States are invited, in conformity with the resolution aforesaid, to
dedicate the day above named to the religious solemnities therein
recommended.
[SEAL.]
Given at Washington, this 23d day of July, A.D. 1813.
JAMES MADISON.
FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
WASHINGTON, _December 7, 1813_.
_Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
In meeting you at the present interesting conjuncture it would have been
highly satisfactory if I could have communicated a favorable result to
the mission charged with negotiations for restoring peace. It was a just
expectation, from the respect due to the distinguished Sovereign who had
invited them by his offer of mediation, from the readiness with which
the invitation was accepted on the part of the United States, and from
the pledge to be found in an act of their Legislature for the liberality
which their plenipotentiaries would carry into the negotiations, that no
time would be lost by the British Government in embracing the experiment
for hastening a stop to the effusion of blood. A prompt and cordial
acceptance of the mediation on that side was the less to be doubted, as
it was of a nature not to submit rights or pretensions on either side
to the decision of an umpire, but to afford merely an opportunity,
honorable and desirable to both, for discussing and, if possible,
adjusting them for the interest of both.
The British cabinet, either mistaking our desire of peace for a dread
of British power or misled by other fallacious calculations, has
disappointed this reasonable anticipation. No communications from
our envoys having reached us, no information on the subject has been
received from that source; but it is known that the mediation was
declined in the first instance, and there is no evidence,
notwithstanding the lapse of time, that a change of disposition in the
British councils has taken place or is to be expected.
Under such circumstances a nation proud of its rights and conscious of
its strength has no choice but an exertion of the one in support of the
other.
To this determination the best encouragement is derived from the success
with which it has pleased the Almighty to bless our arms both on the
land and on the water.
Whilst proofs have been continued of the enterprise and skill of our
cruisers, public and private, on the ocean, and a new trophy gained in
the capture of a British by an American vessel of war, after an action
giving celebrity to the name of the victorious commander, the great
inland waters on which the enemy were also to be encountered have
presented achievements of our naval arms as brilliant in their character
as they have been important in their consequences.
On Lake Erie, the squadron under command of Captain Perry having met the
British squadron of superior force, a sanguinary conflict ended in the
capture of the whole. The conduct of that officer, adroit as it was
daring, and which was so well seconded by his comrades, justly entitles
them to the admiration and gratitude of their country, and will fill an
early page in its naval annals with a victory never surpassed in luster,
however much it may have been in magnitude.
On Lake Ontario the caution of the British commander, favored by
contingencies, frustrated the efforts of the American commander to bring
on a decisive action. Captain Chauncey was able, however, to establish
an ascendency on that important theater, and to prove by the manner
in which he effected everything possible that opportunities only were
wanted for a more shining display of his own talents and the gallantry
of those under his command.
The success on Lake Erie having opened a passage to the territory of the
enemy, the officer commanding the Northwestern army transferred the war
thither, and rapidly pursuing the hostile troops, fleeing with their
savage associates, forced a general action, which quickly terminated in
the capture of the British and dispersion of the savage force.
This result is signally honorable to Major General Harrison, by whose
military talents it was prepared; to Colonel Johnson and his mounted
volunteers, whose impetuous onset gave a decisive blow to the ranks of
the enemy, and to the spirit of the volunteer militia, equally brave and
patriotic, who bore an interesting part in the scene; more especially to
the chief magistrate of Kentucky, at the head of them, whose heroism
signalized in the war which established the independence of his country,
sought at an advanced age a share in hardships and battles for
maintaining its rights and its safety.
The effect of these successes has been to rescue the inhabitants of
Michigan from their oppressions, aggravated by gross infractions of
the capitulation which subjected them to a foreign power; to alienate
the savages of numerous tribes from the enemy, by whom they were
disappointed and abandoned, and to relieve an extensive region of
country from a merciless warfare which desolated its frontiers and
imposed on its citizens the most harassing services.
In consequence of our naval superiority on Lake Ontario and the
opportunity afforded by it for concentrating our forces by water,
operations which had been provisionally planned were set on foot against
the possessions of the enemy on the St. Lawrence. Such, however, was the
delay produced in the first instance by adverse weather of unusual
violence and continuance and such the circumstances attending the final
movements of the army, that the prospect, at one time so favorable, was
not realized.
