To Alexander Hamilton from James Wilkinson, 12 November 1799
From James Wilkinson
Philadelphia
Nov 12th: 1799.
Sir
I arrived here on Saturday & shall proceed on my Journey the 15th., and expect to reach Norfolk on the 20th.
I take the Liberty to submit the enclosed to you from Lt Claiborne,1 who stands for a Company in place of Kreemer disgraced,2 and to advise that He should receive recruiting Instructions, in order to compleat his Command—altho unauthorized I can not forbear offering the Opinion, that the marine Corps should perform all duties relative to the Navy—and I apprehend that four Setinels must be sufficient to protect the unlaunched Hull of a Vessel at a place of peace & safety. I know no thing & therefore will say nothing of the person Mr C. recommends for a Commission, but of Himself it may be observed, that he is a good officer in his place, tho somewhat presuming.
Hamtramck begs to be permited to go to Cincinnati to Winter with his Wife, you have his Letter under cover,3 & I beg you to advise me what to do with Him—to grant his request will be to remove Him from the proper point of residence & Command. With the most respectful attachment
I am Sir Yr. Mo Ob Se
Ja Wilkinson
Majr. General Hamilton
ALS, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress.
1. Ferdinand L. Claiborne was a captain in the First Regiment of Infantry. Claiborne’s letter, which has not been found, recommended a man named Vereker as a cadet. See H to James McHenry, November 13, 1799 (listed in the appendix to this volume); H to Wilkinson, November 13, 1799.
2. Jacob Kreemer, a captain in the First Regiment of Infantry, had been tried at Loftus Heights on April 11, 1799, in a court-martial which Wilkinson had ordered (LC, RG 94, Adjutant General’s Office, General Orders, General James Wilkinson, 1796–1808, National Archives). On July 30, 1799, in a letter listed in the appendix to Volume XXIII, John F. Hamtramck sent the proceedings of the trial to H, and H, in turn, them to McHenry on August 13, 1799, in a letter which is also listed in the appendix to Volume XXIII. McHenry sent the proceedings to John Adams on September 11, 1799 (ALS, Adams Family Papers, deposited in the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston), and Adams confirmed the decision in a letter to McHenry on September 18, 1799 (LC, Adams Family Papers, deposited in the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston). Kreemer was cashiered from the Army on October 23, 1799 (, II, 609).
3. Hamtramck to H, November 1, 1799 (listed in the appendix to this volume).