James Wilkinson (politician, 1757)

James Wilkinson

James Wilkinson (March 24, 1757 on a farm in Province of Maryland , † December 28, 1825 in Mexico City , Mexico ) was an American politician , governor of the Louisiana Territory , an officer in the Revolutionary War and an American major general in the British American War of 1812 .

biography

Youth and participation in the war of independence

James Wilkinson was born in Calvert County , Province of Maryland in 1757, the second son of a distinguished planter. He received private tuition and studied medicine in Philadelphia , where his studies were interrupted by the War of Independence . Wilkinson entered a rifle regiment and received the rank of captain in September 1775 . Under Benedict Arnold he took part in the siege of Boston and the failed invasion of Canada . In 1776 he became an aide to General Horatio Gates and served under George Washington in the battles of Trenton and Princeton . He was from 1777 to 1778 fully certified Major General and in 1778 briefly Minister in the war Committee of the United States until it due to its involvement in the Conway Cabal , a conspiracy to replace Washington with Gates as commander of the Continental Army was aimed, forced to give up both ranks . Nevertheless, he was used again in 1779 as a clothier general (Generalzeugmeister). In 1781 he withdrew from the army in connection with allegations of corruption .

Kentucky politician

1782 Wilkinson brigadier general of the militia of Pennsylvania , a year later a member of the state assembly (state parliament). In 1784 he moved to the then to Virginia belonging district Kentucky and played a leading role in the efforts to a detachment of Virginia and the formation of an independent state. In 1787 he therefore negotiated in time still to Spain belonging to New Orleans with the governor Esteban Rodriguez Miro to win Spanish support for the independence of Kentucky. In this regard, Wilkinson signed a declaration of renunciation of American citizenship and an oath of allegiance to the King of Spain. He succeeded in his negotiations to achieve a trade monopoly over trade on the Mississippi River for Kentucky. After his return, Wilkinson showed himself to be a rigorous opponent of the new constitution of the United States , as it hindered the independence of Kentucky in his view. In the run-up to a convention for the separation of Virginia in November 1788, he felt before whether Kentucky was ready for a union with Spain. During the convention he was elected chairman and took the position of first separating from Virginia and then possibly joining the United States . As a condition for accession, the federal government wanted to start negotiations with Spain on free trade on the Mississippi.

Since he could not get enough support for his position, he tried to secure land donations and substantial pensions from the Spaniards for himself and other prominent Kentucky representatives - for himself and his supporters as a reward for representing Spanish interests, in the case of opponents probably in order to to corrupt them. However, because the Spanish government distrusted Wilkinson, they forbade Governor Miro to pay out the pensions and continue to spend money on Kentucky. Wilkinson kept his secret, treasonable connections to Spain but upright and received over many years payments to about 4,000 US dollars amounted annually.

Another military career

In March 1791, Wilkinson led a Kentucky volunteer force against Indians in the area north of the Ohio River . In the same year he joined the US Army as a lieutenant colonel and commander of an infantry regiment . Soon afterwards he became brigadier general and in 1794 took part as such under General Anthony Wayne in the Battle of Fallen Timbers against the Indians of the north. During this time he revealed American plans for an attack by General George Rogers Clark on New Orleans against the Spaniards. In 1796 he was given command of Detroit , where there was only one fort at that time . Attempts to win him over for a rebellion in the area of Natchez on the Mississippi, he refused. From 1796 to 1798 and again from 1800 to 1812 he was senior officer (senior officer) in the US Army. In 1798, Wilkinson was transferred to the southern border and in 1803, together with Governor William CC Claiborne, took possession of the Louisiana territory acquired from France for the United States. President Thomas Jefferson named Wilkinson the first governor of the future US state. However, he was dismissed on charges of abuse of office and power.

From 1804-1805, Wilkinson was in contact with Aaron Burr and played a role in his plans to establish an independent state in the West. Some witnesses even claimed that Wilkinson was the real head of the conspiracy behind Burr, but no solid evidence has ever been found. Probably to save his own head, the now deposed Wilkinson revealed Burrs plans to President Jefferson and testified in 1807 in the proceedings against Burr. Two unsuccessful investigations by the US Senate resulted from his dubious behavior . President James Madison ordered a court martial in 1811 , which resulted in an acquittal.

In the war of 1812

In the 1812 war with Great Britain , Wilkinson was given the rank of major general . In March 1813 he and his troops occupied the previously Spanish Mobile , now part of Alabama . It was the only permanent US territorial win in the war. After Henry Dearborn's resignation , he was appointed as his successor as Commander in Chief on the Northern Front and arrived in Sackets Harbor in August .

Wilkinson was reluctant to begin the invasion of Canada along the Saint Lawrence River, requested by Secretary of War John Armstrong , because he was ill himself and he and Armstrong could not choose between Kingston and Montreal as a target. In addition, there was a bitter hostility between Wilkinson and his subordinate Major General Wade Hampton , who commanded an army on Lake Champlain , because of which Hampton refused to take orders from Wilkinson. Armstrong rectified this problem by passing all of Wilkinson's orders to Hampton himself.

After the victories in the west on Lake Erie and the Thames River had created favorable conditions for further successes against the weakened British, Wilkinson advanced with an army of over 7,000 men in October 1813 along the St. Lawrence River on Montreal. Wilkinson's troops formed part of a pincer attack on the Canadian fortress city - the Hamptons army was to advance from Lake Champlain at the same time and force the already outnumbered defenders to split up their forces. However, the well-conceived company failed in a disgraceful way. On October 26, Hampton retreated after a defeat in the Battle of the Chateauguay River . Wilkinson considered breaking off his advance as well, but was persuaded by his officers to continue the operation. On November 11, as well as his troops suffered in the Battle of Crysler's Farm against only 800 British soldiers under Colonel Joseph Wanton Morrison a painful defeat, but for Wilkinson was not personally responsible, as it due to illness in command of Brigadier General John Parker Boyd had given . The discouraged Americans then withdrew. In March 1814 Wilkinson repeated the advance into Canada with 4,000 soldiers, but was repulsed again on March 30th in the Second Battle of Lacolle Mills by a handful of British - a total of about 180 men.

Last years and death, reviews

In view of these failures, Wilkinson was removed from active service. He had to endure an investigation, but it ended with a surprising acquittal. In the years after the war he occupied himself with the management of his plantations and in 1816 published his memoirs, Memoirs of My Own Times . Because of a donation of land in Texas , he stayed in Mexico City in 1824 , where he died and was also buried.

His treasonable relations with Spain were not revealed until many years later through research in Spanish archives . In view of his dubious undertakings, his fame was not very positive. Senator John Randolph of Roanoke said in connection with the Burr Trial that Wilkinson was the only man he had ever seen who was a villain through and through. Historian Frederick Jackson Turner called him the most perfect artist of betrayal the American nation had produced, and Robert Leckie , another historian, characterized him as a general who "won no battle and lost no court martial." Temple Bodley , the biographer of George Rogers Clark , wrote that Wilkinson possessed considerable military talent but only used it for his own benefit.

family

Wilkinson was married to Ann Biddle for the first time since 1778 , after her death in 1810 he entered into a second marriage to Celeste Laveau Trudeau . He had four children from the first marriage and two children from the second.

Honors

According to him, Wilkinson County , Georgia and Wilkinson County named in Mississippi.

Web links

• General James Wilkinson and Spanish conspiracy 1787-1790 (English)
• Biography in the Handbook of Texas Online (English)
• Biography of the Center for Military History of the US Army (English)
• James Wilkinson in the database of Find a Grave (English)