Books and Manuscripts

On the Brink of War with Great Britain President Thomas Jefferson Praises the Spirit of the American People Defending their Rights

(Washington, D.C.), July 11, (18)07. One sheet folded to make four pages, 9 3/4 x 8 in. (279 x 203 mm). An unrecorded autograph letter, signed by Thomas Jefferson as President of the United States, to Captain Robert Anderson and the Volunteer Company of Williamsburg, responding to their offer of their services following the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair the previous June. With the original address leaf present, addressed and free franked by Jefferson, and docketed in another hand to same; remnants of original wax seal present; each sheet silked; creasing from original and contemporary folds. This letter is not printed in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (Princeton University Press), nor on Founders Online.

"To Capt. Robert Anderson & the volunteer company of Williamsburg

The offer of your services, in support of the rights of your country, merits and meets the highest praise: and whenever the moment arrives in which these rights must appeal to the public arm for support, the spirit from which your offer flows, that which animates our nation, will be their sufficient safeguard.

To the legislature will be rendered a faithful account of the events which have so justly excited the sensibilities of our country, of the measures taken to obtain reparation, & of their result: and to their wisdom will belong the course to be ultimately pursued.

In the mean time it is our duty to pursue that proscribed by the existing laws. The authority of these having been recently & grossly outraged in the State of Virginia, the Governor will employ such portions of it's (sic) militia, as, in cooperation with the force of the US. in the same quarter, may protect the country, it's (sic) citizens & property from violence. towards this your services are accepted under his direction.

I tender, for your country, the thanks you so justly deserve.

Th: Jefferson
July 11. 07."

With the United States and Great Britain on the brink of war following the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, President Thomas Jefferson praises the patriotism of a Virginia militia captain as well as the American people who offer their services to defend the United States during a time of crisis.

Three weeks earlier, on June 22, the British 50-gun HMS Leopard pursued, attacked, and boarded the American frigate Chesapeake off the shores of Norfolk, Virginia, in search of British Navy deserters. The incident was a violent escalation of Britain's years-long campaign of accosting American merchant ships and impressing its citizens into the British Navy. The attack resulted in three dead American sailors, 18 wounded, four captured, and the young nation humiliated. The incident inflamed tensions between the United States and Great Britain, and infuriated the American public who united in a call for a forceful response. As Jefferson writes, Britain's brazen act of violence "justly excited the sensibilities of our country," and put the two on war's doorstep. As Jefferson surmised in a separate letter, not since the Battles of Lexington and Concord, on the eve of the American Revolution, had the country been left so outraged and seeking vengeance. American patriotism soared in the weeks following the attack and a call to arms echoed across the country, with militia companies writing to Jefferson to offer their support to defend the United States. Robert Anderson (1781-1859), a militia captain in Williamsburg, Virginia, was likewise outraged and offered Jefferson his company's service to protect the United States's sovereignty, and to defend her honor.

Jefferson was deliberately slow to formally respond to the incident, and weighed public support for war against its uncertain and likely devastating consequences. The American army at this time was weak and ill-prepared after years of divestment to again engage in war with the world's strongest military. On July 2, Jefferson sent a diplomatic threat to Great Britain when he issued a proclamation ordering British warships and privateers out of American waters. Concurrently, Secretary of State James Madison demanded an apology from the British, the return of the four captured men, and an end to the hated campaign of impressment of American sailors. On the state level, Virginia Governor William H. Cabell--as Jefferson apprises Anderson--summoned the Virginia militia, and ordered them to patrol its coastline and keep tabs on the many British ships off its shores. The British were unmoved and offered no concessions or apologies, and impressment continued.

Following months of further deliberation, Jefferson chose to conduct commercial warfare on Britain instead of war, and in December 1807 he signed The Embargo Act into law. The Act closed export shipping from all American ports to all foreign countries and severely curtailed the importation of goods from some nations. The Act intended to punish Britain and France into recognizing American sovereignty and to end impressment, but failed and instead primarily hurt the American economy. It was eventually repealed in 1809 with the passage of the Non-Intercourse Act, which resumed export to all countries except Britain and France.

During Jefferson's presidency, the Napoleonic Wars (1803-15) increasingly brought the United States into conflict with Great Britain. While Napoleon's army controlled Europe on land, and Britain's Navy reigned supreme at sea, each country conducted economic warfare to curb the other's ability to materially continue the conflict. Britain's Order-in-Council implemented a naval blockade of France and Europe and authorized the British navy to seize ships violating the blockade. France responded with the Berlin Decree that forbade trade with Great Britain. Although neutral, American trade interests became entangled in these imperial war games. American merchant vessels frequently became the target of raids and assaults by the British Navy who viewed their trade with France and her colonies as aiding the enemy. Coinciding with this was the brutality of the war itself that caused many British sailors to desert their ships, some of whom found themselves working on American merchant vessels. In response, Great Britain began an aggressive campaign of stopping and searching American ships on the high seas to recover deserters. These "press gangs" impressed--or forcefully recruited--sailors into the British Navy if they couldn't prove their American citizenship. The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair brought to a violent head years of this British harassment in which close to 10,000 American sailors were forced into British service, which in five years would lead to the outbreak of the War of 1812.

Robert Anderson (1781-1859) was a merchant, Federalist politician, and plantation owner, who lived in Yorktown and Williamsburg, Virginia. He served three terms as Williamsburg's mayor: 1812-13, 1820-21 and finally 1828-29, and was a militia captain in Williamsburg and Yorktown until 1837. He also served as an agent for the Mutual Assurance Society and the Aetna Insurance Company, was a director of the James City Steamboat Company, and held extensive real estate in Virginia.

An unrecorded letter, signed twice by Jefferson as President.