From The Writings Of James Madison

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Joseph H. Nicholson Presided

"Early in 1812 the advocates of war determined on a public expression of their opinions, and on May 16 a called meeting was held at the Fountain Inn in Baltimore City...

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...by supporters of President Madison's administration, over which Joseph H. Nicholson presided. In the course of an address he said: ' No one can be insensible to the great crisis to which the affairs of our country are rapidly approaching."' [Source]

The Diplomatic Policy Of Mr. Madison Unveiled

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"The Political History of Mr. Madison will be first and briefly discussed m order to shew us what we had a right to expect of him and to prove that hatred to Great Britain and attachment to French politics were deeply root d in his own character totally independent of his connection with Mr. Jefferson."

James Madison Letter Of August 23rd

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Letter From Auction House Brochure

Thoughts Of War Compared To 1940

Napoleon

Excerpts from a book published Christmas, 1940 [before a "date that will live in infamy" and the Declaration Of War by the United States]:


"Across the sea, even as in 1940, a world-shaking conflict was going on. Although America desired to have no part in it, our national rights and our peaceful commerce were assailed with fine impartiality by both warring nations."

"...it was reserved for his [Jefferson's] political heir, President Madison, to pilot the country through a three-year war."

"...we declared war in 1812 upon the greatest military power in the world. If Denmark in the spring of 1940 had declared war upon Germany and confidently anticipated romping into Berlin in a few weeks' time, the exhibition of national folly suggested would have been scarcely more astounding." 

"As it turned out, such factors as our distance from Europe and the preoccupation of Great Britain with the Napoleonic struggle preserved America from the national defeat and dismemberment we had so rashly invited. Saved by a hairsbreadth from such a fate...".

By Order Of The President?

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Taken from Opinions of attorneys general..., the Opinion of 25 January 1821:

After the opinion I had the honor to express to you in the case of General Armstrong on the 25th January last, there can remain no question of law in the case; the only question which can remain is one of fact, to wit: "Was the General's excursion to Canada by the direction or order of the President?"

Major George Peter

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He [George Peter] was the youngest son of Robert Peter. He was born in George Town on the 28th of September, 1779. When only fifteen years old he joined the Maryland troops against the Whisky Insurrectionists (1794), but his parents sent a messenger to camp and General Washington, hearing of the matter, ordered him home.

At the beginning of the War of 1812, President Madison tendered him a brigadier-generalship, which the condition of private affairs compelled him to decline, but in 1813 he volunteered his services and commanded a battalion of "Flying Artillery."

Among the privates in this battalion were George Peabody and Francis Scott Key... .

Major Peter was one of the largest landowners and farmers in Montgomery County and carried on those farms up to the date of his death, which occurred at Montanvert, near Darnestown, June 22, 1861. He was nearly eighty-two.

Mr. Madison's War

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None of the 39 Federalists in Congress voted in favor of the war; critics of war subsequently referred to it as "Mr. Madison's War."

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James Madison's Address To Congress And The Declaration Of War

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James Madison was President of the United States when war was declared.


From the Montpelier Organization:

When James Madison addressed his war message to Congress on June 1, 1812, he listed “a series of acts hostile to the United States as an independent and neutral nation.”

Madison concluded by reminding Congress that under the Constitution, it was their decision to declare war. After a 79-49 vote in favor of war in the House of Representatives and a 19-13 vote in the Senate, war was declared against Great Britain on June 18.

See Mr. Madison's War.

Quids And The Triangular War

A (pre-war) letter from Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, May 30, 1812, included in The James Madison Papers, mentioned the following:

Source  Library Of Congress Online Site

"The triangular war must be the idea of the Anglomen, and malcontents, in other words, the federalists and quids."

"Quids" -- dissident Republicans who did not follow Madison's lead

See an earlier post, Consideration Of A Triangular War.

Court Martial Of Vindictiveness?

Such was the claim of the officer who was the subject of said court martial, General James Wilkinson.

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General Wilkinson's take on the reason for his court martial taken from his Memoirs of my own times, Volume 3, by James Wilkinson, Printed 1816:

"I [General James Wilkinson] had been arrested by President Madison, to gratify the personal policy, and vindictive passions, of his secretary of war, General Armstrong; but when I demanded Generals Scott and Macomb, as material witnesses in the cause, they were refused under pretexts of public duty..." .

A relevant document (from Fold3), "War Department, May 23, 1814," to General Wilkinson from Secretary of War Armstrong:

A list of witnesses from the same file:

Mr. Rogers Who Was A British Soldier

Among the Letters Received By the Adjutant General, 1805 - 1821, was a letter to Secretary of War Henry Dearborn from William Rogers (and also one to President James Madison), who had served in the British military, and wanted an appointment in the U.S. Military in 1811.  His siblings lived in the United States and he had married a Quaker woman.

