measures you have lately adopted for taking possession of East Florida,
I add with pleasure that the utmost confidence is reposed in your
integrity and zeal to promote the welfare of your country. To that zeal
the error into which you have fallen is imputed. But in consideration of
the part which you have taken, which differs so essentially from that
contemplated and authorized by the Government, and contradicts so
entirely the principles on which it has uniformly and sincerely acted,
you will be sensible of the necessity of discontinuing the service in
which you have been employed.
You will therefore consider your powers as revoked on the receipt of
this letter. The new duties to be performed will be transferred to the
governor of Georgia, to whom instructions will be given on all the
circumstances to which it may be proper at the present juncture to call
his attention.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, sir, your obedient servant,
JAMES MONROE.
_The Secretary of State to His Excellency D.B. Mitchell, the
governor of Georgia_.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, _April 10, 1812_.
SIR: The President is desirous of availing the public of your services
in a concern of much delicacy and of high importance to the United
States. Circumstances with which you are in some degree acquainted, but
which will be fully explained by the inclosed papers, have made it
necessary to revoke the powers heretofore committed to General Matthews
and to commit them to you. The President is persuaded that you will not
hesitate to undertake a trust so important to the nation, and peculiarly
to the State of Georgia. He is the more confident in this belief from
the consideration that these new duties may be discharged without
interfering, as he presumes, with those of the station which you now
hold.
By the act of the 15th of January, 1811, you will observe that it was
not contemplated to take possession of East Florida or any part thereof,
unless it should be surrendered to the United States amicably by the
governor or other local authority of the Province, or against an attempt
to take possession of it by a foreign power, and you will also see that
General Matthews's instructions, of which a copy is likewise inclosed,
correspond fully with the law.
By the documents in possession of the Government it appears that neither
of these contingencies have happened; that instead of an amicable
surrender by the governor or other local authority the troops of the
United States have been used to dispossess the Spanish authority by
force. I forbear to dwell on the details of this transaction because it
is painful to recite them. By the letter to General Matthews which is
inclosed, open for your perusal, you will fully comprehend the views of
the Government respecting the late transaction, and by the law, the
former instructions to the General, and the late letter now forwarded
you will be made acquainted with the course of conduct which it is
expected of you to pursue in future in discharging the duties heretofore
enjoined on him.
It is the desire of the President that you should turn your attention
and direct your efforts in the first instance to the restoration of that
state of things in the Province which existed before the late
transactions. The Executive considers it proper to restore back to the
Spanish authorities Amelia Island and such other parts, if any, of East
Florida as may have thus been taken from them. With this view it will be
necessary for you to communicate _directly_ with the governor or
principal officer of Spain in that Province, and to act in harmony with
him in the attainment of it. It is presumed that the arrangement will be
easily and amicably made between you. I inclose you an order from the
Secretary of War to the commander of the troops of the United States to
evacuate the country when requested so to do by you, and to pay the same
respect in future to your order in fulfilling the duties enjoined by the
law that he had been instructed to do to that of General Matthews.
In restoring to the Spanish authorities Amelia Island and such other
parts of East Florida as may have been taken possession of in the name
of the United States there is another object to which your particular
attention will be due. In the measures lately adopted by General
Matthews to take possession of that Territory it is probable that much
reliance has been placed by the people who acted in it on the
countenance and support of the United States. It will be improper to
expose these people to the resentment of the Spanish authorities. It is
not to be presumed that those authorities in regaining possession of the
Territory in this amicable mode from the United States will be disposed
to indulge any such feeling toward them. You will, however, come to a
full understanding with the Spanish governor on this subject, and not
fail to obtain from him the most explicit and satisfactory assurance
respecting it. Of this assurance you will duly apprise the parties
interested, and of the confidence which you repose in it. It is hoped
that on this delicate and very interesting point the Spanish governor
will avail himself of the opportunity it presents to evince the friendly
disposition of his Government toward the United States.
There is one other remaining circumstance only to which I wish to call
your attention, and that relates to General Matthews himself. His
gallant and meritorious services in our Revolution and patriotic conduct
since have always been held in high estimation by the Government. His
errors in this instance are imputed altogether to his zeal to promote
the welfare of his country; but they are of a nature to impose on the
Government the necessity of the measures now taken, in giving effect to
which you will doubtless feel a disposition to consult, as far as may
be, his personal sensibility.
I have the honor to be, etc.,
JAMES MONROE.
