To James Madison from Eli Whitney, [ca. August 1814]
From Eli Whitney
[ca. August 1814]
The Memorial of the Subscriber, Respectfully represents, That in the year 1812 he entered into a specific and formal Contract with the Secretary of War, to manufacture 15,000 muskets for the use of the UStates. That some time afterwards said Contract was placed in the hands of Callender Irvine Esq. Commsry. Genl. of purchases, with directions to see it executed; whereupon a correspondence ensued, in which the said Commissa[r]y set up demands and assumed powers, which to your memorial[ist] appeared to be altogether unreasonable and unjust—and which induced your memorialist to apply to the Secretary of War for relief.
The Secretary of war has signified his willingness that the contract may go on; but notwithstanding the earnest solicitations of your memorialist, insists on leaving the business in the hands and under the controul of Mr. Irvine. Your memorialist therefore respectfully solicits that you will have the goodness to examine the correspondence between him & Mr. Irvine and the other papers relating to the subject, which are in the War Department,1 and decide whether, after what has past, your memorialist ought to be satisfied that Mr Irvine will hereafter pursue a fair and impartial course in the numerous transactions & the long to be continued correspondence which are necessarily connected with the ex[e]cution of so extensive a Contract—and whether considerations of justice as well as delicacy towards Mr. Irvine may not render it proper that this business should be placed in the hands of some other officer or agent of the Government. With a hope that he will not be considered as having made an improper request, your memorialist subscribes himself, Very Respectfully, yr. Obdt. Servt.
E. Whitney2
RC (DLC). Undated; dated 1815 in the Index to the James Madison Papers; conjectural date assigned here based on evidence in n. 1 and the assumption that this letter was written before Whitney learned of John Armstrong’s 4 Sept. 1814 resignation as secretary of war. Docketed by JM.
1. The documentation to which Whitney referred included copies of correspondence between him and Irvine dated from 26 Oct. through 25 Nov. 1813 (18 pp.), discussing their differences with regard to the standards by which Whitney’s muskets should be judged; Whitney’s undated note summarizing a conversation he had with Irvine prior to this correspondence about the terms upon which Whitney would receive a $5,000 advance on his contract (1 p.); Daniel D. Tompkins to Armstrong, 7 May 1814 (2 pp.), supporting Whitney; Irvine to Armstrong, 9 May 1814 (1 p.), stating his intention to terminate Whitney’s contract; William Simmons to acting comptroller Nathan Lufborough, 12 May 1814 (1 p.), submitting Whitney’s account (1 p.); Lufborough’s 17 May 1814 statement that he could not interfere in the case (1 p.); Whitney to Armstrong, 18 May 1814 (3 pp.), asking that his contract be continued; and Commissary General of Ordnance Col. Decius Wadsworth to Whitney, 21 July 1814 (3 pp.), discussing standards for proving muskets in reply to a 16 July 1814 letter from Whitney (DNA: RG 107, LRUS, W-1814). Whitney also wrote to Armstrong on 17 Aug. 1814 (6 pp.) and to Wadsworth on 18 Aug. 1814 (4 pp.), further stating his objections to the proceedings of Irvine’s musket inspectors (DNA: RG 107, LRRS, W-74:8 and 75:8); and to Armstrong on 21 Aug. 1814 (4 pp.), complaining of the lack of a person authorized to prove his musket barrels in a timely manner. That letter bears Armstrong’s note ordering that “a man of competent knowlege” be sent “to prove Whitney’s musquets” (ibid., W-89:8).
2. Eli Whitney (1765–1825) was born in Massachusetts, graduated from Yale College in 1793, and patented the cotton gin the following year. His machine was widely copied and he sued to defend his patent, but a ruling in his favor did not come until 1807. In the meantime Whitney contracted to produce ten thousand muskets for the federal government, which he did while pioneering the mass production of interchangeable parts in a New Haven factory financed in part by government advances. He also manufactured guns for the New York State government during the War of 1812 (John N. Ingham, Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders [4 vols.; Westport, Conn., 1983], 4:1607–9).