THE HISTORICAL MAGAZINE. VOL. V.] General Department. AUGUST, 1861. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND BEATRICE ENRIQUEZ. WASHINGTON IRVING, in his "Life of Columbus," a work of which we may well be proud, as the first full biography ever written of a man whom Italy regards as one of her glories, and whom Spain recognizes as having given her a New World, but whom Italy and Spain almost consigned to oblivion, thus speaks of Columbus, and Beatrice Enriquez: "During his visit to Cordova, he had conceived a passion for a lady of that city named Beatrice Enriquez. This attachment has been given as an additional cause of his lingering so long in Spain, and bearing with the delays he experienced. Like most of the particulars of this part of his life, his connection with this lady is wrapped in obscurity. It does not appear to have been sanctioned by marriage. The lady is said to have been of noble family.* She was the mother of his second son, Fernando, who became his historian, and whom he always treated in terms of perfect equality with his legitimate son, Diego.' Irving does not positively assert the connection of Columbus and Beatrice, and the fruit of that connection to be illicit; he seems to adopt with reluctance the views of others. [No. 8. selly de Lorgues, has investigated the subject, and shown, we think, that the stain thus thrown on the character of the Discoverer of the New World is totally unmerited. He traces the rise and origin of the accusation, which dates entirely from the present century. No historian had, prior to 1800, breathed the least doubt as to the legitimacy of Ferdinand Columbus, whose tombstone and library may be said to be the only monuments of Columbus in Spain. In 1805, however, Count Galeani Napione, in writing a work to prove that Columbus was born at Cuccaro, found in one of the many lawsuits which arose among the descendants of Columbus, lawyer, whose case depended on setting aside an argument of Luis de la Palma y Freitas, a the claims of Ferdinand. To effect this, he asserted that Ferdinand was illegitimate, and in proof cited the passage of Columbus' will, in which he directs his son Diego to pay an annuity to Beatrice Enriquez, mother of his second son, Ferdinand. To sustain his case, Palma insisted that the omission to call her his wife, was positive He lost his case. proof that she was not. judges did not deem it proof positive, but Napidid, in 1809; and Spotorno, in his work on the one did; and on the credit of Napione, Cancellieri 66 The Origin and Birthplace of Columbus," in 1819, and in his "Codice Columbo Americano," in 1823, repeats the same charge. Navarette, finally, although all his researches were at war with the theory, adopted it, and Irving reluctantly yielded But, towards the close of his work, after speak- to the opinion which he found current. Thus, ing of "the last codicil of Columbus, made at the four centuries after the chains of infamy had been very verge of the grave," he says: "Another interred in his coffin, Columbus was again arclause recommends to the care of Don Diego, Be-raigned and as unjustly condemned, the only eviatrix Enriquez, the mother of his natural son, Fernando. His connection with her had never been sanctioned by matrimony, and either this circumstance, or some neglect of her, seems to have awakened deep compunction in his dying moments. He orders Don Diego to provide for her respectable maintenance; "and let this be done," he adds, "for the discharge of my conscience, for it weighs heavy on my soul." A recent French biographer of Columbus, Ro * Zuñiga, Anales Eccles. de Sevilla, lib. xiv., p. 496. HIST. MAG. VOL. V. 29 dence brought against him being the argument of a lawyer endeavoring, by some quibble, to save a desperate case. Those who adopted the story warmly endeavored to give it color by making Beatrice of low degree and poor; reasons, in their eyes, for the absence of marriage. Irving, however, admits that she was of noble birth, and cites an authority for the fact, giving none for the charge against her. Her brother, Rodrigo de Arana, is honorably mentioned; her nephew, Diego de Arana, was report of the committee has placed this subject, GENERAL WINDER AND THE CAPTURE OF has rendered it indispensably necessary. WASHINGTON. SIR: Since my arrival at this place, I have seen the report of the committee on the causes and particulars of the invasion of the city of Washington, &c., &c. The scope of that report and of the statements received by the committee from various persons, tends so directly to injure my character as Commander of the 10th Military District, that it has imposed upon me the necessity of demanding that my conduct be subjected to the investigation of a military court of inquiry; the only tribunal which, as an officer, I can recognize as competent or authorized to decide the question which the honorable committee have thought proper to raise by their report. It is unnecessary for me to impress upon you who are so sensible of it, how important it is to the nation and the army that the officers should protect their reputations with the most zealous vigilance; and thence the necessity of my being indulged, without unavoidable delay, with the opportunity of submitting my conduct to the investigation of a court of inquiry. It will also be superfluous for me to say that the question raised by the committee, will require that this court should consist of officers whose services, talents, and skill, are the most unquestionable. I am here, under an order from the war department, as a witness on the trial of Col: Coles, and an interval of a fortnight, which has occurred, I shall spend, by the permission of the court, with my family at Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania, to which place please direct your communications and orders to me. For your information, I inclose a letter which I have deemed it necessary to address to Mr. Johnson, the chairman of the committee, and beg that you will permit me to go to Washington, should I find it necessary, where, by my presence, I may be enabled with greater certainty to place this subject in a train to insure a just decision, whatever course may be taken. I beg leave however to state, in the most distinct manner, that whatever course