The cruelty of the enemy in enlisting the savages into a war with a
nation desirous of mutual emulation in mitigating its calamities has not
been confined to any one quarter. Wherever they could be turned against
us no exertions to effect it have been spared. On our southwestern
border the Creek tribes, who, yielding to our persevering endeavors,
were gradually acquiring more civilized habits, became the unfortunate
victims of seduction. A war in that quarter has been the consequence,
infuriated by a bloody fanaticism recently propagated among them. It
was necessary to crush such a war before it could spread among the
contiguous tribes and before it could favor enterprises of the enemy
into that vicinity. With this view a force was called into the service
of the United States from the States of Georgia and Tennessee, which,
with the nearest regular troops and other corps from the Mississippi
Territory, might not only chastise the savages into present peace but
make a lasting impression on their fears.
The progress of the expedition, as far as is yet known, corresponds with
the martial zeal with which it was espoused, and the best hopes of a
satisfactory issue are authorized by the complete success with which a
well-planned enterprise was executed against a body of hostile savages
by a detachment of the volunteer militia of Tennessee, under the gallant
command of General Coffee, and by a still more important victory over a
larger body of them, gained under the immediate command of Major General
Jackson, an officer equally distinguished for his patriotism and his
military talents.
The systematic perseverance of the enemy in courting the aid of the
savages in all quarters had the natural effect of kindling their
ordinary propensity to war into a passion, which, even among those
best disposed toward the United States, was ready, if not employed
on our side, to be turned against us. A departure from our protracted
forbearance to accept the services tendered by them has thus been forced
upon us. But in yielding to it the retaliation has been mitigated as
much as possible, both in its extent and in its character, stopping far
short of the example of the enemy, who owe the advantages they have
occasionally gained in battle chiefly to the number of their savage
associates, and who have not controlled them either from their usual
practice of indiscriminate massacre on defenseless inhabitants or from
scenes of carnage without a parallel on prisoners to the British arms,
guarded by all the laws of humanity and of honorable war. For these
enormities the enemy are equally responsible, whether with the power to
prevent them they want the will or with the knowledge of a want of power
they still avail themselves of such instruments.
In other respects the enemy are pursuing a course which threatens
consequences most afflicting to humanity.
A standing law of Great Britain naturalizes, as is well known, all
aliens complying with conditions limited to a shorter period than
those required by the United States, and naturalized subjects are
in war employed by her Government in common with native subjects.
In a contiguous British Province regulations promulgated since the
commencement of the war compel citizens of the United States being there
under certain circumstances to bear arms, whilst of the native emigrants
from the United States, who compose much of the population of the
Province, a number have actually borne arms against the United States
within their limits, some of whom, after having done so, have become
prisoners of war, and are now in our possession. The British commander
in that Province, nevertheless, with the sanction, as appears, of his
Government, thought proper to select from American prisoners of war and
send to Great Britain for trial as criminals a number of individuals who
had emigrated from the British dominions long prior to the state of war
between the two nations, who had incorporated themselves into our
political society in the modes recognized by the law and the practice of
Great Britain, and who were made prisoners of war under the banners of
their adopted country, fighting for its rights and its safety.
The protection due to these citizens requiring an effectual
interposition in their behalf, a like number of British prisoners of
war were put into confinement, with a notification that they would
experience whatever violence might be committed on the American
prisoners of war sent to Great Britain.
It was hoped that this necessary consequence of the step unadvisedly
taken on the part of Great Britain would have led her Government to
reflect on the inconsistencies of its conduct, and that a sympathy with
the British, if not with the American, sufferers would have arrested the
cruel career opened by its example.
This was unhappily not the case. In violation both of consistency and of
humanity, American officers and noncommissioned officers in double the
number of the British soldiers confined here were ordered into close
confinement, with formal notice that in the event of a retaliation for
the death which might be inflicted on the prisoners of war sent to Great
Britain for trial the officers so confined would be put to death also.
It was notified at the same time that the commanders of the British
fleets and armies on our coasts are instructed in the same event to
proceed with a destructive severity against our towns and their
inhabitants.
That no doubt might be left with the enemy of our adherence to the
retaliatory resort imposed on us, a correspondent number of British
officers, prisoners of war in our hands, were immediately put into close
confinement to abide the fate of those confined by the enemy, and the
British Government has been apprised of the determination of this
Government to retaliate any other proceedings against us contrary to
the legitimate modes of warfare.
It is as fortunate for the United States that they have it in their
power to meet the enemy in this deplorable contest as it is honorable
to them that they do not join in it but under the most imperious
obligations, and with the humane purpose of effectuating a return to
the established usages of war.
