It was Wilkinson who made
public an incriminating letter which had Clark's signature
attached and which Clark said he had never seen. It is to be
supposed that Number Thirteen was responsible also for the
malevolent anonymous letter accusing Clark of drunkenness and
scheming which, so strangely, found its way into the Calendar of
State Papers of Virginia.* As a result, Clark was censured by
Virginia. Thereupon he petitioned for a Court of Inquiry, but
this was not granted. Wilkinson had to get rid of Clark; for if
Clark, with his military gifts and his power over men, had been
elevated to a position of command under the smile of the
Government, there would have been small opportunity for James W
Wilkinson to lead the Kentuckians and to gather in Spanish gold.
So the machinations of one of the vilest traitors who ever sold
his country were employed to bring about the stultification and
hence the downfall of a great servant.
* See Thomas M. Greene's "The Spanish Conspiracy," p. 78,
footnote. It is possible that Wilkinson's intrigues provide data
for a new biography of Clark which may recast in some measure the
accepted view of Clark at this period.
Wilkinson's chief aids were the Irishmen, O'Fallon, Nolan, and
Powers. Through Nolan, he also vended Spanish secrets.
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