the House of Representatives may take, or whatever decision they may make on this subject, I shall still insist upon the right to have my military conduct judged of by military men. The position in which the I am anxious to return to my command with the least possible delay, where, notwithstanding all that has been done to give the country a different belief, I trust I shall be able to prove, that the confidence heretofore reposed in me has not been misapplied. I have the honor to be, with great respect, Hon'able Sir, JAMES MONROE, WM. H. WINDER. Mr. Monroe has the pleasure to inform Mr. Fromentin that the President will have no hesitation in granting the court of inquiry, provided it is approved by the committee charged with the investigation. Mr. M. has written to Col. Johnson on the subject, on the receipt of whose answer, if favorable, the measure will be immediately adopted. Mr. Fromentin would promote the object if he would have the goodness to communicate with the committee concerning it. Dec. 23, 1814. SIR: Herewith inclosed you will receive a copy of the warrant appointing a court of inquiry, at your request; for further information relative to the court and evidence, I have to refer you to the President. I should transmit a copy of the report referred to, if one could be procured at this time. I have the honor to be, Sir, Very respectfully, Brig.-gen'l WINDER, U. States Army. Your mo. ob. Serv. Jan. 23, 1815. W. Scott, President, Col. John R. Fenwick, and Col. Wm. Drayton, members, is hereby appointed to meet at Baltimore, on the 26th day of January, 1815, to examine into the conduct of Brigadiergen. Winder, as embraced in the report of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the U. States by their committee appointed to inquire into the cause and particulars of the invasion of the city of Washington, by the British forces, in the month of August, 1814, and such other evidence and documents as may be laid before the court, by Lt. J. M. Glassell,* who is hereby appointed recorder of the same. The court is hereby empowered and required to give its opinion as to the merits of the case for the information of the President of the U. S.; and for so doing, this shall be a sufficient warrant. Given under my hand and the seal of the War Office, this 21st day of Jan'y, in in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and fifteen, and of the independence of the U. S., the 39th. By command of the President of the U. States, JAS. MONROE, REPORT. Sec'y of War. The court of inquiry, ordered to examine into and to report upon the conduct of Brigadier-gen. Winder, so far as it is connected with the capture and destruction of Washington, in August, 1814, unanimously submit the following as the sult of their investigations: The court, with great attention and much labor, have perused the numerous papers and documents referred to them, from whence they collect that Brigadier-gen. Winder was appointed to the command of the 10th Military Dist. of which Washington was a part, on the 2d day of July, 1814, that immediately thereafter he took every means in his power to put that District under a proper state of defence; that from the period when well-grounded apprehensions were entertained that the enemy meditated an attack upon the capital, his exertions were great and unremitted; that through these exertions, he was enabled to bring into the field on the 24th of August, 1814, the day on which the battle of Bladensburgh was fought, about 5 or 6000 men, all of whom, excepting four hundred, were militia; that he could not collect much more than one half this force till a day or two previously to the engagement, and 6 or 700 of them did not arrive until fifteen minutes before its com mencement that from the uncertainty whether Baltimore, the city of Washington, or Fort By subsequent order, Lieut. G. L. Nicholas was appointed in order. Washington, would be selected as the point of attack, it was necessary that Brigadier-gen'l Winder's troops should frequently change their positions, owing to which, and alarms causelessly excited in the night of the 23d of August, they were much fatigued, and many of them nearly exhausted at the time when the hostile army was crossing the bridge at Bladensburgh; that the officers commanding the troops were generally unknown to Gen'l Winder, and but a small number of them had enjoyed the benefit of military instruction or experience. The members of this court, in common with their fellow-citizens lament, deeply lament, the capture of the capital; and they regard, with no ordinary indignation, the spoliation of its edifices, those public monuments of art and science, always deemed sacred by a brave and generous foe; but amidst these mingled and conflicting sensations, they nevertheless feel it to be their duty to separate the individual from the calamities surrounding him, and to declare that to the officer upon whose conduct they are to determine, no censure is attributable. On the contrary, when they take into consideration the complicated difficulties and embarrassments under which he labored, they are of opinion, notwithstanding the result, that he is entitled to no little consideration; before the action he exhibited industry, zeal, and talent, and during its continuance a coolness, a promptitude, and a personal valor, highly honorable to himself and worthy of a better fate. The Court adjourned sine die. Attest: G. L. NICHOLAS, W. SCOTT, Major-gen'l and President. Lt. and Recorder. The President of the United States having been pleased to approve of the foregoing opinion of the court of inquiry, Brigadier-gen'l Winder will honorably resume his command, and report to the major-general commanding districts Nos. 4 and 10. By order of the Sec'y of War, D. PARKER, Adj.-general. ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR-GENERAL & OFFICE, 8, 1815. SIR: I have the honor to inclose to you a cerappointed to investigate your military conduct as tified copy of the Report of the court of inquiry, commanding general of the 10th Military District, during the summer of 1814. I am directed by the Secretary of War to advise you, that the President has been pleased to approve the report and opinion of the court; and to express to you the very favorable opinion |