P.S.--Should you find it impracticable to execute the duties designated
above in person, the President requests that you will be so good as to
employ some very respectable character to represent you in it, to whom
you are authorized to allow a similar compensation. It is hoped,
however, that you may be able to attend to it in person, for reasons
which I need not enter into. The expenses to which you may be exposed
will be promptly paid to your draft on this Department.
_The Secretary of State to D.B. Mitchell, esq., governor of Georgia_.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, _May 27, 1812_.
SIR: I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 2d instant from
St. Marys, where you had arrived in discharge of the trust reposed in
you by the President, in relation to East Florida.
My letter by Mr. Isaacs has, I presume, substantially answered the most
important of the queries submitted in your letter, but I will give to
each a more distinct answer.
By the law of which a copy was forwarded to you it is made the duty of
the President to prevent the occupation of East Florida by any foreign
power. It follows that you are authorized to consider the entrance, or
attempt to enter, especially under existing circumstances, of British
troops of any description as the case contemplated by the law, and to
use the proper means to defeat it.
An instruction will be immediately forwarded to the commander of the
naval force of the United States in the neighborhood of East Florida to
give you any assistance, in case of emergency, which you may think
necessary and require.
It is not expected, if you find it proper to withdraw the troops, that
you should interfere to compel the patriots to surrender the country or
any part of it to the Spanish authorities. The United States are
responsible for their own conduct only; not for that of the inhabitants
of East Florida. Indeed, in consequence of the compromitment of the
United States to the inhabitants, you have been already instructed not
to withdraw the troops, unless you find that it may be done consistently
with their safety, and to report to the Government the result of your
conferences with the Spanish authorities, with your opinion of their
views, holding in the meantime the ground occupied.
In the present state of our affairs with Great Britain the course above
pointed out is the more justifiable and proper.
I have the honor, etc.,
JAMES MONROE.
JULY 6, 1812.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate copies and extracts of documents in the
archives of the Department of State falling within the purview of their
resolution of the 4th instant, on the subject of British impressments
from American vessels. The information, though voluminous, might have
been enlarged with more time for research and preparation. In some
instances it might at the same time have been abridged but for the
difficulty of separating the matter extraneous to the immediate object
of the resolution.
JAMES MADISON.
VETO MESSAGE.
APRIL 3, 1812.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
Having examined and considered the bill entitled "An act providing for
the trial of causes pending in the respective district courts of the
United States, in case of the absence or disability of the judges
thereof," which bill was presented to me on the 25th of March past, I
now return the same to the House of Representatives, in which it
originated, with the following objections:
Because the additional services imposed by the bill on the justices of
the Supreme Court of the United States are to be performed by them
rather in the quality of other judges of other courts, namely, judges of
the district courts, than in the quality of justices of the Supreme
Court. They are to hold the said district courts, and to do and perform
all acts relating to the said courts which are by law required of the
district judges. The bill therefore virtually appoints, for the time,
the justices of the Supreme Court to other distinct offices to which, if
compatible with their original offices, they ought to be appointed by
another than the legislative authority, in pursuance of legislative
provisions authorizing the appointments.
Because the appeal allowed by law for the decision of the district
courts to the circuit courts, whilst it corroborates the construction
which regards a judge of one court as clothed with a new office, by
being constituted a judge of the other, submits for correction erroneous
judgments, not to superior or other judges, but to the erring individual
himself, acting as sole judge in the appellate court.
Because the additional services to be required may, by distances of
place and by the casualties contemplated by the bill, become
disproportionate to the strength and health of the justices who are to
perform them, the additional services being, moreover, entitled to no
additional compensation, nor the additional expenses incurred to
reimbursement. In this view the bill appears to be contrary to equity,
as well as a precedent for modifications and extensions of judicial
services encroaching on the constitutional tenure of judicial offices.
Because, by referring to the President of the United States questions of
disability in the district judges and of the unreasonableness of
delaying the suits or causes pending in the district courts, and leaving
it with him in such causes to require the justices of the Supreme Court
to perform additional services, the bill introduces an unsuitable
relation of members of the judiciary department to a discretionary
authority of the executive department.
JAMES MADISON
PROCLAMATIONS.
[From Niles's Weekly Register, vol. 1, p. 448.]
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas information has been received that a number of individuals who
have deserted from the Army of the United States have become sensible of
their offense and are desirous of returning to their duty, a full pardon
is hereby granted and proclaimed to each and all such individuals as
shall within four months from the date hereof surrender themselves to
the commanding officer of any military post within the United States or
the Territories thereof.
