264  THE  AARON  BURR  CONSPIRACY


Shortly  after  my  arrival,  I  learned  the  plot  of  the  incen-
diaries. .  .  .'  After  knowing  the  chief  object,  I  could
not  understand  the  means  for  its  achievement,  without
which  knowledge  I  could  not  take  my  measures  to  secure
the  possessions  of  the  King.  December  ist,  however,  I
learned  that  Burr  had  selected  the  mouth  of  the  Cumber-
land as  the  point  for  the  reunion  of  his  forces,  .  ..
that  Baton  Rouge  was  the  first  point  proposed  for  attack.
I  therefore  withdrew  three  hundred  men  from  the  garri-
sons of  Pensacola  and  Mobile  for  its  defense."

It  is  most  significant  that  as  early  as  October
ist,  while  Burr  was  still  busy  with  preliminaries  and
before  Wilkinson,  according  to  his  story,  knew  of  the
plot,  this  Spaniard  should  have  reported  it  hostile  to
his  country,  and  that  so  late  as  February  15,  1807,  he
had  not  modified  his  opinion.
Meanwhile,  on  the  Coffee  House  book  in  New
Orleans,  which  contained  many  entries  of  note,  was
written  January  21st:  "General  Wilkinson  received  an
express  last  night  by  which  he  was  positively  informed
that  Colonel  Burr  was  at  Bayou  Pierre."  It  was  also
rumored  that  Colonel  Claiborne  and  Captain  Scott,
with  three  hundred  militia,  had  gone  in  pursuit  of  him.
Reports  were  conflicting.  "Those  at  the  head  of  affairs
(we  hope  from  motives  of  public  safety)  maintain  the
most  profound  silence,"  1  said  the  Gazette.  Claiborne
and  Wilkinson  at  once  addressed  a  joint  letter  to  the
governor  of  Mississippi :  —

"Understanding  that  Aaron  Burr  has  taken  post  within
the  territory  over  which  you  preside,  we  cannot  but  ex-
press our  solicitude,  lest  his  pretensions  to  innocence,  and

1Orleans  Gazette,  January  23,  1807.
'Gayarre,  iv.,  177.
