James Wilkinson

James Wilkinson (March 24, 1757 – December 28, 1825) was an American soldier / officer, politician, and later discovered to be Royal Spanish secret agent #13, who was associated with multiple scandals and controversies, including the Burr conspiracy.

He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, but he was twice compelled to resign. He was twice the Senior Officer of the U.S. Army, also known as the "General-in-Chief", appointed to be the first Governor of the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase of 1803, later organized by the United States Congress as the new Louisiana Territory in 1805–1807, and commanded two unsuccessful military invasion campaigns in the St. Lawrence River theater north in Canada during the War of 1812. He died while seeking to serve as a diplomat in Mexico City, the capital of the newly independent Republic of Mexico.

Four decades later in 1854, following extensive archival research in the Royal Spanish archives in their capital of Madrid, Louisiana historian Charles Gayarré (1805–1895), exposed Gen. Wilkinson as having been a highly paid spy in the service of the Kingdom of Spain and its Spanish Empire. In the 170 years since Gayarré's research became public, Wilkinson has been savagely condemned by American historians and politicians. According to amateur historian/author and 26th President Theodore Roosevelt, "[I]n all our history, there is no more despicable character." However, he has been defended, especially in breaking up the Burr conspiracy. Provided by Wikipedia