In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be
affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, the 7th day of February, A.D. 1812, and
of the Independence of the United States the thirty-sixth.
JAMES MADISON.
By the President:
JAMES MONROE,
_Secretary of State_.
[From Annals of Congress, Twelfth Congress, part 2, 2223.]
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas the Congress of the United States, by virtue of the constituted
authority vested in them, have declared by their act bearing date the
18th day of the present month that war exists between the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland and the dependencies thereof and the United
States of America and their Territories:
Now, therefore, I, James Madison, President of the United States of
America, do hereby proclaim the same to all whom it may concern; and I
do specially enjoin on all persons holding offices, civil or military,
under the authority of the United States that they be vigilant and
zealous in discharging the duties respectively incident thereto; and I
do moreover exhort all the good people of the United States, as they
love their country, as they value the precious heritage derived from the
virtue and valor of their fathers, as they feel the wrongs which have
forced on them the last resort of injured nations, and as they consult
the best means under the blessing of Divine Providence of abridging its
calamities, that they exert themselves in preserving order, in promoting
concord, in maintaining the authority and efficacy of the laws, and in
supporting and invigorating all the measures which may be adopted by the
constituted authorities for obtaining a speedy, a just, and an honorable
peace.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed to these presents.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, the 19th day of June, 1812, and of the
Independence of the United States the thirty-sixth.
JAMES MADISON.
By the President:
JAMES MONROE,
_Secretary of State_.
[From Annals of Congress, Twelfth Congress, part 2, 2224.]
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas the Congress of the United States, by a joint resolution of the
two Houses, have signified a request that a day may be recommended to be
observed by the people of the United States with religious solemnity as
a day of public humiliation and prayer; and
Whereas such a recommendation will enable the several religious
denominations and societies so disposed to offer at one and the same
time their common vows and adorations to Almighty God on the solemn
occasion produced by the war in which He has been pleased to permit
the injustice of a foreign power to involve these United States:
I do therefore recommend the third Thursday in August next as a
convenient day to be set apart for the devout purposes of rendering the
Sovereign of the Universe and the Benefactor of Mankind the public
homage due to His holy attributes; of acknowledging the transgressions
which might justly provoke the manifestations of His divine displeasure;
of seeking His merciful forgiveness and His assistance in the great
duties of repentance and amendment, and especially of offering fervent
supplications that in the present season of calamity and war He would
take the American people under His peculiar care and protection; that He
would guide their public councils, animate their patriotism, and bestow
His blessing on their arms; that He would inspire all nations with a
love of justice and of concord and with a reverence for the unerring
precept of our holy religion to do to others as they would require that
others should do to them; and, finally, that, turning the hearts of our
enemies from the violence and injustice which sway their councils
against us, He would hasten a restoration of the blessings of peace.
[SEAL.]
Given at Washington, the 9th day of July, A.D. 1812.
JAMES MADISON.
By the President:
JAMES MONROE,
_Secretary of State_.
[From Niles's Weekly Register, vol. 3, p. 101.]
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas information has been received that a number of individuals who
have deserted from the Army of the United States have become sensible of
their offenses and are desirous of returning to their duty, a full
pardon is hereby granted and proclaimed to each and all such individuals
as shall within four months from the date hereof surrender themselves to
the commanding officer of any military post within the United States or
the Territories thereof.
In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be
affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, the 8th day of October, A.D. 1812, and
of the Independence of the United States the thirty-seventh.
JAMES MADISON.
By the President:
JAMES MONROE,
_Secretary of State_.
FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
WASHINGTON, _November 4, 1812_.
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
On our present meeting it is my first duty to invite your attention to
the providential favors which our country has experienced in the unusual
degree of health dispensed to its inhabitants, and in the rich abundance
with which the earth has rewarded the labors bestowed on it. In the
successful cultivation of other branches of industry, and in the
progress of general improvement favorable to the national prosperity,
there is just occasion also for our mutual congratulations and
thankfulness.
With these blessings are necessarily mingled the pressures and
vicissitudes incident to the state of war into which the United States
have been forced by the perseverance of a foreign power in its system of
injustice and aggression.
Previous to its declaration it was deemed proper, as a measure of
precaution and forecast, that a considerable force should be placed in
the Michigan Territory with a general view to its security, and, in
the event of war, to such operations in the uppermost Canada as would
intercept the hostile influence of Great Britain over the savages,
obtain the command of the lake on which that part of Canada borders,
and maintain cooperating relations with such forces as might be most
conveniently employed against other parts. Brigadier-General Hull was
charged with this provisional service, having under his command a body
of troops composed of regulars and of volunteers from the State of Ohio.
