From James Madison to William Harris Crawford, 21 June 1816
To William Harris Crawford
Montpelier June 21. 1816
Dear Sir
I return the letter of Genl: Gaines with the papers connected with it.1
It is to be hoped & much to be wished that a resort to the extreme measures contemplated may not be necessary: and it may be better that they shd. result from military discretion guided by imperious emergencies, than be prescribed by the Executive, without the sanction of the authority more competent to such decisions. In the present case, a foreign territory would be invaded, and a refusal of passage thro’ a river terminating within it, be the ground of hostility. Without admitting the right of refusal the question is a delicate one at least, as it relates to the Executive Department. It is the more desireable that the crisis should not lead to extremities, as we are to have amicable negociations which may possibly put an end to all difficulties in that quarter. This view of the subject however must not preclude any interposition of the Ex. which may become essential to the public safety, and be exacted from its responsibility.
The case presented by Govr. Cass, whose communications are also returned, forms a distressing appeal to our sympathies;2 but I can see no legal ground on which we can extend relief to it. The local authority is bound to do what it can, and it is a reasonable expectation that the absence of any integral part of it will not continue long. Local benevolence also will doubtless make its contributions. If the price of provisions be such as is stated, it is presumed that the troops will feed not on the local resources, but be supplied by water from Eastward settlements near the Lake; and that in proportion to their number, will be the expenditures of which every description of people will be able to partake. The aid expected from the sale of public lands is another item in the account. It is painful to meet such an appeal, with such calculations; but can any thing better be done?
The vacancy in the Creek Agency, will of course await further information on the subject of filling it. Respects & best wishes
James Madison
RC (DNA: RG 107, LRRS, P-141:9); FC (DLC). RC docketed as received in the War Department in September 1816. FC in Dolley Madison’s hand, docketed by JM.
1. JM very likely returned a copy of a 24 May 1816 letter written by Maj. Gen. Edmund Pendleton Gaines to Gov. David B. Mitchell of Georgia, forwarded in Gaines’s letter of the same day to the War Department, which also included correspondence between Gaines and Lt. Col. Duncan Clinch about the hostile activities of Creek parties in the region of St. Marks (DNA: RG 107, LRRS, G-55:9). Gaines regarded these activities as a prelude to more general hostilities, which led him to request from Mitchell “one Complete Regiment of Infantry, and a battalion of mounted men (to Consist of Infantry and Riflemen) to assemble at Fort Hawkins, armed and equipped for Service, on the 15th day of June … or as soon after that day as practicable, where they will be organized according to law, Mustered and Inspected, … to serve the United States for three months unless sooner discharged.” Gaines stated that he had delayed this request in the hope that the Creek chiefs would arrest the hostile parties, but he now concluded that this would not be done and that “we must resort to force to punish the past and prevent future aggressions. The sooner this is done the better; the war party is evidently acquiring Strength and additional Confidence from every outrage which we suffer to go unpunished” (ibid.). These measures were part of the preparations for the attack on the “Negro Fort” at Prospect Bluff in East Florida in July 1816.
2. See Crawford to JM, 18 June 1816. On 2 July, Crawford informed Lewis Cass that JM had decided that “the supply of provisions for the poor inhabitants [of Michigan] cannot be Continued by the government. They must,” Crawford stated, “depend for their support upon their own exertions and upon the Provision which may be made by law aided by the active benevolence of the inhabitants” (, 10:657).