the faction of "war Federalists" led by Hamilton. They opposed the moderate (mostly southern) Federalists and Jefferson's Republicans, who sought peace with France at any cost. In March, President Adams declared to Congress that negotiations had failed and that the United States must arm for potential war. The revelation of the XYZ affair effectively silenced all opposition and enabled Federalists to pass legislation creating a separate Department of the Navy. Adams appointed Cabot as the first United States Secretary of the Navy, but Cabot refused the appointment. Benjamin Stoddert filled the position in his place. Cabot became involved in the debate over the organization of a provisional army. Former President Washington suggested Hamilton, Pinckney, and former Secretary of War Henry Knox, in that order, serve as major generals. Despite this, Adams granted Knox the first rank. Cabot sided with Washington, Hamilton, and other leading Federalists in objecting to Knox's elevation; President Adams gave in, but the entire affair created divisions within the Federalists. Some Federalists suggested the Jeffersonian Elbridge Gerry, now returned from his mission to France, had undue influence over Adams's decision-making. In 1799, Adams, without consulting his cabinet, appointed Minister to the Netherlands William Vans Murray to lead a commission to renew peace negotiations with France, disappointing the war Federalists. Cabot remained strictly opposed to any negotiation with France without first advances toward reconciliation by the French. Despite his ardent opposition to Adams's policy toward France, Cabot sought to reconcile the factions within the Federalist Party, for fear of the party's destruction. Despite his efforts and frequent correspondence with leaders of both factions, the Federalist Party divided between the Adams and Pinckney-Hamilton campaigns through the remainder of 1799. Alien and Sedition Acts Cabot's distance from the Adams administration also grew over the Alien and Sedition Acts. Cabot defended John Marshall, a Federalist opponent of the Acts, to the shock of Cabot's friend Fisher Ames. Campaign of 1800 As the 1800 campaign approached and Adams prepared to seek a second term, tensions within the Federalist Party were exacerbated by the publication of the 1792 Tench Coxe letter, in which Adams insinuated that the Pinckney family were British sympathizers, and the death of President Washington. At this point, Adams dismissed Pinckney as Secretary of State; Cabot understood this as "the complete abandonment by Mr. Adams of all the best principles of the Federalist Party." Cabot was also distressed by the