Having reached his destination after his knowledge of the war, and
possessing discretionary authority to act offensively, he passed into
the neighboring territory of the enemy with a prospect of easy and
victorious progress. The expedition, nevertheless, terminated
unfortunately, not only in a retreat to the town and fort of Detroit,
but in the surrender of both and of the gallant corps commanded by that
officer. The causes of this painful reverse will be investigated by a
military tribunal.
A distinguishing feature in the operations which preceded and followed
this adverse event is the use made by the enemy of the merciless savages
under their influence. Whilst the benevolent policy of the United States
invariably recommended peace and promoted civilization among that
wretched portion of the human race, and was making exertions to dissuade
them from taking either side in the war, the enemy has not scrupled to
call to his aid their ruthless ferocity, armed with the horrors of those
instruments of carnage and torture which are known to spare neither age
nor sex. In this outrage against the laws of honorable war and against
the feelings sacred to humanity the British commanders can not resort to
a plea of retaliation, for it is committed in the face of our example.
They can not mitigate it by calling it a self-defense against men in
arms, for it embraces the most shocking butcheries of defenseless
families. Nor can it be pretended that they are not answerable for the
atrocities perpetrated, since the savages are employed with a knowledge,
and even with menaces, that their fury could not be controlled. Such is
the spectacle which the deputed authorities of a nation boasting its
religion and morality have not been restrained from presenting to an
enlightened age.
The misfortune at Detroit was not, however, without a consoling effect.
It was followed by signal proofs that the national spirit rises
according to the pressure on it. The loss of an important post and of
the brave men surrendered with it inspired everywhere new ardor and
determination. In the States and districts least remote it was no sooner
known than every citizen was ready to fly with his arms at once to
protect his brethren against the bloodthirsty savages let loose by the
enemy on an extensive frontier, and to convert a partial calamity into
a source of invigorated efforts. This patriotic zeal, which it was
necessary rather to limit than excite, has embodied an ample force from
the States of Kentucky and Ohio and from parts of Pennsylvania and
Virginia. It is placed, with the addition of a few regulars, under
the command of Brigadier-General Harrison, who possesses the entire
confidence of his fellow-soldiers, among whom are citizens, some of them
volunteers in the ranks, not less distinguished by their political
stations than by their personal merits. The greater portion of this
force is proceeding on its destination toward the Michigan Territory,
having succeeded in relieving an important frontier post, and in several
incidental operations against hostile tribes of savages, rendered
indispensable by the subserviency into which they had been seduced by
the enemy--a seduction the more cruel as it could not fail to impose a
necessity of precautionary severities against those who yielded to it.
At a recent date an attack was made on a post of the enemy near Niagara
by a detachment of the regular and other forces under the command of
Major-General Van Rensselaer, of the militia of the State of New York.
The attack, it appears, was ordered in compliance with the ardor of the
troops, who executed it with distinguished gallantry, and were for a
time victorious; but not receiving the expected support, they were
compelled to yield to reenforcements of British regulars and savages.
Our loss has been considerable, and is deeply to be lamented. That of
the enemy, less ascertained, will be the more felt, as it includes among
the killed the commanding general, who was also the governor of the
Province, and was sustained by veteran troops from unexperienced
soldiers, who must daily improve in the duties of the field.
Our expectation of gaining the command of the Lakes by the invasion of
Canada from Detroit having been disappointed, measures were instantly
taken to provide on them a naval force superior to that of the enemy.
From the talents and activity of the officer charged with this object
everything that can be done may be expected. Should the present season
not admit of complete success, the progress made will insure for the
next a naval ascendency where it is essential to our permanent peace
with and control over the savages.
Among the incidents to the measures of the war I am constrained to
advert to the refusal of the governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut
to furnish the required detachments of militia toward the defense of the
maritime frontier. The refusal was founded on a novel and unfortunate
exposition of the provisions of the Constitution relating to the
militia. The correspondences which will be laid before you contain
the requisite information on the subject. It is obvious that if the
authority of the United States to call into service and command the
militia for the public defense can be thus frustrated, even in a state
of declared war and of course under apprehensions of invasion preceding
war, they are not one nation for the purpose most of all requiring it,
and that the public safety may have no other resource than in those
large and permanent military establishments which are forbidden by the
principles of our free government, and against the necessity of which
the militia were meant to be a constitutional bulwark.