To James Madison from William C. C. Claiborne, 8 September 1804 (Abstract)
§ From William C. C. Claiborne
8 September 1804, New Orleans. “Enclosed is a translation of a letter to me from the Marquis of Casa Calvo,1 which will shew you the favorable disposition of the Governor-General of Cuba, towards the commerce of the United States, and the desire he feels to prevent Privateers from making sale of their prizes within the limits of his Government.
“I have the pleasure to inform you, that the most perfect good order continues to prevail in this city and I believe throughout Louisiana.
“I have just heard that the insurrection in West Florida is not yet quelled,2 but on the contrary, that the number of mal-contents have increased.”
RC and enclosure (DNA: RG 59, TP, Orleans, vol. 5); letterbook copy (Ms-Ar: Claiborne Executive Journal, vol. 13). RC 1 p.; in a clerk’s hand, signed by Claiborne; docketed by Wagner. For enclosure, see n. 1.
1. The enclosed translation of Casa Calvo to Claiborne, 2 Aug. 1804 (2 pp.), consists mainly of an extract of Someruelos to Casa Calvo, 20 June 1804, responding to Casa Calvo’s 19 Apr. letter reporting Claiborne’s complaints about the Coquette (for Claiborne’s earlier correspondence with Casa Calvo about the Coquette, see , 7:3 and n. 1, 48 and n. 1). Someruelos stated that the “considerable migration of Frenchmen” to Cuba and “the unsettled situation of some of its ports & harbours” facilitated the arming of ships without the knowledge of the government. He said he had “repeatedly & efficaciously issued orders, to maintain the most scrupulous neutrality in all the ports of this island,” adding that he would “omit no attention for the purpose of avoiding such complaints.” The letter is substantially the same as Someruelos to JM, 20 June 1804 (ibid., 7:345).
2. For the Kemper revolt, see Joseph Briggs to JM, 25 Aug. 1804, and Claiborne to JM, 30 Aug. 1804, ibid., 7:637, 638 n. 2, 657–58 n. 1, and Hatfield, William Claiborne, 244–45.