To James Madison from James Monroe, [ca. 1 November 1813]
From James Monroe
[ca. 1 November 1813]
The enclosed were receivd by the northern mail, by which I also recd. a letter from mr Crawford, of the 4th of Sepr. in cypher.1 As the communications are from France as well as Engld., I conclude they are brought, by Mrs Barlow, which is made more probable by a letter addressd to mr Serurier from the French consul at Boston sent by him to me open, which states, that intelligence is recd. by the vessel which brought her that the French Emperor had gaind a decisive battle over his enemies in which he had taken 20.000 prisoners, & 50 cannon, and that general moreau was kill’d.2 I will have the letter from mr Crawford decypherd as soon as possible. There is much from Lee and warden which I have not read but will lay before you with mr Crawfords letter.
RC (DLC: Rives Collection, Madison Papers). Undated; dated 1813 in the Index to the James Madison Papers; conjectural date assigned here based on evidence in n. 2. Enclosures not found.
1. Monroe probably referred to William Harris Crawford’s letter to him of 3 Sept. 1813, in which Crawford reported on the European war, prize cases involving U.S. ships, and David Bailie Warden’s attempts to vindicate his conduct as U.S. consul at Paris (DNA: RG 59, DD, France).
2. On 25 Oct. 1813 Ruth Barlow, the widow of Joel Barlow, arrived in Boston from France on the cartel ship Erie (Boston Columbian Centinel, 27 Oct. 1813). London newspapers brought to Boston by the Erie reported Jean-Victor Moreau’s death from wounds received in the Battle of Dresden, and the Daily National Intelligencer reprinted the news on 1 Nov. 1813.