To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 10 November 1804
From James Wilkinson
Washington Nov. 10th. 1804
Sir
I regret that a variety of interruptions & engagements, should have so long prevented my attention, to the subject you did me the Honor to mention to me.—
On turning it in my Mind, the Idea occurred to me that your proposition could not be better sustained, than by an examination of the System of defences, heretofore adopted for our Towns & Harbours, and a comparative view of its merits with those of the Plan which you recommend; I have yielded to this suggestion & shall be happy if the manner & matter of the enclosed reflections, should meet your approbation, as they are for you & at your disposal only.—
You will also find under cover, an Extract from the reflections of the Marquis of Santa Cruz, an author of great respectability, who wrote early in the last Century, from which you will perceive, Gallies, (in other words Gun Boats) have been long held in high Estimation.—
I have only to add Sir, that these observations were committed to paper on the Day of their Date, & that I have not been able to have them copied sooner, so inadequate are my means to my Duties.
With great consideration & respect I have the honor to be Sir Your obliged & Faithful Servant
James Wilkinson
RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thomas Jefferson President of the United States”; endorsed by TJ as received 10 Nov. and so recorded in SJL. Tr (DNA: RG 46, LPPM, 9th Cong., 2d sess.); enclosed in TJ to the Senate and the House of Representatives, 10 Feb. 1807; with note at foot of text in TJ’s hand: “Note. this letter was only the cover of Genl. Wilkinson’s opinion, and therefore shews only in general terms what that was. the opinion itself was on a former occasion communicated to a committee of the House of representatives, & was read to the house for it’s information. this paper cannot now be found; which is the more regretted as it went much at large into the reasoning on the subject.” Tr (DNA: RG 233, PM, 9th Cong., 2d sess.); with identical note by TJ at foot of text. Enclosures not found, but see below.
enclosed reflections: sometime prior to 28 Jan. 1805, TJ forwarded Wilkinson’s enclosures on gunboats to Joseph H. Nicholson, the chairman of a select committee on harbor defense (, 5:11; Joseph H. Nicholson to TJ, 28 Jan. 1805). Among these enclosures was an unidentified Extract from a 1732 book by the Marqués de Santa Cruz de Marcenado, relating to the usefulness of galleys for coastal defense (Alvaro Navia Osorio, Comercio suelto, y en compañias general y particular en Mexico, Peru, Philipinas, y Moscovia [Madrid, 1732], 189-205).