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I Mil ii r-, r-r , i ..u i ' ' ?" ' - . . . PUBLISHED (weekly) BY WILLIAM BOYLAN ?"' TVWOltl. It, A, ; "PaltfletnAdiaitu ATT!. Vol. 1 2. J RALEIGH, (ACT,) THURSDAY, KOVEMBEpH 807, No. 605. TRIAL OF . (CO.VTINWED.) Tuesday October 6tti, 1807. jVfrtor Biuff's testimony concluded After this I had a conversation with" 'the dietary at, War and the Attorney General '' .PTini was nl;n nrrspnr. The' fie- J, -taiy at War shut the doors. We had pnje previous conversation as alter tne 4.1- W av introduced it again, by observing, that fce had been informed Cel. liurr had accom miiied Ge'.i. Wilkinson to theJhe Western Country, spent several days with, him at Mas sac, and then furnished the Col. with a Barge and men to descend the "Mississippi to- New-Oi-katfS"; I replied hat this wasone among f J I jniiiv reasons to suspect a good understand- . 1 -! . 11 .1 ecntiaJ ana coionct.-i.nat 1 imagineu ooirr ei lJiein were w en iniprmeu 01 ine uui pia. tttributcJ to the general and his associatesto form a separate rovernment West of the''. Al- jKjhany, under the auspices of Spajjror En-' gland ; of his famous memorial, Which it is said-procured him exclusive privileges from tbt Spanish government, andthe extraordina ry visit col. Conne1ly"from Canada paid him 1 jn Kentucky ;" but thavthere were recent e- vents which were not without suspicion. Such as his having; spent the last winter of col. Burr's nee-prtsidency at- Washington ; .$eir gre'ajHntimacyr, the interest made to get gen. Wilkinson appointed and confirmed go. vernofof upper Louisiana, wfth "Burr's bro- tbc'r-m-lav, Secretary to the Territory, and ITTKirvv fit" .hW friends, to nlares of trust and in- ........ . -. i, , fluence. Gen. "Wilkinson's drawing several. hundred troops into "ar cantonment near the mouth of the Missouri; Ms connections With col. Burr, gen. Adair, John Brown of Kentucky, John Smith of Ohio, and several others, since implicated or ,, suspected of being concerned with co!. Burr, to procure a charter for cutting a Can;J on the Indiana "side of Ohio, on which Niharter a banLvasxingrafted, and would have produced thos.efunds, the want 01 which seems first to have made the general to hesitate al-. Juding.to a paragraph in the .cyphered letter. I then stated col. Burr's visit to New-Orleans in a hanre turmshed ov General Wilkinson : and that .after visiting the lower country he came to St. Louis. I then stated the conver-, nation with Judge Easton as before mentioned, and the intimacy of those three pereons, and "that-wheii -col. Blirr was abouUJeavingStjL, . Louis, the general had a barge got ready vith much paradeUo put' him over the Mis sissippi ; (that sometime after cob Burr's re turn to the Atlantic States, Miranda's expedi tion got ready and sailed, which a gentle man promised, if called on to come forward end proVe general Wilkinson to be the pro kctorof ; (that gentleman is Judge Easlon.) S then observed that it was notv easy to sup-' .posej that Col. . Burr, who knew Wilkinson's character, .hisformer attempts, and desperate, fortune, should spend so much time vith him at Washington, where the scheme seems tphave beej first projected ; pass through the country tfliefe colonel Burr must . commence' ius enterprise, where Wilkinson was well ac : quainied, and where Burr wanted agents (al luding to the Ohio,) anLpartizi'iis ; yet ne ver found him to make proposals, but wait till all was ready, and then make his fira over-' lures by; -a letter ; and before he knew' the r success of that letter "in converting a patriot general into a traitor, should throw himself and his best friends, hisrwinr shirit into the power of a general he had so rauch insulted ; that the general's measures in uppsr Louisi ana certainly had a tendency to disgust the people with the change of govertirnentfVnd'to prepare, them for a vevolt t-thnt I did not know the general's attempt upon the officers, ' biit he certainly liad tried me but if on the contrary col. Buit did communicate his plans -to the general