From Captain Bissell he shortly received a curt reply to the effect that Burr had already arrived at Massac, that his party showed no evidence of being on a warlike mission and had been permitted to proceed down the river.
Already Burr’s protestations of innocence had begun to have their effect on the General and now this report from Bissell strengthened his conviction of Burr’s sincerity. From then on in Jackson’s judgment Wilkinson, and not Burr, was the real culprit, and he acted accordingly.
In the ambitious roundup of witnesses that followed the Chief Justice’s demand on the prosecution for more evidence, General Jackson was caught and summoned by the lawyers of the Government to testify against Burr. But, contrary to the Government’s expectations, he turned out to be the noisiest of Burr’s champions, in the same breath attacking the Government and defending Burr in the very shadow of the Capitol for the benefit of anybody who chose to hear. Richmond’s best people already were aligned with Burr and needed no exhortations. But Jackson’s arguments were directed to the masses who up to this time had been clamoring for Burr’s blood. Jackson, too, spoke as a Republican to Republicans. Such a man was highly dangerous. To his friend Patton Anderson he wrote from Richmond on June 17: “I am sorry to say that this thing has in part assumed the shape of a political persecution.” No wonder then that, after bringing him all the way from Tennessee to Richmond, once the Government’s lawyers had heard about the speech, the prosecution decided it was best not to let him testify.
But the mischief went beyond the Burr trial. The break between Jackson and the Jefferson Administration was never mended. It was inherited by James Madison with the result that when the War of 1812 broke out the Government was reluctant to use their most competent general when he was sorely needed. Had Jackson commanded on the Canadian front the story might have been different.
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 Richmond, and, at the turn of the nineteenth century, transportation was primitive. One route Wilkinson might take was overland through wildernesses and by tortuous roads and trails. It had taken Burr and his captors three weeks to make the journey from Alabama to Virginia. It was more probable that the portly Major General, who liked his comfort, would choose a sea voyage. But that would put him at the mercy of wind and tide. To add to the uncertainty, the General was an inveterate procrastinator with an utter disregard for time.
Counsel for the defense made the most of the prosecution’s embarrassment. They enlarged upon the great inconvenience members of the Grand Jury were being put to, and that of the many witnesses waiting to be called. They expressed doubt as to whether Wilkinson would ever show up. Many thought him as guilty as Burr. Might he not prefer to flee the country rather than face Aaron Burr in person and possible exposure in Richmond?
Hay pleaded that allowance be made for a man “of General Wilkinson’s age and bulk to travel to this city.” To which Mr. Randolph of the defense retorted: “Surely there is enough time to travel from New Orleans to this city in seventeen days, even with the gigantic ‘bulk’ of General Wilkinson himself.”