To James Madison from DeWitt Clinton, 22 January 1807
From DeWitt Clinton
Newyork 22 Jany. 1807
Sir
I had the honor of receiving your letter of the 14th. January. Enclosed is a copy of my letter to Mr Monroe which will supersede a more particular answer to your communication.1
I think it will be best to send two of the most intelligent pilots and one or more of the men belonging to the Revenue Cutter besides such Masters of vessels as witnessed the transaction. The Revenue Cutter was near the scene of action.
Capt. Manning cleared in the Schooner Columbia on the 20th. Septr. for Algeziras and is now at Cadiz: Capt. Pemberton is on a voyage to St. Domingo and may be expected daily. The testimony which Capt. Fairchild can give is contained in a memorandum enclosed.2 If you conceive his testimony of great importance, Mr Monroe can obtain his attendance from Bourdeaux where he has now gone on a voyage, and where he will in all probability continue during the whole month of March and part of April.
I set out to morrow for Albany and have requested the Collector to attend to the sending on of the Witnesses aided by the advice of the District Attorney. The Pilots I have selected to send to England can fully establish the three points stated in my letter to Mr Monroe.
FC and enclosure (NNC-RB: DeWitt Clinton Papers). For surviving enclosure, see n. 1.
1. The enclosure is a copy of Clinton to James Monroe, 22 Jan. 1807 (4 pp.), in which Clinton, following the instructions contained in a 14 January letter from JM, sent Monroe a 30 April 1806 letter that Clinton received from Capt. Henry Whitby. Clinton hoped that the letter would prove by Whitby’s “own confession that he had given orders to board every thing in order to collect such information from the coasting vessels as they might be possessed of.” Clinton also reported that witnesses would be sent to England to “substantiate” evidence in Whitby’s 1 March trial and expressed the Jefferson administration’s desire that the trial be postponed if the witnesses did not arrive on time. The witnesses would establish that the vessels under Whitby’s command were within three miles of the shoreline and fired at all vessels that entered the New York port, which were even closer to the shore. In his 22 January letter to Monroe, Clinton also enclosed a copy of his 1 May 1806 reply to Whitby. Clinton told Monroe that Whitby had tried to “palliate” his actions by claiming that Americans had seized provisions headed for his squadron, that vessels had sailed out of New York to recapture his prizes, and that U.S. authorities had detained some of his officers and tried to “seduce” troops from British service. Clinton observed that all of those events occurred after the attack by the Leander and offered explanations to refute Whitby’s charges.
2. Enclosure not found.