either at Washington, at Masi rac, or t Louis, and the e'en, did not imme- diatelynnfom his government he- has not only grossly imposed on them,"and the public at iarge ; but has been gnilty of misprision of trea son and perjury : The Attorney General, af- er I had gone through "my statement and in" forir Xxon, in ftfbstance. and order nearly as ' related, asked tne what woutibe the result i . this . shokl be proyen'i W'hy just .what the '.raliats-and the enemiesSf the present ad 3aHtfati6n wish -itwould turn the indigna ;'xti(o of the people from Burr oh r Wilkinson ; . tili'ifryould escape and , Wilkinsontake . his 2 ; place... obsetytd that it - possibly might be : tTie ..CYenffotiusUcaWJiHStwr.;'! - thewholcMruth "shnuld be Itnown let it operate s it might. ' '-, ' . "Zlilfr ;,' 1 ' '" ' '': 1 . i.thrncft the Vvttorney General and Secre- tary Kt War together, and ..stepping down to, the post-ottice,. found letters irom St. Louis, ' A . rxrLniiV'rie vT ".n1 ' T)imm. nvl f ! Ta part' fro:Ti StLouis and St, Geneva, nhe rv.r. m on faerids of Gen. Wilkinson.' and Cel. Burr,., who attempted to join him with "twelve thousand weight of lead , Mr. Wirt. Who was, the letter from ? A.Samuel Hammond. That letter offered proof that the party sent by Gen. Wilkinson to Saita Fee, was connected with, and a part of .CoL Burr's plans. As that letter related to he subject Which we had been talking on, I sent it to the Secretary at War, anil the Attorney General ; and another lej ter which came on with it to the same nolnt from Judge Easton. They wrote thatMajor Waseot and Doctor Stell had leftSi. Louis and werejoined by a Mr,.. SrnitlwDodge, &c. from St. Gnva, who attempted to join Col. BO: near thehsnouth ofthe Ohioi ..The Secretary at War retard 1 the letters and thanked me but I have Tteen6urpized ater offering proof, anttnaming gei,khTrlfcn tt'ho knew that a connexion exited beteoCren. Wilkinson ana Col. B urr, that none of them were sumtnonea to-xne orana jurv. i.via or BrufLwas here asked who those gentlemen Ze and he mentioned Gen. Adair, Judge I ton, Hnd Major Kibby, who would prove the object of the expedition to Santa Fee, also Mr. Prpvinchere. He then stated that he had seen a letter from Gen. Wilkinson tb Gen. Adairin which, Gtyi. -Wilkinson urged him to come on, said that he ! could not go without him, and then asked if he was ashamed to serve under a Spanish conspirator.. General Wilkinson. When was7 that letter dated ? A. I do not recollect when, Gen. Adair read it to me, he offered me a copy, which made me the less particular aVout its date. Q. Where was the letter recieved ? was it at Washington in March last ? It was the letter which in duced Gen. Adair to go to Orlcans,as he said. Gen. Wilkinson presssed him to come on ; said that thirty thousand troops would be suffi cient to 'effect their purpose. ; as they would have little more to do than to take possess:on of the country ; that they were to divide, them into three columns-, and Gen. Adair was to have the command of one of them. sMr. McRae. What country were they to take pos session of ? A. I cannot say ; but my im pression was the ' Spanish country. The general then xhided him for the caution he used in writing ; asked him if he was afraid to trust his friend or ashamed to serve under a Spanish Conspirator.- At the bottom of the letter were these words :" " We shall cei tainly have a Spanish war." Chief Justice Do. you know the-hand writing. of Gen. Wil kinson? A. I do very well. Isat by Gen. Adair when he r.ead the letter ; & it appeared to be the hand writing of Gen. Wilkinson ; but I did not take it up to compare it. Mr. .Martin. Do. you remember the date ? A. I cannot tell the date or the place from whicl. it was written, Mr , Hay. Did it appear as ifit w;s of ancient date or modern ,?. j. Rectnt.