Harrisburgh, Pennsylvania  30 April 1811

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"Being in London in 1797 I entered into the British Military Service in a Battalion of Infantry...".

Difficulty In Reducing The Debt

Albert Gallatin Statue

From the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission:

Once in office, he [Albert Gallatin] vigorously attacked the public debt, and through careful management of the country's finances he was able to reduce the debt materially until the War of 1812 made this policy impossible.

After 1811, it became increasingly unpleasant for him to remain as secretary of the treasury. It was with a feeling of great relief that in May, 1813, at the request of President Madison, he went to Russia to study the details of a Russian offer to mediate Anglo-American differences. He stayed in Russia several months, but nothing came of the Russian offer. In 1814, he was one of the five American commissioners who negotiated the Treaty of Ghent which ended the war. It was now that he was officially replaced as secretary of the treasury.

Whale's Valor

Presented by J. Madison, President, of the U.S.
To Whale
The Reward of Signal Valor of Heroism
At the Battle of the Horseshoe  
March, 1814

James Madison, The Early Years

Born in Virginia and educated in New Jersey....more from the History of the life, administration and times of James Madison...

Political Dynamite

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From the Star-Tribune (May 2012):

"Two hundred years ago (2012), President Madison dealt with what in our time might be dubbed 'Henry-gate.' He and James Monroe, were being accused of manipulating intelligence, as rumors of war roiled Washington."'

"With Secretary of State James Monroe, Madison learned that the Comte de Crillon and Capt. Henry possessed diplomatic dynamite."

Did he [Henry] start the war blog post as well as a post entitled Henry's Secret Pre-War Mission.

Excerpted from this site:

Count Edward de Crillon*...had met John Henry in London society. When he appeared on the Boston packet, a friendship arose between these two men so hardly treated by fortune. ...Crillon gave himself much concern in the affair, urging Henry to have no more to do with an ungrateful [British] government, but to obtain from the United States the money that England refused. The count offered to act as negotiator...to approach the Secretary of State.

*de Crillon was a fraud

A description of the imposter from this source:

"Crillon had hardly left the shores of America when a dispatch arrived in Washington... . To the chagrin of Madison and Monroe he [Barlow] announced that there was no Duc de Crillon... . Count Edouard de Crillon was an impostor. The only thing about him that was real was the $50,000 of government money he had in his pocket!"

Madison's Perpetual War

Perpetual War... (published in 1813):

"Then James Madison, a second time President, adopted a remedy for the wrongs of our seamen, infinitely more injurious to them than the evils which they suffered...he ordered out the militia, in contempt of that very Constitution of which he was one of the principal framers.  In short, whatever he attempted to vindicate by arms, by arms he lost."

Leaving the Army during Mr. Madison's War

Information from an article from the NARA entitled Leaving the Army during Mr. Madison's War:  Certificates of Discharge for the War of 1812:

"Because they remained in private hands, carefully preserved (or not) by the soldier or his heirs, discharge certificates are usually difficult to locate and are seldom available for public research. One notable exception, however, is a small series of extant discharge certificates and other records relating to more than 2,200 Regular Army soldiers from 1792 to 1815." 

"The discharge records have been reproduced as National Archives Microfilm Publication M1856*...".

*See PDF file (excerpted below - my links included)

A possibility for my William Hinds?  He was in the Artillery.:
Hines [?], John 1813 Lists of Sick Men (Light Artillery, Capt. Thornton’s Co., 1813)

2ND ARTILLERY

Capt. Spotwood Henry’s Co.

Jesse L. Morton.

The Erskine (Non) Agreement

From the History of the U.S. State Department government site:

"[Secretary of State Robert] Smith’s major diplomatic mission to improve relations with Great Britain proved a failure. Advised by Madison, Smith entered negotiations with David M. Erskine, the British Minister at Washington. The two intended to stabilize relations between the United States and Britain by restoring neutral trading rights during the Napoleonic War."
"Unfortunately Erskine overstretched his authority, offering too many concessions, and failed to convey British Foreign Minister George Canning’s central requirement for an agreement: that the United States agree not to trade with the French for the duration of Britain’s war with France. This omission doomed the 1809 Smith-Erskine Agreement... ."
"Frustration over the agreement’s failure helped to propel the two countries into the War of 1812."

Commentary concerning Erskine's endeavors:

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David Erskine was also mentioned here. 

Consideration Of A Triangular War

For my first foray into the substance of  The War of 1812 book, a valuable nugget of information was discovered.

As pre-war tensions were rising, President Madison faced a dilemma of great magnitude.  Since Great Britain AND France were "hostile to neutral shipping," how would the United States justify war against the British and ignore France's transgressions?  Would it be a "triangular war?"  Madison consulted with Thomas Jefferson (on May 25th); Jefferson's response (of May 30, 1812) was included in the book.

The correspondence between the Madison and Jefferson bespoke of a complicated relationship between the U.S. and France.