To James Madison from William C. C. Claiborne, 13 January 1806 (Abstract)
From William C. C. Claiborne, 13 January 1806 (Abstract)
§ From William C. C. Claiborne. 13 January 1806, New Orleans. “The enclosure No. 11 is the translation of a letter from Mr. Morales to me, and that, No. 2,2 of my answer. You will perceive my determination not to be drawn into a discussion.
“I have the pleasure to inform you that the most perfect order at present prevails, and I have no doubt but I shall be able to preserve it.
“The regular troops in this City do not exceed two hundred eighty including officers and of these about sixty are sick in the hospital and quarters. Colonel Freeman notwithstanding is about to detach one full Company to Fort Adams by a special order of General Wilkinson. I have expressed a wish that a compliance with the order should for the present be suspended but Col. Freeman conceives orders of the General binding on him and the company is to move in 2 or 3 days.”
RC and enclosures (DNA: RG 59, TP, Orleans, vol. 8). RC 1 p.; in a clerk’s hand, signed by Claiborne; docketed by Wagner. Italicized words are those encoded by Claiborne in a State Department code to which the key has not been found. Copy-text is the interlinear decoding by a State Department clerk. For enclosures, see nn.
1. The enclosure (3 pp.; docketed by Wagner; printed in , Orleans, 9:564–66) is a translation of Juan Ventura Morales to Claiborne, 11 Jan. 1806, acknowledging Claiborne’s letter of the same day; stating that had he not met with some difficulty, now overcome, he should have departed with his dependents “some days since”; adding that if the ships coming for him had not already arrived they soon would. He stated that the order, in addition to being inhospitable, infringed Spain’s right to have its agents remain in the territory until all its affairs of interest were terminated, referring Claiborne to his earlier letter explaining this. He said that Antonio Morales, former treasurer of the Spanish customhouse, had been appointed commissioner to collect outstanding debts due Spain and asked if he had to leave also, in which case Juan Ventura Morales protested against the loss this would cause Spain. He then requested the date of Jefferson’s order so he could inform his court.
2. The enclosure (2 pp.; in Claiborne’s hand; docketed by Wagner; printed in , 3:240) is a copy of Claiborne to Morales, 12 Jan. 1806, stating that he could not deviate from his orders from the president as received; that if Charles IV wanted an agent at New Orleans, he would have to apply to Jefferson through Yrujo; and that JM’s letter to him conveying the order was dated 18 Nov. 1805.