-Gen. Adair complsintd bitterly , rhe said that this letter had induced him to gc -to New Orleans, where he was seized by g'eivWiikinson. Mr. Wirt. "V ill You name all the witnesses, who could give evidence cl the connection between Colonel .Jlurr and Gen Wilkinson ? A. Judge EaVtori, to prove that Gen. Wilkinson was the projector of Miranda'svexpedition, and to- prpve.hiscpn nexionJwith Col. Burr ; Major Timothy Kib by the person whose deposition has been cir culated, and Pierre Provinshere who could prove the connection between gen Wilkin son and col. Burr, and who was the com mon friend of both Col., ' Samuel Ilamf mond with whern geriT Wilkinson had a con versation nearly similar with the one held with me, and Samuel Hammond, jun. I be lieve. 1 aid not mention Gal. Dupiester, to prove the designs of the party, as to the esta blishment of a Western Eempire. I think Col. Dupuster was mentioned as thefriv.nd of Col. Buvrj and as I am. informed, came to Sjt Louis, a v his agent, and. brought with him commissions, and proclamations. Mr. M'llae. Did you see him at St. Lonis ? A' Yes.- -A colonel's commjsViqn if is ,said was ' offered to Col.Chotau, who attempted to throw it in to the fire. Mr. Hay. From whom did the proclamations and , commissions come ? A. They were said to be from col. Burr. Mr. Hay,. Who was to have, commanded the horse ? A. A Mr. '' Delony, who had been an officer of the horse " In the French service,' it . wasTsaicl, was offered a distinguished command. 4n col. Burr army.x.' A col. Dupiester it was said, brought on letters; onfcPloYfehcticre ; and another to Timothy Kibby, the common friend of col. Burr' and geh. Wilkin son . C h. "Justice. Did yoU see these letters ? A. We had a little democratic club intended tq coun teract those gentlemen. A Mr. VVherry to 'hom ProwlrHeresTwwc tlVe letter, took a copjM)C iWand bjauglit-it ' dowri.to us. 'Mt been in the service evci since ? A. I entg ed 'iiH?.?KnJ??i uncr n expectation of bearing arrnXagainst the Bjiush ; for I had been takenaprisoner during the war,' and had notbeenwell treated by them. Q. What ww vcui grade when yourleftthe army ? A. Mwr of Artillery. Mr tVickhum iDid you .e such a deposkiqn as that of Timothy Kibby ui the hands of the Attorney Generaiv or Se cretary at Var ? A, No. I gavejthem the letter already: spoken of ; I expected that all the gentlemen whose names I nave"rentioned would have been summoned. It has been said that I came on here as a volunteer. I cer tainly should have come on in any e,vent; but I ywas Surprized that those gentlemen should not" have been sumnkmed, and thatjhe enqui ry should be on one side only. Mr. Wirt. Is the Samuel lIumijond you have "mentioned t the ssfme person who had a commission in the ime of Genet f A. The very same. Mr.IIcnj. Phinic you said it was ir Jyne 18U5 that gen. Wilkinsonisclosed to you this important se cret. A. otjn June ; sometime in the sum-, mer. t think inJol. Q. What was the im pression on your hiindatttlie time : did you suppose it was -some projcrethostile to the United States ? A. I did supposeHhat he had some grand protect in view. I expecteathat he would have made the disclosure without saying I wished him to make my fortune. I did not in end to come under any obligation or 10 commit myself. Q. V hen waj the first time that you made any communications to the. go vernment or any of itsolhccrs, with respect to these projects ? A. 1 have a letter here dat ed January 8, 1806, in which I say : I have " no confidence in the patriotism of General. " Wilkinson, and as a man I think of him u with horror." Mr. Wirt. To whom is that letter addressed ? A. To the Secretary t W ar. ' Gen. Wilkinson. Were you under ar rest at that time ? A . No. I w as net (Look--ing at his papers.) It does not appear from this letter that I was under arrest at that time . Mr. Hay. I want to knbw the err, whether you were under arrest or not. A. I was not. Q$What was the interval between your arrest antfthe trial by' the Court Martial ? A. I be lieve 8 or 10 days, but I am not certain. Mr. McRac. Had you not been in expectation of - an arrest? A. I had ept-cted it for some time. In a conversation with the General, a iout my saying that he would not in service six months,, he got very warm, and said, .