Part 246

No. 3.

Instructions from Gen. Wilkinson to Thomas Power.

To proceed to Galliopolis: to make application and propositions to the leading characters there to induce them to move to New Madrid, with all the French of that settlement; to urge this point in such measure as to attract the attention of the public officers there, whose report to the Executive will immediately follow, and will account for his frequent missions to that place: to return as rapidly as possible; to load with flour and proceed without a moment’s delay to New Orleans; in the route to see Newman, and to enter on the subject of his desertion; to inform him of the facts which have transpired, and the opinions prevalent; to urge his return, as the request of all his friends; to assure him of safety, and of such reward as he may demand; also that being pardoned for the imputed offence, no further process can lie against him for the same; that the oath which he was suborned to take, being made while in duress, is in itself a nullity, and cannot be offered in crimation of him; it will be necessary that he should take down his examination, founded on the interrogations furnished him; and if they prove material to the crimination of Wane and his associates, then he must embark N----n under a fictitious name at New Orleans for Philadelphia; and having arrived there, must lodge him in some retired place, and call upon me, under cover of the night, for further advice. You will hear of me at ----. If N----n cannot be prevailed upon to return under dispositions favorable to my views, then let his declaration on oath be circumstantially taken to all the points enumerated in the interrogations, in the presence of Dr. Flowers, Colonel Bruin, Daniel Clark, or any three or four of the most notorious, and of the most respectable Americans of the Natchez district. Let these gentlemen certify to two copies, and to the original, and let them be transmitted to me through different channels. P. to take charge of the original. Mr. P. must take with him credentials from the Government of Louisiana, acquitting him of any political connection or agency injurious or hostile to the interests of the United States. He must carry to Philadelphia testimonials of his family and character, addressed to as many of the native respectable merchants of that city as possible: these may be readily procured from New Orleans and the Havana.

It is indispensable that P. should meet me in Philadelphia; for the rest let him rely on my friendship and address. To collect from Bradford every information respecting the Pittsburg insurrection, which may be employed, should it be found necessary, to disgrace certain persons: to bear no paper about him which carries my name upon it.

No. 4.

Employ the six hundred and forty dollars, avec le cargaison, to pay expenses and lay in a cargo of best flour pour la ville, where it will help to reimburse. In making your settlement, take care to secure me the six hundred and forty dollars advanced, and bring them with you. I have urged peremptorily the necessity of your presence at the metropolis. Bring me N----n, if, upon examination, you find his presence of more consequence than his deposition, when taken as directed. I believe he was caused to desert by O’Hara: probe him to that point. You are to bring me papers, but my name is not to be written or spoken. You must do the needful below to detect and expose past treachery or indiscretion, and to prevent either in future. I have referred particularly on this head. I shall expect you impatiently. Should I continue where I am I shall wish you near me. If I cross the water, you are to accompany: bring every credential of family and fortune to repulse the insinuations of ----. Trust something to my address, and put faith in my honor and affections to the grave.

No. 5.

Letter from Thomas Power to the Baron de Carondelet, dated

NEW ORLEANS, May 9, 1797.

Enclosed your Excellency will receive the documents relative to my last confidential expedition, made by your Excellency’s order, on the Ohio, of which I have already given you a narrative, as well verbal as in writing. The remarks which follow will serve for its elucidation.

I left New Madrid with ten oarsmen and a patron; the provisions which were delivered to the crew were, biscuit for a month; meat for a month; rum for fifteen days.

To disguise, as far as possible, the true object of the expedition, we had hired the people under the same conditions as are common in commercial voyages, so that the monthly rations allowed by the King did not even last fifteen days. The reason why I issued to the crew two extraordinary allowances of liquor daily, counting from the day we left Red Bank until our arrival at the falls of Ohio, was to encourage them to row with vigor, that Lieutenant Steel, whom I thought in pursuit of me, might not again take me, because, had I fallen into his hands a second time, I was lost. As respects the one hundred and fifty dollars, for the horse which I bought to make the journey from Frankfort to Cincinnati, and the expenses which accrued on this journey, they were indispensable for a double motive: to carry my complaint against Steel, for having offered so great an insult to our flag, and to give advice of my arrival to the American General, Mr. James Wilkinson, that he might take the necessary measures. I have to add that, the motive which has induced me to dispose of the merchandise which I received of J. and A. Hunt, in exchange for the coffee and sugar, was to give credit to the opinion which I myself had raised, that I had come to purchase horses to take to Natchez, in order to better the breed in that district. Besides this, as the occurrence with Steel had awakened suspicions, excited apprehensions, and attracted the attention of the inhabitants of the Western country, all had their eyes directed on me, so that I found myself obliged to do something which should please them, that it might serve me as a safe conduct to quit those parts, which by the this means I happily effected. The mare, of which statement No. 1 makes mention, was lost on my arrival at New Madrid in the woods, where she died of thirst, the excessive frosts having entirely frozen up the waters. The stud-horse I delivered on going down to Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, but he returned him to me a short time since, and I have him carefully kept until your Excellency is pleased to make some disposition respecting him. Of the sum of $9,640, which I was to deliver to Mr. James Wilkinson, I have only delivered him nine thousand, having retained the six hundred and forty dollars to avoid the unfortunate result with which I was threatened, and likewise to provide what was necessary for the crew during the voyage. The following are the documents which are enclosed:

No. 1. The account sale of the merchandise, laden, &c.

No. 2. Account of the expenses for the crew.

No. 3. Account and expenditure of the six hundred and forty dollars.

No. 4. Statement which shows in what manner the merchandise has been made use of.

No. 5. Statement which shows what is due to me.

No. 6. Invoice of J. and A. Hunt.

All which are accompanied with the obligation of Mr. N. Welch for one hundred and five dollars, and the two receipts of Mr. Boyd, the one for four hundred and sixty-six dollars and two-thirds, for the value of a horse; the other for two hundred dollars, for the value of a mare. The balance which appears in my favor, according to the statements Nos. 3 and 4, as well as the account of my monthly pay for fourteen months, I beg your Excellency will be pleased to direct that it should be remitted to me, or delivered to Mr. Philip Nolan, to whom I have given advice on the subject.

Mr. James Wilkinson, in the instructions which he has given me, directs that I should present to your Excellency the account of the expenses to which the six hundred and forty dollars have been applied, (and I have done so in the statement No. 3,) that he may be reimbursed said amount. The instruction says, “in making your settlement take care to secure me the six hundred and forty dollars advanced, and bring them with you.” Although he charged me to take them to him to the United States, I am of opinion that no one is better suited to remit them than Mr. Philip Nolan, as your Excellency has now resolved that I should remain in this province; your Excellency will please to suffer me to assure you that in every particular I have acted with prudence, with honor, and the disinterestedness of an honest man, as well as with the zeal and fidelity which the King’s service requires, and with the vigilance and activity, [here there is a line unintelligible.] I deserve nothing and expect nothing for having fulfilled the obligations of a good subject to His Majesty, unless your Excellency will be pleased to procure me opportunities of displaying the inclination I feel of sacrificing myself for the prosperity of my country and glory of my Sovereign.

God preserve your Excellency many years.

THOMAS POWER.

No. 6.

Answer to the foregoing, dated

NEW ORLEANS, May 28, 1797.

There remain in my hands the six documents relative to the account of the last expedition which you made on the Ohio, and which you enclosed to me in your official letter of the 9th instant, and they are as follows:

No. 1. Account sales of the effects laden at New Madrid.

No. 2. Another of the expenses of the crew.