His resignation was accepted on the 6th of March, 1778; he was allowed to retain his rank of colonel, but was not again actively employed until near the close of the war, when for a time he filled the position of clothier-general to the army. Settling in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1783, he found the Mississippi River closed to American commerce, and Western produce rotting on the ground for want of transportation. Seeing he could speedily make a fortune, could he but obtain from the Spanish Government the exclusive right to trade with New Orleans, he paved the way by presenting to the commandant at Natchez a pair of Kentucky thoroughbred horses. Presently he loaded a boat with local produce and sent it down the river. It was seized, but of course released when he appeared as the owner. He now entered into formal negotiations. Taking advantage of the dissatisfaction in the West with the federal Government, because of its inability at that time to protect them from the Indians, and to open the Mississippi for purposes of transportation, Wilkinson covenanted, in return for a pension of $2,000 per annum, and the exclusive right of trade with New Orleans, to induce the Western States to separate from the Eastern, and place themselves under the protection of the Spanish Government. This plot had almost succeeded when it was discovered and defeated. Not finding trading as remunerative as he had hoped, he applied in 1791 for reinstatement in the army, and this request was granted by appointing him lieutenant-colonel, because, as was urged in Congress, being of a restless and intriguing disposition, “he was dangerous as long as he was unemployed.” His conduct justified this estimate, for he rendered such good service against the Indians that in 1792 he received the appointment of brigadier-general; and upon the death of Wayne, in 1796, he was given the supreme command on the Western frontier. In 1805, Wilkinson was appointed Governor of Louisiana, when he discovered and disclosed the conspiracy of Aaron Burr to establish a separate confederacy beyond the Alleghanies. Burr and Andrew Jackson declaring Wilkinson to be implicated, he was tried by court-martial in 1811, but acquitted because of insufficient proof, though his correspondence with the Spanish Government, since made public, establishes his guilt. He was advanced to the rank of major-general in 1813, and employed in the North; but his operations were unsuccessful, owing to a disagreement with Wade Hampton. A court of inquiry in 1815 exonerated him, however; but upon the reorganizing of the army, he was not retained in the service, and retired to Mexico, where he had acquired large estates. He died in the vicinity of the capital on the 28th of December, 1825. CHEVALIER DE LA NEUVILLE.