To James Madison from Fulwar Skipwith, 30 March 1807
From Fulwar Skipwith
Paris. March. 30. 1807
Sir
I have the honor to accompany this with copies of all the correspondence between Genl. Armstrong & myself, in relation to Prisoners, & to Prize Cases;1 this Correspondence I conceive may be useful in shewing the causes & circumstances which first induced the General to make certain appropriations of public money to those two objects; he, doubtless, has furnished you with his reasons for discontinuing any farther Supplies.
Though I do not consider that the business of Prisoners (with which, however, I have had some trouble & continue to have incessant applications) comes within the sphere of my public duties, yet motives of humanity, and my sense of the obligations of our Country to her Citizens thus Situated, induce me to state that a considerable portion of them, known to the British Government as Citizens of the U. S., are not allowed to participate of the bounty of that Government, who do make a certain allowance to their subjects Confined as prisoners of war in France, notwithstanding the principle adopted between those Powers, since the commencement of the present war, of each maintaining their own prisoners.
I shall very shortly furnish your Department with a statement, in supplement to the one forwarded under cover of my letter to you of the 21st. of Decr., of Prisoners in this Country claiming the protection of the U. S. I have the honor to be with great consideration sir Your Mo. Ob. Servt.
Fulwar Skipwith
RC and enclosures (DNA: RG 59, CD, Paris, vol. 2). RC docketed by Brent with his note: “Asks for Instructions concerning the advance of money, on account of Govt, towards the prosecution & management of prize Causes, and for the Relief of American Seamen; Prisoners of War in France.
“By a mem of Mr Wagner, it would appear that prize Cause expenses are not paid since those which related to the British order of Novr. 1793: and it would seem that the Prisoners of war, on satisfying the Commercial Agents that they are Citizens of the US. are entitled to relief, under the general Consular Instructions from this office.” For enclosures, see n. 1.
1. The enclosures (23 pp.; certified by Skipwith; docketed by Brent) are copies of 1) Skipwith to John Armstrong, 13 Dec. 1804, covering a letter from Joseph M. de La Grange, a prize court lawyer, who recommended to Skipwith thirty-five appeals cases for prosecution at an advance of 240 livres per case and requested that Armstrong provide those funds; 2) Skipwith to Armstrong, 2 Jan. 1805, responding to Armstrong’s agreement to advance the funds if Skipwith could show a U.S. precedent for it and informing Armstrong that funds had been provided to U.S. consuls in England to prosecute prize cases; 3) Skipwith to Armstrong, 24 Jan. 1805, relating the plight of Benjamin Merry, who claimed to be a U.S. sailor impressed into British service and subsequently captured by the French as a British prisoner of war, and requesting Armstrong’s intervention to procure Merry’s release; 4) Skipwith to Armstrong, 15 May 1805, relating the circumstances of U.S. citizens employed on British whaling vessels who had been taken captive by French forces and requesting Armstrong’s intervention to procure their release; 5) Skipwith to Armstrong, 18 June 1806, relating additional cases of U.S. citizens held captive by the French as British prisoners of war and requesting “succour” for them and reminding Armstrong of Merry’s case; 6) Skipwith to Armstrong, 24 June 1806, requesting that Armstrong release funds to provide for the relief of the crew of the shipwrecked U.S. brig Neptune; 7) David Bailie Warden to Skipwith, 27 June 1806, in which Warden, as Armstrong’s secretary, stated that Armstrong would send funds so that the crew of the Neptune could return to the United States; 8) Skipwith to Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, 24 July 1806 (in French), pleading the cases of eight U.S. citizens held by the French as British prisoners of war and requesting their release; 9) Skipwith to Armstrong, 24 Oct. 1807 [1806], acknowledging receipt of funds for U.S. citizens held by the French as British prisoners of war, advising that Skipwith awaited specific instructions about how to apply those funds, and enclosing his correspondence with Talleyrand on the subject; 10) Warden to Skipwith, 24 Oct. 1806, conveying a list of fourteen men who had sent satisfactory proof of their U.S. citizenship and, on Armstrong’s orders, asking Skipwith to provide those men with relief funds; 11) Skipwith to Armstrong, 29 Oct. 1806, confirming that Skipwith had conveyed 100 francs to each of the fourteen U.S. prisoners named by Warden and conveying receipts for Skipwith’s last quarter’s salary; 12) Skipwith to Armstrong, 29 Oct. 1806, regarding financial arrangements for the U.S. vessel Harmony (the entire letter was struck out); 13) Skipwith to Armstrong, 4 Dec. 1806 (see Skipwith to JM, 21 Dec. 1806 and n. 1); 14) Armstrong to Skipwith, 9 Dec. 1806 (see ibid. and n. 2); 15) Skipwith to Armstrong, 16 Feb. 1807, noting that fifty people had produced evidence of U.S. citizenship and received partial payments of support through Skipwith and requesting an additional 3,000 francs in relief funds because what he had was insufficient for their needs; 16) Armstrong to Skipwith, 20 Feb. 1807, stating that before Armstrong would approve additional funds, Skipwith had to send an accounting of how he had used the 6,000 francs provided to that point and an explanation of “the degree of evidence” used to determine each recipient’s citizenship; 17) Skipwith to Armstrong, 25 Feb. 1807, agreeing to send the requested accounting and explanation and communicating the decision to suspend all further advances except as specifically instructed by Armstrong; 18) Skipwith to Armstrong, 5 Mar. 1807, noting that sailors saved from the ship Canadian were British subjects; and 19) Skipwith to Armstrong, 29 Mar. 1807, sending accounts and statements of those who received relief funds as well as information about an outstanding demand for money resulting from a death claim.