To James Madison from Benjamin W. Crowninshield, 23 June 1816
From Benjamin W. Crowninshield
Washington 23d. June 1816
Dear sir,
The within dispatches were recd from the Medn. yesterday by the John Adams, and as Mr. Monroe is to be absent until Tue[s]day, I have taken the liberty to enclose his also.
The Dey seems disposed to quarrel, but with the force there & to be there, I think he would be prevented from doing us any mischief.
The part the Spaniards have pursued as relates to the Brig, is very reprehensible.1
A fast sailing Brig is going to sail with provissions from N York for the squadron, so that any disposition that is to grow out of these dispatches can quickly be put in a train for execution.
The letter from the Dey to yourself I have not seen. Please to send the Secy of States letters back, as I feel a delicacy in sending them—with great respect I am truly yours
B W Crowninshield
The dispatches to the Secretary of State have been sent for by Mr Graham, and I have taken them out of this parcel since Mr Crowninshield left me2—most respectfully
Benjamin Homans
RC (DLC); letterbook copy (DNA: RG 45, LSP). RC docketed by JM.
1. On 19 June 1815 Capt. Stephen Decatur captured an Algerian brig, the Estedio, and took it into Cartagena, Spain, as a prize. The dey requested the ship’s return, along with another captured vessel, the Meshuda. Decatur and U.S. consul general William Shaler agreed, although this understanding had not been explicitly stipulated in the 1815 treaty. The Spanish authorities detained the Estedio, arguing that it might have been improperly captured in Spanish territorial waters. The delay enabled the dey to claim in April 1816 that the United States had violated the treaty. Describing these events in his 15 Apr. 1816 letter to the secretary of the navy, Capt. John Shaw observed that the language of the Spanish minister “was the most insulting, under the Circumstances,” and added that “Spain I doubt not is desirous of bringing about a rupture between Algiers and the United States more especially as it would afford them some Security in the event of a rupture which is thought will take place in the Summer” (DNA: RG 45, Captains’ Letters).
2. For the dispatches, see John Graham to JM, 23 June 1816, and nn.