1From James Madison to Jonathan Dayton, [post 26 September] 1812 (Madison Papers)
The letters to be answered under address to Mr Levi Canning &c. has [ sic ] been recd. The friendly motives & public objects which they manifest, as well as the interesting observations contained in them, entitle the writer to acknowledgments. Any further communications having in view the public good will of course be acceptable. Draft ( NjP ). Unsigned. Addressee not indicated; identified on...
2From James Madison to Jonathan Dayton, 5 April 1813 (Madison Papers)
Your letter of Mar. 29. has been duly recd. Under the circumstances & arrangements necessary to be consulted, there would be difficulties in introducing your talents & experience into the military establishment, which do not permit me to hold out that prospect. I can only therefore do justice, as well to the examplary sentiments your letter expresses, as to the motives which prompted the offer...
3From James Madison to Jonathan Dayton, [17] March 1812 (Madison Papers)
In the latter end of the year 1808, & Spring of 1809, two anonymous letters were addressed, one to the then Secy. of State, the other to the P. of the U. S. They related to a projected severance of the Union, brought to the knowledge of the writer, which was to be undertaken in case of a rupture with G. B. under the managemt. of men of high standing; but was obviated for the time by the...
4To James Madison from Jonathan Dayton, [16 January] 1813 (Madison Papers)
I took the liberty of writing to you lately on the subject of our affairs, & will now trouble you once more, for my anxiety is extreme. The contemplated plan of raising 20,000 men for one year is a most erroneous one. By the time they are made good soldiers they must be disbanded, another army enlisted. Your troops would always be raw, the expenses enormous—the delays incalculable. Besides the...
5To James Madison from Jonathan Dayton, [ca. 14 January 1813] (Madison Papers)
I took the liberty of writing to you lately on the subject of our affairs, & will now trouble you once more, for my anxiety is extreme. The contemplated plan of raising 20,000 men for one year is a most erroneous one. By the time they are made good soldiers they must be disbanded—another army enlisted—your troops would always be raw—the expenses enormous—the delays incalculable. Besides the...
6To James Madison from Jonathan Dayton, 6 September 1814 (Madison Papers)
Assured that any suggestions tending to promote the public good will not be unacceptable, I venture at this crisis, to offer some. There can exist little doubt of there having been force sufficient on our side, to have prevented the enemy from reaching Washington, or to have defeated & destroyed the greater part of those who did reach it. The true use of the two different descriptions of the...
7To James Madison from Jonathan Dayton, 26 May 1813 (Madison Papers)
The military operations pursuing this year, are so similar to those recommended by me last year, (anonymously, it is true, but not concealedly) that I have felt less apprehension than I otherwise should, as to their issue. The project of cutting the snake in two, or of compressing so closely & strictly in the middle, all it’s channells of circulation as to occasion the perishing of the upper...
8To James Madison from Jonathan Dayton, [ca. 17 September] 1812 (Madison Papers)
Your political enemies are taking every possible advantage of our unaccountable disasters at Detroit, to render your Presidency unpopular, & your cabinet Council odious & contemptible. This is not doing by Federalists alone, but with equal zeal, tho’ greater caution by “the Democratic Republicans .” The great object of the former is to remove the Chief magistracy, not from you only, but from...
9To James Madison from Jonathan Dayton, 14 July 1813 (Madison Papers)
There are few, very few indeed, to whom the intelligence of your recovery from a late dangerous illness, has afforded a more sincere & heartfelt pleasure, as well from considerations purely personal, as those which regard our beloved country’s welfare and tranquillity. I almost tremble, sir, when I think of the contentions, divisions & disasters, to which your sudden removal at this critical...
10To James Madison from Jonathan Dayton, 21 March 1812 (Madison Papers)
I received yesterday by mail, a letter without signature, which, from it’s general & particular character, it’s tenour, & it’s allusions, must be presumed to have come from the President of the United States. The letters therein alluded to, & stated to have been addressed to the Secretary of State, & to the President successively in 1808 & 1809 were never sent by me. It would seem however,...