Under the circumstances there was nothing for the Commodore to do but retire to his farm in New Jersey, his outstanding professional career having been brought to an abrupt end, and to brood over the injustice that he had every reason to believe had been done him. He was on his farm in the summer of 1803 when Burr, having fought his duel with Hamilton, found it expedient to get away from New York. He and Truxtun were friends and Burr, on his way south, spent a night under Truxtun’s roof.
None of these past circumstances concerned Thomas Truxtun as he raised his right hand and solemnly swore to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
During the winter of 1805–06, the Commodore began, he saw much of his friend Burr, who in their conversations frequently mentioned a speculation in western lands. He spoke also of opening a canal or building a bridge on the Ohio River. But Truxtun made it clear that he was not interested.
The topic of conversation then turned to the Government. According to Truxtun, Burr urged him to get the Navy out of his head, declaring it would dwindle to nothing. Finally, some time in July of 1806, Truxtun recalled, Burr told him he wished to see him unwedded from the Navy of the United States and to think no more of “those men at Washington.” Burr, according to the Commodore, said he wanted to “see” or “make” him an admiral. Truxtun was not sure of the expression used. Burr then disclosed that he contemplated an expedition to Mexico in the event of a war between the United States and Spain. He asked if Truxtun would take command of a naval force in this undertaking. Truxtun said he inquired whether the Chief Executive of the United States was a party to or concerned in the project. When Burr answered emphatically that he was not, Truxtun replied that in that case he would have nothing to do with it.
Burr, according to Truxtun, confided to him that, in the event of a war with Spain, he proposed to establish an independent government in Mexico, that General Wilkinson of the Army and many officers of the Navy would join him. Truxtun remarked that he did not see how an officer of the United States could join. To this Burr replied that Wilkinson had first projected the expedition and that he, Burr, had matured it. He added that many greater than Wilkinson would take part, and thousands to the westward.
Truxtun testified further that Burr told him that, if there were no war with Spain, he intended to invite friends to settle on a piece of land on the Washita River for which he was about to complete a contract. Burr estimated that within a year he would have 1,000 families of respectable and fashionable people there.
Such in substance was Commodore Truxtun’s testimony. It was worth all the rest, for it was so patently honest that nobody questioned it.
When he had finished Burr inquired of him: “Did you ever hear me express any intention or sentiment respecting a division of the Union?”
“We were very intimate,” Truxtun answered. “There seemed to be no reserve on your part. I never heard you speak of a division of the Union.”
Burr could not have asked for better testimony from one of his own witnesses. It must have erased from the minds of the jury whatever unfavorable conclusions had been reached as a result of Eaton’s insistence that division of the Union was Burr’s aim. On the other hand the more astute among them may have made allowances for Burr’s habit of saying to each individual just so much as he felt that individual should know.