Civil War Articles by Julian WilliamsCaptain Wilson Conner Suddenly Has More Than One Enemy
This article was compiled by Julian Williams.
Rev. Elder Captain Wilson Conner stood high in the stirrups of his trusty steed to rest the seat of his anatomy, lengthen the sinews of his constitution, and squint out of his mind's eye to try to figure out what in tarnation was going on. All but the latter proved to be relaxing. The latter proved to be quite vexing.
Did these military and political varmints want to cut bait or fish? Had they not, from Washington, D.C. to the site of Jacksonville, Georgia, made it known that the country wanted to take East Florida from the Spanish? Was not Andrew Jackson himself involved in promoting taking everything for this country? Had not the very Congress of the U.S. appropriated $100,000 for the undertaking (although very quietly)? Had not General Mathews been dispatched, under the approval of the federal and state government (Georgia), to head up this important mission? Had he not himself, in his own official military capacity, and uniform to prove it, been invited on this mission of serious importance?
As Wilson Conner eyed Lodowick Ashley he probably wondered what Lodowick was thinking. Lodowick had helped the other Ashleys from South Carolina settle St. Marys around 1793. Here was a man who also wanted action. Lodowick and some of the other Ashleys would move on up to Lower Telfair a little later. That would make them neighbors. But right now, this East Florida thing had to be settled and its simplification was getting more difficult by the moment. The British were not helping matters by making war on us.
But Captain Conner could not beset himself with the technicalities of the bureaucracy. His job was siege, capture, and establish. Lay siege to the Spanish fort at Fernandina, capture the Spanish governor and anyone else who looked important or threatening, and establish the "Republic of East Florida" which would be turned over to the U.S. government. To Wilson Conner that charge seemed to be somewhat clear, or at least unobtrusively translucent. But his ideas on the moral fiber of his backers were getting a workout. He was aware, like the knights of old, that his position of "Siege" was becoming "Siege Perilous" - "a seat at King Arthur's Round Table reserved for the knight destined to achieve the quest of the Holy Grail and fatal to any other occupying it."
Pondering such a position, not mythical to him, gave strength, not discouragement, to Wilson Conner. Because he, like no other, had been destined to take up the mantle of soldier and chaplain to extend the boundaries of the country and to establish the sanctuaries of "the Holy Grail." He indeed was God's vessel to subdue and endure and accomplish. This he would do. He had a tandem in tow - one part secular, the other spiritual.
So, the Spanish governor was captured, the Patriots Flag raised at Fernandina, and the "republic" government was established. Rev. Elder Captain Siege Perilous Wilson Conner was succeeding in his mission. So far, so good. If his name, with attendant titles, gets any longer we will have to have two lines to hold it. And get longer it did.
With their coup under their belts, the Georgians and those from other parts began setting up the new government. They called it "the District of Alotchaway (Alachua) in the Republic of East Florida." A district within a republic within a country in a territory or province that was not yet a state and really not yet part of the country. If it seems confusing now, think about those poor souls who were trying to negotiate all that back then.
Anyway, Wilson Conner, kin of the Willcoxes, was there. And this is what Sid Johnson had to say in his book, "Longpondium."
"The whole object of the exercise was to create a sufficient semblance of a government that it could "tender" the Florida territory to the United States. A resolution by the Legislative Council on January 25, 1814, provided that:
---- Wilson Conner, Esquire, be appointed a Minister Plenipotentiary for this Republic to the Congress of the United States of America with the full and ample powers and authority to cede to the United States of America the District of Alotcheway and the Republic of East Florida on such conditions as shall be plainly expressed and the commission of the said Wilson Conner, Minister Plenipotentiary aforesaid to accomplish the object contemplated in this resolution."
With this additional accolade and appellation the character of this saga becomes The Reverend Elder Captain Siege Perilous Minister Plenipotentiary Wilson Conner, Esquire. His handle is getting longer but he set out to accomplish his mission.
"Conner apparently departed on his journey to Washington to complete his assigned duty in this conspiratorial matter of state. However, he fell ill when he reached Louisburg, North Carolina, and was forced to tarry there for a while. Despairing of completing his trip to Washington, he wrote to Secretary of State James Monroe, tendering his credentials and cession documents. A month later, having heard nothing from the Secretary, he addressed another letter expressing concern for the mission. In a few days, Monroe responded:
The papers referred to in your letter of the 7th inst were duly received at this office. The United States being at peace with Spain, no countenance can be given by this government to the proceedings of the revolutionary party in East Florida, if it is composed of Spanish subjects, -- and still less can it be given to them if it consists of American citizens, who, so far as their conduct may fall within the scope of existing laws long enacted and well known and understood, will be liable to censure."
In a nutshell, James Monroe was saying to Wilson Conner, "We don't know you and we certainly object to what you are doing and if we or they (Spanish) catch you, God have mercy upon you!"
As Wilson Conner tried to eat his supper that night he probably didn't want crawfish. For those sorry fellows had crawfished in the grandest style and were now disavowing all they had instigated and supported. He almost had the thoughts of poor, now dead, General Mathews, who became so incensed that he uttered a vengeful vow against them and was on his angry way to Washington, D.C., to carry it out physically when he fell dead in Augusta, Georgia. Unfortunately, he was now gone. Fortunately, for Madison and Monroe, he didn't make it to Washington.
Did Minister Plenipotentiary Wilson Conner make it to Washington? Probably not. But history and legend here are a little obtrusively opaque for us. History sort of ends with ole Wilson Conner along the trail, on his way to Washington. Legend has it that he was the first man ever to preach on the steps of the Capitol.
While such an event is improbable it sure wasn't impossible for a man named The Reverend Elder Captain Siege Perilous Minister Plenipotentiary Wilson Conner, Esquire. Remember, the old saint, even when tarnished by the shortcomings of those around him, and his own, was a "ubiquitous" man. He seemed to be everywhere at once. And who knows, that might have included a thunderous oration upon the Capitol steps at Washington, D.C.
But right now, he had decisions to make. And he thought the first one was to get rid of the appellation designating him as the holder of the chair "Siege Perilous." He was thinking it was, indeed, a fatal seat for the one who resided there very long. But, on second thought, he would keep it. For whosoever stays with The Lord shall grasp the Holy Grail.
Wilson Conner had things to do, The Lord willing, and it would take more than Mr. Madison and Mr. Monroe to stop him.
Credits:
Albert Sidney Johnson for "Longpondium";
Peg Conner Corliss for notes on Wilson Conner;
Gene Barber for The Way It Was;
Thomas A. Bailey for A Diplomatic History of the American People;
parallels and incongruities of history and legend.
