To James Madison from William Eustis, 16 September 1810
From William Eustis
Portsmouth Septr. 16. 1810.
Sir,
I enclose for your amusement a copy of a Letter from J. Q. A. which may be destroyed after perusal. Accounts from the Baltic confirm his anticipation of Danish captures.1 With perfect respect,
W. Eustis
Instructions to Govr. Holmes & the comdg. Officer, are also enclosed2 if approved, they can be forwarded either to Washington M. T. or to the war office—in the former case the copies are desired at the office.
RC and enclosure (DLC). RC docketed by JM. For surviving enclosure, see n. 2.
1. Eustis evidently enclosed a copy of a letter (not found) he had received from John Quincy Adams, dated 10 May 1810, in which Adams discussed at length the reasons for Danish hostility to American traders in the Baltic (Ford, Writings of John Quincy Adams, 3:429–33).
2. Of the instructions and copies forwarded by Eustis, JM retained in his papers instructions (1 p.; in a clerk’s hand; marked “Copy”) addressed to “Comdg Officer.” These instructions enclosed a transcript (not found) of the directions given to Governor Holmes “respecting a combination said to be forming for the purpose of carrying on a Military expedition against a neighbouring Colony.” The “Comdg Officer” (either Col. Richard Sparks or Lt. Col. Thomas Cushing) was ordered to cooperate with the Mississippi governor in the event of his needing troops to apprehend “the persons concerned in And carrying on the said expedition; or who may be otherwise Acting in violation of the laws.”