1. On a motion of Henry M. Ridgely, the House of Representatives resolved in secret session “that the President of the United States be requested, if, in his opinion, it be compatible with the public interest, to lay before this House, confidentially, or otherwise, full information of all the proceedings that have been had under and by virtue of the act of Congress, entitled ‘An act to enable the President of the United States, under certain contingencies, to take possession of the country lying east of the river Perdido and south of the State of Georgia and the Mississippi Territory, and for other purposes’” (Annals of Congress description begins Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States … (42 vols.; Washington, 1834–56). description ends , 12th Cong., 1st sess., 1685).

2. The enclosures are copies of the following letters: Monroe to George Mathews and John McKee, 26 Jan. 1811, appointing them commissioners and dispatching them to East Florida with instructions for receiving that territory from Spain; Monroe to Mathews, 4 Apr. 1812, declaring Mathews’s measures for obtaining possession of Amelia Island and other parts of East Florida unauthorized and relieving him of his office; Monroe to David B. Mitchell, 10 Apr. 1812, appointing him to replace Mathews as commissioner in East Florida; and Monroe to Mitchell, 27 May 1812, further delineating his responsibilities in East Florida. Mitchell was specifically requested to “use the proper means” to defeat the British, should they encroach on the territory, and to withdraw troops only in a fashion consistent with the safety of the Spanish patriots. For Mathews’s mission in East Florida, see PJM-PS description begins Robert A. Rutland et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Presidential Series (4 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 1984–). description ends , 3:123 nn. 1 and 3, and William Harris Crawford to James Monroe, 5 Apr. 1812, nn. 2 and 3.