- this is seui'.ion." I replied then arrest mc. Mr. Hay At what time did this conversation t ike place about Cold Water, when yon stated "in your evidence, your ruin was decided on? A. I think in Sep'.ember-1805.- Then tom- jrirenedti system frf perstcitionwluclltenviL nted in my arrest. 1 was charged among o her" things with contempt to the general; that 1 never denied. . I was found net guiity ..of all the other charges,"except that one. Ma jor Bruff then said that the sentence of 'lie Court Martial had been disannulled by the President of the UnUed Slates, and his'pay and emoluments, Which .had been suspVrsded, by the sentence, restored. Gen. Wiii Inson.--I understood that was by stipulation : what is the date of the President's reversal ? A. I be lieve it was on the 12th of March last, and my pay and emoluments being restored, is equi valent to a reversal. Major Bruff proceeded; The Secretary at War observed that the Pre sident was disposed to do me justifce ; bjit it was a delicate point, and there was no prece dent where a sentence had been confirmed by the Cqmmander in Chief, and afterwards re versed by the President. 1 answered that 1 thought it was not very delicate in Gen. Wil kinst!i to approve a sentence when it was a mere personal thing between us. I understood that it was about the 1 5th,of November when the expedition Was to have commenced, and . thje Mexican,5tandard, (an emblem of the Sun,) . to have been raiseny 'I Jus delayed my depar turgifrom St. Louis. I expected to have seen Knights of Oie Suh', and Lords of Mexico", a moftg the Chiefs of those chosen Spirits. - " MrtTcriin. Whose propertv is the place ca'led Cold Water ? A. f understand tb greats . er pari ueiuugs 10 vv ukuiuu. - yi'tvi".. four acres ofwhich hf deeded to the. United States for a factory. Tie wrot oti for fne to purchase, such a place It was about this place, that Gen. Wilkinson made the.rude attack up on me which I ha"ve before mentioned'': but I "tetieve the true source was, that I had said to an oflkerin the confidence-of Gen. Wiikinsotiy that he -would RPt be. iri office six months. I knew that Congress , was about td meet,"and that it was ccumfry to the genius of bur gov ernmenJ that hejhoultl hold the two offices of General and Governor of Lbnisiana. V' .' TTWr. T What was in the letter ? A'. Some- - ,thing to this putport : " He wa s rready Jio ped they were ready ; and, tlitatth' Expedition; " tyoiild begin to move about the Lith of No " vernher." Mr 'Martin. , How long have you- been in the American .service f A. I bore 'arms in 1 1775 i against the todies, had a : i2d ". Lintehaiit's : place,in 1776, and continued in service throughout the war.v .1 Have yoii. first intimation of my mtenttonto retire frorq sen'ice ?.A.Thi 3 is intimated in a letter from the C; eneral dated April 5 , 1805 . Here M a "jor Bruff read a letter from Gen. Walkinon to hi m Did. 1 1 ,ot ' reiterate" 1 this inteinion .after I came to St. Louis ? A. -IJbelieve you did. Ceveral Wilkinon. Do you iecol lect at That period after I got, to SuLpuiJ, whether late of early ? A; cannot recollect You often mentioned the; subject. Gent Were you- subji?enael 6 attend this place ? tA. I was. I jawa subptiena itt the hands of a gentleman TLi' meTi arid Mr. Martin had told mxj in Baltimorktfi$t there -was one ordered, and therefore ;1 -'considered myself as subpeenaed from Queen 'Anne's county, in Maryland. Gen. W. Thn you had -a conference with Mr. Martini A; I hiul; Chn. y. Do yoU recollt-ct to have said that " yoii werc reluctant to come, but Mf. Martiii " had prohuSed to fash me into tortures ?:'Ai t have said that from a conversation with Mr Martin, I had reason to believe tht your Icttet ; Jo Colonel Burr U posjiiaiked 1 3th of JViay,' : would be produced; but that I shqUld hav& come in ahy event. Here a certificate. of CL- . Meigs was read ; which is,immaterial. Iif first'lntimation I had of.this letter, was front' a letter written by a gentleman of the grand' jury to a fiiebd ofmiiiestrictunng the testis mony of Gen. Wilkinson given beforthat