To Alexander Hamilton from James McHenry, 2 April 1799
From James McHenry1
War department 2d. April 1799
Sir
It being out of my power to send you copies of, you will herewith receive the following original letters from Brig. Gen. Wilkinson, which you will be pleased to return after taking such extracts from them as you may judge necessary.
| Letter | No. 1 | dated | 6 Decr. 17982 |
| Do | No. 2 | do | 10 Jany. 17993 |
| Do | No. 3 | Do | 31 Jany.4 |
| Do | No. 4 | Do | 2 Feby.5 |
| No. 5 | Circular letter to the officers commanding posts6 | ||
| No. 6 | Correspondence with Govr. Gayoso7 | ||
| No. 7 | Papers refered to in letter Jany 1799. | ||
I have the Honor to be with the greatest respect Your Obedient and Hum. Servt.
James McHenry
Major Gen. Alexr. Hamilton
LS, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress.
1. This letter is in reply to H to McHenry, March 29, 1799.
3. In this letter Brigadier General James Wilkinson, commanding officer of the Western Army, discussed relations with the Spanish and enclosed a map showing “Christian Settlements” and Indian towns and a copy of a petition, dated January 1, 1799, from the people of the Mississippi Territory to Congress requesting that their Spanish land titles be legally recognized (LS, marked “Duplicate,” Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress).
4. In this letter Wilkinson reported that Zachariah Cox was in Tennessee, discussed relations with the Indians, and enclosed his correspondence with Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, governor of Louisiana (LS, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress).
Cox was one of the promoters of the Tennessee Land Company, which had received a grant of land at Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River from the Georgia legislature in 1795. Wilkinson accused Cox of assembling and organizing an armed force on land which had been guaranteed to the Indians. Cox was also involved in the Blount Conspiracy, whose participants were trying to interest the British Minister, Robert Liston, in plans to establish a British colony at Muscle Shoals. Wilkinson had ordered Cox’s arrest in 1798, but Cox escaped. See McHenry to H, March 19, 1799, notes 1 and 2. For additional information on Cox’s activities, see Isaac J. Cox, ed., “Documents Relating to Zachariah Cox,” Quarterly Publication of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, VIII (1913), 29–114.
5. Letter not found.
6. Letter not found.
7. Wilkinson to Gayoso de Lemos, November 11, December 22, 1798; Gayoso de Lemos to Wilkinson, December 1, 1798, January 2, 1799 (copies, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress).