urr dated the 29th of July, in cipher. What this letter may have
originally contained will probably never be known, for only Wilkinson's
version survives, and that underwent frequent revision.* It is quite
as remarkable for its omissions as for anything that it contains. In
it there is no mention of a western uprising nor of a revolution in
New Orleans; but only the intimation that an attack is to be made upon
Spanish possessions, presumably Mexico, with possibly Baton Rouge as the
immediate objective. Whether or no this letter changed Wilkinson's plan,
we can only conjecture. Certain it is, however, that about this time
Wilkinson determined to denounce Burr and his associates and to play a
double game, posing on the one hand as the savior of his country and on
the other as a secret friend to Spain. After some hesitation he wrote
to President Jefferson warning him in general terms of an expedition
preparing against Vera Cruz but omitting all mention of Burr.
Subsequently he wrote a confidential letter about this "deep, dark, and
widespread conspiracy" which enmeshed all classes and conditions in New
Orleans and might bring seven thousand men from the Ohio. The contents
of Burr's mysterious letter were to be communicated orally to the
President by the messenger who bore this precious warning. It was on
the strength of these communications that the President issued his
proclamation of the 27th of November.

* What is usually accepted as the correct version is printed
by McCaleb in his "Aaron Burr Conspiracy," pp. 74 and 75,
and by Henry Adams in his "History of the United States,"
vol. III, pp. 253-4.

While Wilkinson was inditing these misleading missives to the President,
he was preparing the way for his entry at New Orleans. To the perplexed
and alarmed Governor he wrote: "You are surrounded by dangers of
which you dream not, and the destruction of the American Government is
seriously menaced. The storm will probably burst in New Orleans, where
I shall meet it, and triumph or perish!" Just five days later he wrote
a letter to the Viceroy of Mexico which proves him beyond doubt the
most contemptible rascal who ever wore an American uniform. "A storm, a
revolutionary tempest, an infernal plot threatens the destruction of the
empire," he wrote; the first object of attack would be New Orleans,
then Vera Cruz, then Mexico City; scenes of violence and pillage
would follow; let His Excellency be on his