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SHOUT TREASON The Trial of Aaron Burr
SHOUT TREASON The Trial of Aaron Burr
by Francis F. Beirne HASTINGS HOUSE · PUBLISHERS NEW YORK COPYRIGHT © 1959 by HASTINGS HOUSE, PUBLISHERS, INC. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada by S. J. Reginald Saunders, Publishers, Toronto 2B. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 59-13552 Printed in the United States of America...
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Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
The story of Aaron Burr has been treated exhaustively by many writers in many ways. Oddly enough, aside from the stenographic report of the proceedings and a small volume which appeared nearly a century ago, there seems to have been no work dealing alone with the subject of Burr’s trial in Richmond, Virginia, in the spring and summer of 1807, on charges of treason against the United States and high misdemeanor. Yet this marked the climax of Burr’s public career and the presence of a former Vice-
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Prologue
Prologue
In his Critical and Historical Essays Lord Macaulay has left to posterity a vivid account of the opening of the impeachment proceedings against Warren Hastings, late Governor-General of India, before the House of Lords, for high crimes and misdemeanors allegedly committed during his incumbency. The event took place on February 13, 1788. The scene was Westminster Hall, London, where thirty kings had been crowned and where Charles I faced his accusers. Macaulay tells us that the avenues were lined
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Chapter I
Chapter I
At dusk on the evening of the twenty-sixth of March, in the year 1807, there arrived in Richmond, Virginia, over the road from Fredericksburg, a stagecoach bearing a party of seven men. It pulled up on Main Street before the Eagle Tavern, one of the leading hostelries of the town, where in the growing darkness the passengers descended without attracting great attention. One of them was a tall, thickset man with a weather-beaten face whose air of authority marked him as leader of the group. His c
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Chapter II
Chapter II
The United States census of 1800 showed a population of 5,308,483 persons, of whom one fifth were slaves. The bulk of it was in the states along the eastern seaboard; west of the Allegheny Mountains were fewer than 500,000 settlers, chiefly in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The mountains served as a rugged barrier cutting off the westerners almost completely from the East and giving them a sense of political as well as physical detachment. The only means of communication overland were three crud
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Chapter III
Chapter III
When fortune thus rudely delivered Burr at its gates Richmond was a thriving community of over 5,000 souls. Of these from a third to a half were colored slaves. The town, situated on the falls of the James River, enjoyed the distinction of being the seat of government of a commonwealth which, despite the loss of Kentucky, still extended from the Atlantic coast to the Ohio River and included the present West Virginia. It ranked as one of the important cities of the young nation along with Boston,
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Chapter IV
Chapter IV
To Thomas Jefferson and John Marshall history has assigned positions in the first rank of the nation’s great men. Their backgrounds show a remarkable similarity. Both were Virginians, Jefferson being twelve years senior to Marshall. Both were the sons of frontiersmen, Peter Jefferson having established himself in Albemarle County and Thomas Marshall in Fauquier County, a short distance to the north, when those counties were still outposts of the Virginia colony. Both were tall and loose-jointed,
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Chapter V
Chapter V
Colonel Burr in a letter to Theodosia complained: “The Democratic papers teem with abuse against me and my counsel, and even against the Chief Justice. Nothing is left undone or unsaid which can tend to prejudice the public mind, and produce a conviction without evidence.” His complaint must have included the Richmond Enquirer whose editor, Thomas Ritchie, was coming to be recognized as one of the leading Republican editors of the nation. Ritchie had been born in Tappahannock, Virginia, when tha
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Chapter VI
Chapter VI
On May 22 the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Virginia, before which Aaron Burr was to face the charges of treason and high misdemeanor, convened at 12:30 o’clock. But first a grand jury would have to be picked and pass on the charges. Far ahead of the hour a throng moved on the hall of the House of Delegates where the session was to be held. It was a throng composed solely of men, for a court of law in Virginia in those days was no place for a lady. Save in Virginia’s great debate
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Chapter VII
Chapter VII
On May 29, 1805 , on his first visit to the West, Aaron Burr arrived in Nashville, Tennessee. There he was heartily welcomed as was becoming a former Vice-President of the United States, a member of the ascendant political party in that section of the country, and one who in the best frontier tradition had met his man on the field of honor. Still another potent reason for the warmth of the reception was Tennessee’s gratitude to Burr who, as a member of the Senate, had actively supported her succ
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Chapter VIII
Chapter VIII
The Grand Jury had been selected. Counsel for the prosecution and the defense were present with the one important exception of Luther Martin. The audience was packed into the courtroom, impatient for the spectacle to go on. But there was an impelling cause for delay—the Government’s star witness had not turned up. Government’s counsel offered reassurances, yet they could not hide the fact that they did not know just where General Wilkinson was. It is a considerable distance from New Orleans to R
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Chapter IX
Chapter IX
James Wilkinson was born of good English stock on a farm near Benedict, in southern Maryland, in 1757. A medical career was planned for the boy and he was put under a relative to study for the profession. This was followed by formal training in Philadelphia. A brief adventure into medicine was interrupted by the outbreak of the Revolution when young Wilkinson was seized with patriotic zeal, volunteered in a rifle company, and marched off to join the American forces in Boston. This transition fro
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Chapter X
Chapter X
District Attorney Hay had asked that Burr be confined or that his bail be raised for fear he would run away rather than face his former friend and present accuser, General James Wilkinson. On the other hand, there were quite as many people who harbored the belief that General Wilkinson would not dare to come face to face with Burr. Among the latter was John Randolph of Roanoke who, at the time, was keeping up a lively correspondence with Joseph H. Nicholson, a former colleague in the House of Re
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Chapter XI
Chapter XI
On the afternoon of June 22, a few miles outside the Virginia Capes, the British frigate Leopard fired on the U.S. frigate Chesapeake , killing three men, severely wounding eight, and slightly wounding ten. Among the slightly wounded was Commodore James Barron, ranking officer on the Chesapeake . The American frigate, taken by surprise and totally unprepared for action, fired one shot of protest and struck her colors. A party from the Leopard then boarded the Chesapeake , subjected it to the ind
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Chapter XII
Chapter XII
As the day for his trial approached Burr felt the need for Theodosia. His daughter was now in Charleston with her husband and little boy. But Burr was not the kind to yield to sentimentality. His appeal was quite impersonal; it might have been made to any stranger. It was based on logical reasons and did not for once intimate that in this crisis of his life he needed the affection and understanding which only Theodosia could give him. “I want,” he wrote toward the close of July, “an independent
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Chapter XIII
Chapter XIII
Dudley Woodbridge , who was his partner, said of Harman Blennerhassett that he had every sort of sense except common sense. That is the simplest explanation why this Irish gentleman found himself in the summer of 1807 in the State Penitentiary in Richmond, facing a charge of treason against the United States. Harman Blennerhassett was born quite by chance, in Hampshire, England, while his parents were there on a visit from Ireland. He was the youngest son of a family described as distinguished.
