“November 25. Present at first the four heads of department; but after a while General Dearborn withdrew, unwell. Despatches from General Wilkinson to myself of October 21, by a confidential officer (Lieutenant Smith), show that overtures have been made to him which decide that the present object of the combination is an expedition by sea against Vera Cruz; and by comparing the contents of a letter from Cowles Meade to the Secretary of State, with the information from Lieutenant Smith that a Mr. Swartwout from New York, brother of the late marshal, had been at General Wilkinson’s camp, we are satisfied that Swartwout has been the agent through whom overtures have been made to Wilkinson. We came to the following determinations,--that a proclamation be issued (see it), and that orders go as follows: To Pittsburg, if we have a military officer there; ... Marietta, Mr. Gallatin is to write to the collector; ... General Dearborn to write to Governor Tiffin, ... and to write to General Jackson, supposed to be the general of the brigade on the Virginia side of the river; ... Louisville, General Dearborn to write to the Governor of Kentucky; ... Massac, General Dearborn to give orders to Captain Bissell of the same tenor, and particularly to stop armed vessels suspected on good grounds to be proceeding on this enterprise, and for this purpose to have in readiness any boats he can procure fitted for enabling him to arrest their passage; Chickasaw Bluffs, give same orders as to Bissell; New Orleans, General Wilkinson to direct the station of the armed vessels; and if the arrangements with the Spaniards will permit him to withdraw, let him dispose of his force as he thinks best to prevent any such expedition or any attempt on New Orleans, or any of the posts or military stores of the United States. (He is also to arrest persons coming to his camp and proposing a concurrence in any such enterprise, and suspected of being in camp with a view to propagate such propositions. This addition is made by General Dearborn with my approbation.)” The orders to Wilkinson were instantly sent. “You will use every exertion in your power,” Dearborn said,[193] “to frustrate and effectually prevent any enterprise which has for its object, directly or indirectly, any hostile act on any part of the territories of the United States, or on any of the territories of the King of Spain.” Persons found in or about the military camps or posts, with evident intention of sounding officers or soldiers, were to be arrested, and if not amenable to martial law, were to be delivered over to the civil authorities.