The warrior’s next assignment was on the staff of General Horatio Gates who made him deputy adjutant general of the Army of the Northern Departments. It was then he first exhibited a fatal quality for appearing wherever intrigue was in the air. This instance was the Conway Cabal whose object was to cashier Washington and put Gates in his place. The Commander first got wind of it when Wilkinson, arriving in a garrulous mood at Lord Stirling’s headquarters, let out the contents of an incriminating letter from Conway to Gates. Wilkinson’s later version of the incident was that he deliberately made the disclosure. He was to develop an exceptional gift for shifting from the role of conspirator to patriot when the going got hot. However deeply he may have been involved in the plot it did not interfere with his continued rise in the military. He was promoted to brigadier and appointed clothier-general of the American Army, but he neglected his work, drew a rebuke from Washington, and shortly thereafter resigned from the service. Meanwhile Wilkinson had married Ann, daughter of John Biddle of Philadelphia, a merchant and innkeeper. His devotion to his wife was the one sincere and admirable feature of his life. He bought an estate in Pennsylvania and made a brief entry into local politics, serving as member of the State Assembly. Like Burr, Wilkinson was extravagant, loved display, and lived beyond his means. In an age when heavy drinking was not uncommon his indulgence was sufficiently conspicuous to provoke comment. He was soon overwhelmed with debt and, following the example of many other men in the same predicament, decided to go west to recoup his fortunes. It was in Kentucky and the Southwest that he was destined to spend the rest of his life. The Spaniards were then in possession of New Orleans, parts of the present Louisiana, the Floridas, Texas, and Mexico. They dreaded the crude American frontiersmen as the decadent Romans dreaded the Vandals and the Visigoths, expecting them at any time to swoop down, loot, destroy, and conquer. One of their defense measures was to seek out friends and informers among the Americans. In Wilkinson they found a willing collaborator. The Spaniards about this time closed the Mississippi to American goods coming down from the territories and the frontiersmen were indignant with the Spaniards--and with the indifference of their own government to their plight. It was then that the Spanish Plot took shape. Esteban Miro, Spanish Governor of Louisiana, fostered it by calling attention to the advantages to be gained by an establishment of a nation beyond the Alleghenies under the protection of Spain.