The views of the French Government on the subjects which have been so
long committed to negotiation have received no elucidation since the
close of your late session. The minister plenipotentiary of the United
States at Paris had not been enabled by proper opportunities to press
the objects of his mission as prescribed by his instructions.
The militia being always to be regarded as the great bulwark of defense
and security for free states, and the Constitution having wisely
committed to the national authority a use of that force as the best
provision against an unsafe military establishment, as well as a
resource peculiarly adapted to a country having the extent and the
exposure of the United States, I recommend to Congress a revision of the
militia laws for the purpose of securing more effectually the services
of all detachments called into the employment and placed under the
Government of the United States.
It will deserve the consideration of Congress also whether among other
improvements in the militia laws justice does not require a regulation,
under due precautions, for defraying the expense incident to the first
assembling as well as the subsequent movements of detachments called
into the national service.
To give to our vessels of war, public and private, the requisite
advantage in their cruises, it is of much importance that they should
have, both for themselves and their prizes, the use of the ports and
markets of friendly powers. With this view, I recommend to Congress the
expediency of such legal provisions as may supply the defects or remove
the doubts of the Executive authority, to allow to the cruisers of other
powers at war with enemies of the United States such use of the American
ports as may correspond with the privileges allowed by such powers to
American cruisers.
During the year ending on the 30th of September last the receipts into
the Treasury have exceeded $37,500,000, of which near twenty-four
millions were the produce of loans. After meeting all demands for
the public service there remained in the Treasury on that day near
$7,000,000. Under the authority contained in the act of the 2d of August
last for borrowing $7,500,000, that sum has been obtained on terms more
favorable to the United States than those of the preceding loan made
during the present year. Further sums to a considerable amount will be
necessary to be obtained in the same way during the ensuing year, and
from the increased capital of the country, from the fidelity with which
the public engagements have been kept and the public credit maintained,
it may be expected on good grounds that the necessary pecuniary supplies
will not be wanting.
The expenses of the current year, from the multiplied operations falling
within it, have necessarily been extensive; but on a just estimate of
the campaign in which the mass of them has been incurred the cost will
not be found disproportionate to the advantages which have been gained.
The campaign has, indeed, in its latter stages in one quarter been less
favorable than was expected, but in addition to the importance of our
naval success the progress of the campaign has been filled with
incidents highly honorable to the American arms.
The attacks of the enemy on Craney Island, on Fort Meigs, on Sacketts
Harbor, and on Sandusky have been vigorously and successfully repulsed;
nor have they in any case succeeded on either frontier excepting when
directed against the peaceable dwellings of individuals or villages
unprepared or undefended.
On the other hand, the movements of the American Army have been followed
by the reduction of York, and of Forts George, Erie, and Maiden; by the
recovery of Detroit and the extinction of the Indian war in the West,
and by the occupancy or command of a large portion of Upper Canada.
Battles have also been fought on the borders of the St. Lawrence, which,
though not accomplishing their entire objects, reflect honor on the
discipline and prowess of our soldiery, the best auguries of eventual
victory. In the same scale are to be placed the late successes in the
South over one of the most powerful, which had become one of the most
hostile also, of the Indian tribes.
It would be improper to close this communication without expressing a
thankfulness in which all ought to unite for the numerous blessings
with which our beloved country continues to be favored; for the
abundance which overspreads our land, and the prevailing health of its
inhabitants; for the preservation of our internal tranquillity, and
the stability of our free institutions, and, above all, for the light
of divine truth and the protection of every man's conscience in the
enjoyment of it. And although among our blessings we can not number an
exemption from the evils of war, yet these will never be regarded as
the greatest of evils by the friends of liberty and of the rights of
nations. Our country has before preferred them to the degraded condition
which was the alternative when the sword was drawn in the cause which
gave birth to our national independence, and none who contemplate the
magnitude and feel the value of that glorious event will shrink from a
struggle to maintain the high and happy ground on which it placed the
American people.
With all good citizens the justice and necessity of resisting wrongs
and usurpations no longer to be borne will sufficiently outweigh the
privations and sacrifices inseparable from a state of war. But it
is a reflection, moreover, peculiarly consoling, that, whilst wars
are generally aggravated by their baneful effects on the internal
improvements and permanent prosperity of the nations engaged in them,
such is the favored situation of the United States that the calamities
of the contest into which they have been compelled to enter are
mitigated by improvements and advantages of which the contest itself
is the source.
If the war has increased the interruptions of our commerce, it has at
the same time cherished and multiplied our manufactures so as to make us
independent of all other countries for the more essential branches for
which we ought to be dependent on none, and is even rapidly giving them
an extent which will create additional staples in our future intercourse
with foreign markets.
