James Wilkinson, born near the village of Benedict on the Patuxent,
Maryland, in 1757, began the study of medicine with an uncle, who,
having been a surgeon under Wolfe, told his pupil many anecdotes of the
war in Canada. The military bias of his mind was further strengthened
by what he saw during his frequent visits to the barracks, while
attending the medical school in Philadelphia. Although having returned
home to practise his profession, upon hearing the news concerning the
battle of Bunker Hill, he hastened to join the army under Washington
at Cambridge. Here he made the acquaintance of Benedict Arnold and
Aaron Burr, and being given a captain’s commission, joined the
former’s expedition into Canada. In July, 1776, he was appointed major
and attached to the staff of Gates, who sent him in December with
despatches to the commander-in-chief; this gave him the opportunity of
taking part in the battles of Trenton and Princeton.
In 1777, Wilkinson was advanced to the rank of colonel and afterward
adjutant-general, in which capacity he fought in the battles of
Bemis Heights, on the 19th of September, 1777, and of Saratoga, on
the 7th of October. Prior to the latter engagement, under cover of
the darkness, Col. John Hardin, of Kentucky, penetrated the British
lines, and gained an actual view of their strength and position.
Regaining the American camp and meeting Wilkinson, he confided to him
his discoveries, with the entreaty that he would immediately inform
General Gates. Wilkinson did so, suppressing Hardin’s name and making
_himself_ appear the hero of this midnight exploit. When Burgoyne
surrendered, therefore, Wilkinson was sent to bear the news to Congress
with a recommendation to make him brigadier-general. Stopping in
Reading for some time, he consumed eighteen days in making the journey,
and thus the news was a week old when he reached Philadelphia. A
proposal in Congress to present him with a sword was defeated by Dr.
Witherspoon dryly remarking, “I think ye’d better gie the lad a pair
of spurs!” Nevertheless, a few days later, those members who accounted
themselves personal friends and admirers of General Gates, carried
the motion to make Wilkinson a brigadier-general, by brevet, on the
6th of November, 1777, and soon after he was appointed secretary of
the Board of War, of which Gates was president. His delay in Reading,
however, was eventually of great service to the country, for, having
visited Lord Stirling’s headquarters at that place, he dined with the
officers. After Lord Stirling left the table, Wilkinson, in a moment
of post-prandial confidence, revealed to Major McWilliams, an aid to
Lord Stirling, the scheme at that time being set on foot by Mifflin and
Conway, to have Gates supersede Washington as commander-in-chief of
the army. McWilliams felt it his duty to report what he had heard to
Lord Stirling, who in his turn felt constrained to communicate the plot
to Washington. When this infamous conspiracy became known, forty-nine
officers of his own rank petitioned Congress to revoke Wilkinson’s
appointment as brigadier. Hearing this, Wilkinson wrote to Congress on
the 3d of March, 1778, that he was
“informed the mark of distinction conferred on him has occasioned
a dissatisfaction in the army,” that “to obviate any embarrassment
which may result from this disposition, by the consequent
resignation of officers of merit, he begs leave to relinquish his
brevet of brigadier, wishing to hold no commission unless he
can wear it to the honor and advantage of his country;” and that
“this conduct, however repugnant to fashionable ambition, he finds
consistent with those principles on which he early drew his sword
in the present contest.”
His resignation was accepted on the 6th of March, 1778; he was allowed
to retain his rank of colonel, but was not again actively employed
until near the close of the war, when for a time he filled the position
of clothier-general to the army. Settling in Lexington, Kentucky, in
1783, he found the Mississippi River closed to American commerce, and
Western produce rotting on the ground for want of transportation.
Seeing he could speedily make a fortune, could he but obtain from the
Spanish Government the exclusive right to trade with New Orleans, he
paved the way by presenting to the commandant at Natchez a pair of
Kentucky thoroughbred horses. Presently he loaded a boat with local
produce and sent it down the river. It was seized, but of course
released when he appeared as the owner. He now entered into formal
negotiations. Taking advantage of the dissatisfaction in the West
with the federal Government, because of its inability at that time to
protect them from the Indians, and to open the Mississippi for purposes
of transportation, Wilkinson covenanted, in return for a pension of
$2,000 per annum, and the exclusive right of trade with New Orleans,
to induce the Western States to separate from the Eastern, and place
themselves under the protection of the Spanish Government. This plot
had almost succeeded when it was discovered and defeated. Not finding
trading as remunerative as he had hoped, he applied in 1791 for
reinstatement in the army, and this request was granted by appointing
him lieutenant-colonel, because, as was urged in Congress, being of a
restless and intriguing disposition, “he was dangerous as long as he
was unemployed.” His conduct justified this estimate, for he rendered
such good service against the Indians that in 1792 he received the
appointment of brigadier-general; and upon the death of Wayne, in 1796,
he was given the supreme command on the Western frontier.
In 1805, Wilkinson was appointed Governor of Louisiana, when he
discovered and disclosed the conspiracy of Aaron Burr to establish a
separate confederacy beyond the Alleghanies. Burr and Andrew Jackson
declaring Wilkinson to be implicated, he was tried by court-martial
in 1811, but acquitted because of insufficient proof, though his
correspondence with the Spanish Government, since made public,
establishes his guilt. He was advanced to the rank of major-general in
1813, and employed in the North; but his operations were unsuccessful,
owing to a disagreement with Wade Hampton. A court of inquiry in 1815
exonerated him, however; but upon the reorganizing of the army, he
was not retained in the service, and retired to Mexico, where he had
acquired large estates. He died in the vicinity of the capital on the
28th of December, 1825.