�e BUR R CONSPIR ACY THE BUR R CONSPI R ACY UNCOVERING THE STORY EARLY AMERICAN CRISIS of an JAMES E. LEWIS JR. Princeton University Press Princeton and Oxford Copyright © 2017 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TR press.princeton.edu Jacket art: Aaron Burr meeting with a small band of armed men in Tennessee during his mysterious expedition of 1806. Line engraving, nineteenth century. Courtesy of Granger Historical Picture Archive/NYC Collections. Jacket art by Jennifer Heuer Endpapers: [Aaron Burr] to [James Wilkinson], [ca. 22–29 July 1806], Aaron Burr Letters, Everett D. Graff Collection of Americana. Courtesy of Newberry Library, Chicago, Ill. All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Lewis, James E., 1964– author. Title: The Burr Conspiracy : uncovering the story of an early American crisis / James E. Lewis Jr. Description: Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017009890 | ISBN 9780691177168 (hardcover : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Burr Conspiracy, 1805– 1807. | Burr, Aaron, 1756- 1836. | Burr, Aaron, 1756– 1836— Trials, litigation, etc. Classification: LCC E334 .L49 2017 | DDC 973.4/8— dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017009890 British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Adobe Caslon Pro Printed on acid- free paper. ∞ Printed in the United States of America 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 For Charlene, my co- conspirator in all things CONTENTS Introduction | 1 Chapter 1. So Many Stories: The Circulation of Information in the Early Republic | 15 First Interlude. A Crisis in the Cabinet | 43 Chapter 2. Lexington and Frankfort, Kentucky: July through December 1806 | 55 Chapter 3. Guilt beyond Question: The Narrative of Thomas Jefferson | 86 Chapter 4. The Threat to the Union | 118 Second Interlude. The Crime on Blennerhassett Island | 148 Chapter 5. The Enterprise Commenced: The Cipher Letter as a Narrative | 167 Chapter 6. New Orleans, Orleans Territory: November 1806 through May 1807 | 209 Chapter 7. The Threat to the Republic | 246 Third Interlude. The Arrest of Aaron Burr | 272 Chapter 8. Richmond, Virginia: March through October 1807 | 291 viii | Contents Chapter 9. “Who Is Blennerhassett?”: The Narrative of William Wirt | 339 Chapter 10. The Conflict over Burr’s Followers | 369 Fourth Interlude. A “Rising” in Baltimore | 393 Chapter 11. Final Accounts of the Burr Conspiracy | 411 Conclusion | 457 Acknowledgments | 463 Abbreviations | 467 Notes | 471 Primary Source Bibliography | 643 Secondary Source Bibliography | 675 Illustrations Credits | 699 Index | 701 �e BUR R CONSPIR ACY