If much treasure has been expended, no inconsiderable portion of it has
been applied to objects durable in their value and necessary to our
permanent safety.
If the war has exposed us to increased spoliations on the ocean and to
predatory incursions on the land, it has developed the national means of
retaliating the former and of providing protection against the latter,
demonstrating to all that every blow aimed at our maritime independence
is an impulse accelerating the growth of our maritime power.
By diffusing through the mass of the nation the elements of military
discipline and instruction; by augmenting and distributing warlike
preparations applicable to future use; by evincing the zeal and valor
with which they will be employed and the cheerfulness with which every
necessary burden will be borne, a greater respect for our rights and a
longer duration of our future peace are promised than could be expected
without these proofs of the national character and resources.
The war has proved moreover that our free Government, like other free
governments, though slow in its early movements, acquires in its
progress a force proportioned to its freedom, and that the union of
these States, the guardian of the freedom and safety of all and of each,
is strengthened by every occasion that puts it to the test.
In fine, the war, with all its vicissitudes, is illustrating the
capacity and the destiny of the United States to be a great, a
flourishing, and a powerful nation, worthy of the friendship which it
is disposed to cultivate with all others, and authorized by its own
example to require from all an observance of the laws of justice and
reciprocity. Beyond these their claims have never extended, and in
contending for these we behold a subject for our congratulations in the
daily testimonies of increasing harmony throughout the nation, and may
humbly repose our trust in the smiles of Heaven on so righteous a cause.
JAMES MADISON.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
DECEMBER 9, 1813.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
The tendency of our commercial and navigation laws in their present
state to favor the enemy and thereby prolong the war is more and more
developed by experience. Supplies of the most essential kinds And their
way not only to British ports and British armies at a distance, but the
armies in our neighborhood with which our own are contending derive from
our ports and outlets a subsistence attainable with difficulty, if at
all, from other sources. Even the fleets and troops infesting our coasts
and waters are by like supplies accommodated and encouraged in their
predatory and incursive warfare.
Abuses having a like tendency take place in our import trade. British
fabrics and products find their way into our ports under the name and
from the ports of other countries, and often in British vessels
disguised as neutrals by false colors and papers.
To these abuses it may be added that illegal importations are openly
made with advantage to the violators of the law, produced by
undervaluations or other circumstances involved in the course of the
judicial proceedings against them.
It is found also that the practice of ransoming is a cover for collusive
captures and a channel for intelligence advantageous to the enemy.
To remedy as much as possible these evils, I recommend:
That an effectual embargo on exports be immediately enacted.
That all articles known to be derived, either not at all or in any
immaterial degree only, from the productions of any other country than
Great Britain, and particularly the extensive articles made of wool and
cotton materials, and ardent spirits made from the cane, be expressly
and absolutely prohibited, from whatever port or place or in whatever
vessels the same may be brought into the United States, and that all
violations of the nonimportation act be subjected to adequate penalties.
That among the proofs of the neutral and national character of
foreign vessels it be required that the masters and supercargoes and
three-fourths at least of the crews be citizens or subjects of the
country under whose flag the vessels sail.
That all persons concerned in collusive captures by the enemy or in
ransoming vessels or their cargoes from the enemy be subjected to
adequate penalties.
To shorten as much as possible the duration of the war it is
indispensable that the enemy should feel all the pressure that can be
given to it, and the restraints having that tendency will be borne with
the greater cheerfulness by all good citizens, as the restraints will
affect those most who are most ready to sacrifice the interest of their
country in pursuit of their own.
JAMES MADISON.
JANUARY 6, 1814.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit, for the information of Congress, copies of a letter from the
British secretary of state for foreign affairs to the Secretary of
State, with the answer of the latter.
In appreciating the accepted proposal of the Government of Great Britain
for instituting negotiations for peace Congress will not fail to keep in
mind that vigorous preparations for carrying on the war can in no
respect impede the progress to a favorable result, whilst a relaxation
of such preparations, should the wishes of the United States for a
speedy restoration of the blessings of peace be disappointed, would
necessarily have the most injurious consequences.
JAMES MADISON.
FEBRUARY 26, 1814.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
It has appeared that at the recovery of the Michigan Territory from the
temporary possession of the enemy the inhabitants thereof were left in
so destitute and distressed a condition as to require from the public
stores certain supplies essential to their subsistence, which have been
prolonged under the same necessity which called for them.