From James Madison to James Monroe, 7 April 1806
To James Monroe
Department of State April 7. 1806
Sir,
I inclose a copy of a representation which has been made to the President by the Secretary of the Navy, with respect to the conduct of Mr Lyman, in the case of the ship the Huntress.1 It is hoped that the explanations of Mr Lyman, will disclose circumstances varying the aspect under which the transaction has presented itself to Mr Smith. Should it unfortunately result from your enquiry that he is chargable with gross inattention, or that his conduct is marked with any other less excusable character, it is the direction of the President, that according to the degree in which it may have happened, you either suspend him from office, or limit yourself to reporting a just state of the case.
I need not suggest to you the propriety of furnishing Mr Lyman with a copy of the complaint against him, or that a sight of this letter will be a sufficient authority, if he should require any, for the discretion vested in you by the President. I have the honor to be &c2
James Madison
Letterbook copy (DNA: RG 59, IM, vol. 6).
1. The enclosure has not been found but was doubtless Robert Smith to Jefferson, 31 Mar. 1806 (, 6:409), complaining that William Lyman had allowed the captain of the Huntress to unload the cargo of supplies for the Mediterranean squadron and to return to the United States, that Lyman had authorized and paid for extensive repairs to the ship for which he apparently expected reimbursement from the Navy, and that Smith had heard nothing from him since the cargo was restored to the U.S. government on 12 Sept. 1805.
2. In the margin of the letterbook copy, Jacob Wagner has written: “This letter was not forwarded.” The arrival at the State Department of William Lyman’s 14 Jan. 1806 dispatch to JM, which discussed the Huntress, may have obviated the need to send this letter to Monroe.