From James Madison to Congress, 13 November 1811
To Congress
Washington November 13. 1811
I communicate to Congress, copies of a correspondence between the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Great Britain, and the Secretary of State, relative to the aggression committed by a British Ship of War on the United States Frigate Chesapeake; by which it will be seen that that subject of difference, between the two Countries, is terminated by an offer of reparation which has been acceeded to.1
James Madison
RC and enclosures, two copies (DNA: RG 233, President’s Messages, 12A-D1; and DNA: RG 46, Legislative Proceedings, 12A-E2). Both RCs in a clerk’s hand, signed and dated by JM. For enclosures, see n. 1.
1. JM forwarded copies of four letters: Foster to Monroe, 30 Oct. (3 pp.) and 1 Nov. 1811 (2 pp.), and Monroe to Foster, 31 Oct. (1 p.) and 12 Nov. 1811 (2 pp.) (printed in , Foreign Relations, 3:499–500). In conveying JM’s acceptance of the settlement on 12 Nov., Monroe regretted that the matter had been so long delayed; “nor could the translation of the offending officer from one command to another be regarded as constituting a part of a reparation otherwise satisfactory.” JM had agreed to the British propositions, Monroe added, to acknowledge the “early and amicable attention” paid to the issue by the prince regent, and he hoped that the British government would “see a proof of the conciliatory disposition by which the President has been actuated.”