Day-by-Day / February 8, 1803

February 8, 1803

Stopping unauthorized forces

President Thomas Jefferson recommends to James Madison that any unauthorized groups intent on opening the port of New Orleans by force be stopped and its organizers arrested. The peaceful solution would be the Louisiana Purchase.

Fort Massac

Early american log fort with a view over the Ohio River

By Wikimedia user, Smallbones, who has released it to the public domain.

Fort Massac, located at present-day Metropolis, Illinois provided a complete view of the Ohio River just above its confluence with the Mississippi. At right in the above photograph is a statue of William Clark‘s famous brother, George Rogers Clark. The Lewis and Clark Expedition would arrive at the fort on 11 November 1803.

Thomas Jefferson to James Madison

In response to reports of Kentucky citizens organizing an attack on New Orleans, President Jefferson makes this suggestion:

Feb. 8. 1803.

Th: J. to J. M.

I had before heard this matter spoken of, but did not suppose it seriously intended. If there be any danger of it, the Secretary at war shall be desired to give orders at Màssac̀ & Fort Adams to stop them by force. But would it not be well to write to the Govr. of Kentucky to have the perso[ns] arrested & bound to their good behavior or the peace?[1]Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-04-02-0372 accessed 22 May 2022. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, … Continue reading

Spanish Minister to the United States, Carlos Martínez de Yrujo had previously warned Secretary of State James Madison of the unauthorized threats to his country’s territory (see February 5, 1803). On 18 and 19 February, orders were sent to the commanding officers of the western forts to stop any such forces heading towards New Orleans. In 1803, the posts affected were Fort Fayette at Pittsburgh, Fort Massac at the mouth of the Ohio, Chickasaw Bluffs at present-day Memphis, and Fort Adams forty miles south of Natchez, Mississippi.[2]Ibid.

One organizer for a private military action to open the port of New Orleans, Francis Flournoy, was charged with violating the Logan Act, one of only two times the law prohibiting unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign nations was ever applied. For that story, see March 22, 1803.

 

Notes

Notes
↑1 Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-04-02-0372 accessed 22 May 2022. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Secretary of State Series, vol. 4, 8 October 1802–15 May 1803, ed. Mary A. Hackett, J. C. A. Stagg, Jeanne Kerr Cross, Susan Holbrook Perdue, and Ellen J. Barber. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, p. 308.]
↑2 Ibid.

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Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).