bo dy. That part of the letter was confidentially read to me. , . Major Bruff was about to state a cohversai' tion with Mr. Martin, when he was interrupt ed by Col. Burr, whb said Hint he could not consent to a narration of the conversation which might have been held with his counsel.) uen.. Uitkm&on. Did you not say that you be lieved Burr was guilty ; but that I had don you a serious injury, and you thought this a' good time to "Sttk redress? -A. I have aidk thai I believed CoI."Bqrr concerned in that ex-'" peditioh with ybu. I fTavisaid so, and I think so still.' Mr. McEaC. WilTjou..statc4.he cha racter 01 Judge a(tto?i ? A. I have,,accused him of an endeavor to swindle me ounBWialf the land, we pu'ihased in common on whicuT an arbitration is now depending Gen. Wilkin '-. son. Had yuu no land speculations with Eas ton ? A. No 1 had no sficadatiova ; but wtf iiKtde a purchase of a single tract of land u rxther. Perhaps you call that land speculati ons. Gen. W. Yott said that when Col. Burr arrived at St. Louis Eastoh and myself werei intimate? Major Bruff. I thought so. Gen Wilkimliu Did you not know that about that lime I did not suffer him to come .into my house? A. I heard liifn say after Col, Burt had left St. Louis seine, little time, that yon were persecuting him. Comm'dore Shaw was called by the tirmecutioii . Mr. Iky. Did you travel in the stage witljl Major Ei Uff as he was coming to this place ? A. I did. Mr. Hay. Will you state the con versation Which passed in the Stage ? C'o7imo dore Shaiv The conversation was lengthy and not particularly addressed to me. I understood -aslajbjrBmfftatejdhtitjgLgQnspiracy' had' been organised in the Western country, at the head of which wavUtirr, and Uiat Gen. Wil kinson and several others were implicated ; that he had ?;-pt a watchful eye on them ; had been on the aleH ; and that he bad a just right to know that such a conspiracy existed. He said that Gen. W ilkinson had dene him a se rious injury, and that he had come on 'from, some information that Mr. Martin had given -h'rfn, to tell a long story. Q. What was the; drift of the conversation ; that he intended to injuie Gin. Wilkinson ? A The impression on rny mind was, that Gtnerg.1 Wilkinson had done him aserious injury, and he was coming to retaliate ; but that I cannot recollect the ve ry words. - The Chief iistice declared that impressions were not evidence. Witnesses must always depose to facts. Mr. McRae to Major Bruff. I understood you to' say that yen were summoned from Queen Anne's county in Maryland: did you ever see the subpoena there ? A. No. Q. What induced you to think then that you were summoned jhere ? A. I own property in. Queen Anne's county, where-1 had been ma- v king arrangements for my return "from the western country. I went to Baltimore to trans act some business, w here I met with Mr. Mar-r tin. He told me that if.,I, had not comedo Baltimore he should have gone to see me. ' consider,:; myself summoned; orxhat he " should order a subpena of me." r'- Capihin Daniel Bisaelf called byjheprosjtiitioi ' ; Gen'. IVilkinscni , Were 1 yod a member of the court martial which sat on the. trial of Ma-i jor Bruff ? A I was. Q. By w hom was! Major Bruff arrested ? A. By Capt? Rich-; mond. lie preferred the charges and solicit ed the arrest' Q. How many members com posed the court j their names and rank ? A col. Thoma9 liuirt, President ; colonel s Cushilfg and Kingsbury ; aptain'sTLock- wGod.Bisselh Strone and Many ; Lier.fenant'3 ' Peters, Mulford, Carson, Whitlock, Richard-- son and Kimbalu Q7WaS the court imani mousm their sentence? Some doubt' aix)se about the propriety of answering this Jtstipn consistently with the articles of war. It was waved for the present. Mr." Martin, Was. . it not some fchort lime before mecourt mar tial, that an address to the President yras hand- 1 A I a-iked himif tjie Irtreri post-marked 13th of Jflay, Would be produced. He said he believ-' . f j ed it would, aikl inlormed;me that 1 might i
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