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Chapter XIV
Chapter XIV
Promptly at noon on Monday, August 3, the Circuit Court of the United States for the Fifth Circuit and District of Virginia was opened by the Chief Justice. The midsummer heat had done nothing to discourage the public from attendance, and, as usual, every seat and vantage place was at a premium. On the bench the Chief Justice in his robes of office sat alone. Judge Griffin is not reported to have been present on this occasion. In the places reserved for the prosecution were District Attorney Hay
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Chapter XV
Chapter XV
It is not every day that a lawyer has a Vice-President of the United States as his client. And subsequent history has shown that it is exceptional indeed for a lawyer to have the privilege and honor of exercising his talents to save a Vice-President of the United States from the gallows. As John Wickham rose to defend his motion, with his shrewd sense of values, he could not have failed to be aware that this was the greatest moment in his career. Obviously counsel for the defense were not surpri
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Chapter XVI
Chapter XVI
On the day following the postponement of his arraignment Harman Blennerhassett received an important visitor in his quarters in the penitentiary. He was William Duane, formerly a partner of Benjamin Franklin and Edward Bache in the publication of the Aurora . Duane was now the fiery editor of that newspaper which he had made into an organ of the Jeffersonian administration. Duane expressed great sympathy for Blennerhassett. He told him his friends were making a scapegoat of him. Then, according
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Chapter XVII
Chapter XVII
Wirt’s argument had consumed the better part of the day, but there still was a little time left before the regular hour for adjournment. Two of the lawyers for the prosecution having held the floor in succession it was again the turn of the defense. Of Colonel Burr’s lawyers none was better equipped by temperament to counterbalance William Wirt than was Benjamin Botts. He, too, could boast the vigor and abandon of youth. In fact he was the youngest of all the array of legal talent which had been
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Chapter XVIII
Chapter XVIII
One of the principals who failed to hear Luther Martin’s masterly argument was Harman Blennerhassett. He felt unwell on Thursday; on Friday he awoke with a continuation of his indisposition attended by a fever which made him so miserable he returned to bed without waiting for breakfast. In keeping with the prevailing custom he dosed himself with three or four grains of calomel. Blennerhassett was a hypochondriac but on this occasion his ailment was not imaginary. He was a victim of influenza whi
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Chapter XIX
Chapter XIX
An Act of Congress of 1794 provided that if any person should, within the jurisdiction of the United States, begin or set on foot a military expedition against the territory of any foreign power with whom the United States was at peace, he would be guilty of a high misdemeanor. It was under this statute that Burr, Blennerhassett, and their fellow conspirators now were to be tried. The specific charge against them was that they had begun or set on foot an expedition against Mexico, then a possess
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Chapter XX
Chapter XX
It will be recalled that when Aaron Burr was under suspicion in the Fall of 1806 he made haste to assure his friends in no uncertain language that there was no truth in the rumors. Senator John Smith of Ohio, who had received the Colonel cordially on his visit to Cincinnati, was among the first to grow alarmed and to make direct inquiry. Burr replied that he was “surprised and hurt” at the unusual tenor of Smith’s letter. He then went on to say: “If there exists any design to separate the Wester
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Chapter XXI
Chapter XXI
The trial ended , those of the principals whose homes were in Richmond returned to their normal pursuits in the city, while those from a distance departed to pick up the threads of their various careers elsewhere. What became of them in later years and what changes were wrought in the scene of their activities during the long hot summer of 1807 are the proper subject for a closing chapter. Richmond itself continued to grow and prosper. Its important status as capital of the State of Virginia, th
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Bibliography
Bibliography
Beveridge, Albert J. The Life of John Marshall. New York, 1929. Bradford, Gamaliel. Damaged Souls. John Randolph of Roanoke. New York, 1922. ——. Wives. Theodosia Burr Alston. New York, 1925. Brown, Alexander. The Cabells and Their Kin. New York, N.D. Bruce, William Cabell. John Randolph of Roanoke. New York, 1922. Bowers, Claude. Jefferson in Power. Boston, 1936. Boushall, Frances. “Celebrated Taverns and Hotels Have Served Richmond.” Richmond Times-Dispatch , July 18, 1945. Christian, W. Asbury
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