To James Madison from James Monroe, 12 October 1813
From James Monroe
Washington octr 12. 1813
Dear Sir
Finding that my arrangments in Loudoun might be completed on the day I arriv’d there, I came down on the following day, monday. Altho the upper road is bad, I still think it will be found better than either of the others. Some letters are recd. from Mr Crawford, the most important of wh. are in cypher.1 They shall be forwarded without delay we have nothing from our comrs. Chauncey’s fate is unknown, & the Secry of the navy doubts, the accuracy of the acct., given in the papers of the action said to have taken place between him & Yeo.2 We hope that Mr Cutts’s child is better. With great respect & esteem I am sincerely yours
Jas Monroe
RC (DLC: Rives Collection, Madison Papers).
1. Monroe probably referred to William Harris Crawford’s letters to him of 15 Aug. (third letter), 25 Aug., and 3 Sept. 1813. The encoded letters of 15 Aug. and 3 Sept. discussed Crawford’s correspondence with the duc de Bassano, the proposed commercial treaty with France, the European war, and the conduct of David Bailie Warden (DNA: RG 59, DD, France).
2. On 6 Oct. 1813, under the headline “TREMENDOUS BATTLE ON LAKE ONTARIO,” the Daily National Intelligencer published an extract of a letter to William Jones reporting an encounter between the U.S. and British fleets on 28 Sept. 1813 that “must … have been decisive,” and that the Americans had presumably won. The action was witnessed from such a great distance, however, that its outcome could not be definitively discerned. In a postscript, the writer relayed reports, also unconfirmed, of dismasting and boarding during the battle.