James
Wilkinson was born in Calvert County, Maryland in 1757. He was the
son Joseph and Betty Heighe Wilkinson. His father was a prominent merchant
and planter in
Calvert
County. James was sent to Philadelphia where he studied medicine. After
graduation still a teenager of eighteen years, he began practicing
medicine in a rural
area
of eastern Maryland. He rushed to General George Washington's headquarters
at Cambridge, Massachusetts when the Revolutionary War broke out to enlist
his services.
In
Cambridge he became acquainted with Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. By
1777, James had become lieutenant colonel and held the position of deputy
adjutant
general
of the forces commanded by Major General Horatio Gates. When the British
were defeated at Saratoga, Gates selected Wilkinson to negotiate the terms
of
surrender.
He delivered word of victory to Congress and they were so impressed
with Wilkinson's message they made him a brigadier general. During
the remainder of
the
war, Wilkinson was known for getting in and out of trouble. Somehow he became
involved in a plot by General Thomas Conway to replace General Washington
with
General
Gates. Wilkinson betrayed the conspiracy to officers friendly to Washington
and shifted the blame to Colonel Robert Troup, who was Gates's top aid and
a friend
to
Colonel Alexander Hamilton. Gates learned the truth and publicly confronted
Wilkinson for his breach of military ethics. Wilkinson immediately challenged
Gates to a duel.
Both
parties emerged without injury, although Wilkinson's military reputation
was ruined. He resigned his commission in March 1778. Less than
a year an a half,
Wilkinson
managed to get an appointment as clothier general of the Continental Army.
After two years as an effective administrator, he again resigned in March
1781.
During
his retirement from the service in November 1778 , he married Ann Biddle,
an attractive Philadelphian, whose family had close ties with Colonel Aaron
Burr. Three
years
after his retirement in 1781, James and Ann came to Kentucky, where he built
homes in Louisville and in the country on South Elkhorn near Lexington.
There he
used
his medical skills, dispensing his medicines to the ill and occasionally
delivering a baby, when no midwife was available. He was a proprietor of
a store in Lexington
and
he was often seen traveling the roads around the Bluegrass peddling his
goods.
During
the War of 1812, James Wilkinson was promoted to the rank of major general
and commanded the army for the invasion of Canada. After the failure
of the
Montreal
campaign in the fall of 1813, he spent the next few years writing his Memoirs
of My Own Times in 1816. In 1817 he moved to his plantation near New
Orleans
and
in 1820 went to Mexico, where he was an adviser to Emperor Agustin d Iturbide.
He died on December 28, 1825 and was buried in Mexico
City.
Sources:
The Kentucky Encyclopedia, by Kleber
The Capital On The Kentucky, by Kramer
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