James Madison Papers

From James Madison to John Armstrong, 2 July 1814

To John Armstrong

July 2. 1814

To the Scy. of War

In analogy to the arrangement yesterday decided on in reference to this City & Baltimore1 and with a view to a systematic provision agst. invading armaments, the Secretary of war will digest & report to the President, corresponding precautionary means of defence, in reference to the other more important and exposed places along the Atlantic Frontier; particularly Boston, New York, Wilmington Norfolk, Charlestown, Savanna, and N. Orleans. In addition to the distribution at suitable Depôts, of arms & other necessaries, the Secretary will report, a circular communication to the Governors of the several States, calculated to obtain from them convenient designations of adequate portions of their Militia, with every other arrangement depending on the State Executives for having them in the best readiness for actual service in cases of emergency.2

J.M.

FC (DLC); Tr (DLC, series 3).

1. See Memorandum on Defense of the City of Washington, 1 July 1814.

2. The circular letter sent by Armstrong to the governors of the Atlantic coast states and Louisiana, dated 4 July 1814, but filed at 10 July in the War Department letterbook, informed each governor of his state’s quota of a total of 93,500 men to be raised, and requested reports after the additional forces had been organized (DNA: RG 107, LSMA; printed in ASP description begins American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States … (38 vols.; Washington, 1832–61). description ends , Military Affairs, 1:549).

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    Source Project
    Madison Papers
    Title
    From James Madison to John Armstrong, 2 July 1814
    Author
    Madison, James
    Recipient
    Armstrong, John
    Date
    2 July 1814

    Reference

    Cite as
    “From James Madison to John Armstrong, 2 July 1814,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/03-08-02-0006. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Presidential Series, vol. 8, July 1814–18 February 1815 and supplement December 1779–18 April 1814, ed. Angela Kreider, J. C. A. Stagg, Mary Parke Johnson, Anne Mandeville Colony, and Katherine E. Harbury. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2015, pp. 5–6.]

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