prohibits the Executive from granting certain commissions—You will readily perceive its effect—I regret it extremely,...
50To Thomas Jefferson from William H. Cabell, 18 August 1807 (Jefferson Papers)
I have the honor to enclose you two letters from General Mathews received by this mornings mail—As to the packet mentioned in one of the letters, and addressed to Capt: Hardy, I consider it as coming within the prohibition of the Proclamation, & your instructions. You will perceive that General Mathews considers it in the same light—I should direct its return to the British Consul at New-York,...