Excerpt from Review of T. L. McKenney's Narrative: Of the Causes Which, in 1814, Led to General Armstrong's Resignation of the War Office

My attention has lately been called to a work published by Thomas L. McKenney, which, though chiefly devoted to a defence of his official conduct as Superintendent of Indian Affairs, contains, dove-tailed among its chapters, one of political reminiscence, evidently intended as an attack on the late General Armstrong.

Having been for some time engaged in arranging the General's correspondence, and preparing a sketch of his life, with a view to publication, my first determination was, to leave Mr. McKenney's misrepresentations uncorrected, until such time as my work should be ready for the press. Circumstances, however, beyond my control will, probably, delay its appearance for some months, and I have thought it well in the meanwhile, to give to the offensive chapter, the notice it deserves. The following extract from Mr. McKenney's book will place the subject at once before the reader.

"During-the late war with Great Britain, or the greater part of it, as is known to everybody, Mr. Monroe was Secretary of State, and General Armstrong, Secretary of War, it is known also that soon after the capture of Washington and the conflagration of its Capitol, General Armstrong was superseded in the office of Secretary of War by Mr. Monroe. It was soon whispered that this change had been produced by the undermining agency of Mr. Monroe. Whence the rumor came, or by whom it was originated, no one knew, but it remained a source of deep disquiet to harass Mr. Monroe to the hour of his death."

How far the Secretary of State was implicated in the intrigue so successfully employed to produce his colleague's resignation of the War office, cannot now be ascertained. He was suspected of being "art and part" in this dirty business, on the well established principle, that he who profits by the crime is most likely to be the criminal, and the death bed scene so graphically sketched by his friend and follower, shows, that Mr. Monroe knew that he labored under such suspicion, and felt disquieted by it to his last hour. Is it not extraordinary, that a mere "rumor, " as McKenney characterizes the charge, should have so impressed the mind of the Ex-President, that fifteen years after the event that gave it birth, it continued to be a source of secret, corroding thought? One more disposed than I am to form uncharitable conclusions, might see in this continued apprehension, strong evidence of the working of a conscience ill at ease.

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