James Madison Papers

To James Madison from Gabriel Barbour, 19 February 1812

From Gabriel Barbour

Geo Town Feby. 19th. 1812.

Sir

On my return to Washington I found that the merits of the several applicants for Commissions in the new military establishment had been submited to the delegation from each state.1 I do not expect however that the Executive will consider itself bound by their recommendations where there is manifest impropriety in them. In several instances that have come under my observation the representative has had an eye more to his own popularity than the publick interest. James V Ball is (I am informd) recommended as Capt.2 Elias Edmonds as first Lieut. and myself as second from our District. Mr. Ball is represented as a Gentleman of military knowledge & much respectability of course it is highly proper that he shoud stand foremost. Mr. Edmonds resign’d a Command of equal rank in the old Establishment to that for which he is now recommended and probably wd. not accept if appointed as he ask’d a higher commission.3 I wou’d accept a first Lieutenancy in Mr. Balls Company4 upon the expectation that if he does accept a Captaincy his Merit as an Officer will immediately entitle him to promotion. If Commissions are ever given upon the contingency of an Officer’s raising his Quota of Men I shou’d be very willing to take mine upon that ground. My consenting to take a Lieutenancy will not I presume prevent Your giving me a Captaincy if You think me entitled to it. With high Respect I am Sir Yr Mot. Obt. Servt

Gabriel Barbour

RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.

1. This method of assessing the merits of candidates for army commissions was standard practice during the War of 1812 (see William B. Skelton, An American Profession of Arms: The Army Officer Corps, 1784–1861 [Lawrence, Kans., 1992], pp. 27–33).

2. JM nominated James V. Ball of Virginia to be a captain in the Light Dragoons on 6 Mar. 1812 (Senate Exec. Proceedings description begins Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America (3 vols.; Washington, 1828). description ends , 2:221–22).

3. Elias Edmonds of Virginia had been a second lieutenant in the Fifth Infantry Regiment, 1808–10 (Heitman, Historical Register description begins Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, from Its Organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2, 1903 (2 vols.; Washington, 1903). description ends , 1:397).

4. JM nominated Gabriel Barbour of Virginia to be a second lieutenant of infantry on 6 Mar. 1812 (Senate Exec. Proceedings description begins Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America (3 vols.; Washington, 1828). description ends , 2:221–23).

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    Madison Papers
    Title
    To James Madison from Gabriel Barbour, 19 February 1812
    Author
    Barbour, Gabriel
    Recipient
    Madison, James
    Date
    19 February 1812

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To James Madison from Gabriel Barbour, 19 February 1812,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/03-04-02-0201. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Presidential Series, vol. 4, 5 November 1811–9 July 1812 and Supplement 5 March 1809 – 19 October 1811, ed. J. C. A. Stagg, Jeanne Kerr Cross, Jewel L. Spangler, Ellen J. Barber, Martha J. King, Anne Mandeville Colony, and Susan Holbrook Perdue. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999, pp. 193–194.]

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