September 26, 1812

Madison, James, 1751-1836

Printed document signed

Title: Privateer's commission for the sloop Union during the War of 1812

Signed by Madison as president and countersigned by James Monroe as secretary of state. Partly printed document commissioning the privateer, under the command of Captain Oliver Hicks and Lieutenant William Rust, to "seize and take any armed or unarmed British vessel, public or private, which shall be found in the jurisdictional limits of the United States or elsewhere on the high seas." Notes that the sloop weighed nine tons, was mounted with one gun, and was manned by a crew of seven. Document accompanied by a paper seal.

GLC00053

October 13, 1812

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Letter signed

Title: to John Steele

James Monroe advises the collector of customs in Philadelphia on the rules to follow regarding released British prisoners of war sailing home. Also requests that the secretary of state's office be informed of every cartel sailing from Steele's district. He outlines how Steele should work with the Marshall of Pennsylvania to prevent unintended releases of prisoners and arrange for payment for the passage of Americans released by the British. Monroe was then Secretary of State.

GLC00323

1814

Madison, James, 1751-1836

Pamphlet

Title: Message from the President of the United States....

Printed by Roger C. Weightman. House Document no. 6. Slipcased with four other pamphlets. War of 1812. Treaty of Ghent

GLC00381.01

1814

Madison, James, 1751-1836

Pamphlet

Title: Message from the President of the United States, transmitting copies..

Printed by A & G. Way. House document no. 8 dated October 14, 1814. War of 1812. Treaty of Ghent

GLC00381.02

1814

Madison, James, 1751-1836

Pamphlet

Title: Message from the President of the United States....

Senate document no.25 dated December 1, 1814. War of 1812. Treaty of Ghent

GLC00381.03

1815

United States. Treaties, etc.

Pamphlet

Title: Message from the President of the United States....

House document no. 66 dated February 20, 1815. War of 1812. Treaty of Ghent

GLC00381.04

13 April 1813

Rhea, Jonathan, 1758-1815

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Manumission of a mulatto slave named Benjamin Harkimon (or Harkinson)]

Sends John B. Timberlake, bursar of the frigate United States commanded by Commodore Decatur, an official document freeing thirty-three-year-old Harkimon (or Harkinson), who was aboard the United States, with the stipulation that Harkimon pay $200. Notarized by James Linn, "one of the Masters of the Court of Chancery of the State of New Jersey." Written on the same paper as a letter to Timberlake introducing the document. Contains a red wax seal.

GLC00340

1812-1817

Woodworth, Samuel, 1784-1842

Book

Title: The War. [Vol. 1-3, no. 1-119 (June 27, 1812-September 6, 1814, February, 1817)]

Published by S. Woodworth & Co., New York, New York. The journal ran from July 1812 to September 1814, and was revived for three issues in February 1817. Signed on the title page by "H W Alamer." Bound volumes of Samuel Woolworth's periodical on the War of 1812, "Being a Faithful Record of the Transactions of the War between the United States of America and their Territories, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Dependencies thereof." Publication was suspended from 1814-1817 due to insufficient subscribers so that few complete copies exist. The second run (Feb…

GLC00363

1814 - 1815

Header Record

Title: Treaty of Ghent pamphlet set [Decimalized .01-.04]

GLC00381

September 16, 1824

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

James Monroe discusses his diplomatic mission to France during the winter of 1796-1797. He requests a copy of the proceedings of the Hartford Convention, which took place during the winter of 1814-1815.

GLC00306

1782-1822

Various

Header Record

Title: Letters and documents of naval commanders in Revolution & 1812 [Decimalized .01-.10]

GLC00308

March 5, 1806

Preble, Edward, 1761-1807

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert Smith

Edward Preble offers Smith condolence for death of his wife. Smith was then secretary of the Navy. Treble had been a naval commander in the Tripolitan War and, at the time this letter was written, an adviser to Smith.

GLC00308.01

1812

United States. Congress

Pamphlet

Title: Address ... to their constituents on the subject of the war with Great Britain

Disbound. Signed "J Kent." Has states pencilled next to names of delegates in a different hand. Kent was an Assoc. Supreme Court Justice and Chancellor of Columbia Law School. A-D4 E2 ($1 signed)

GLC00422

12 November 1812

Dearborn, Henry, 1751-1829

Manuscript document signed

Title: Treaty for the Release of Prisoners of War upon their parole, and for their eventual exchange, concluded at Whitehall. U.S.

Cosigned by Robert McDouall for the British. General Dearborn, commander of the Northern Department of U.S. forces, and Captain Robert McDouall, aid de camp to the Governour in chief of Canada arranged this treaty for prisoner exchanges during the War of 1812, authorized by Lieutenant General George Prevost. Prescribes the process of exchange. Apparently Dearborn's copy.

GLC00437

1887

Andrews, Robert W., 1790-?

Pamphlet

Title: The Life and adventures of Capt. Robert W. Andrews...

Dornbusch II, 863, Nicholson p. 21. Andrews was a veterinary surgeon.

GLC00267.224

April 30, 1808

Madison, James, 1751-1836

Letter signed

Title: to William Pinkney

Discusses congressional proceedings, foreign affairs, the Chesapeake affair, British and French aggression, and the Embargo Act of 1807. A portion of the letter has been written in code and is translated in another hand. Letter signed as Secretary of State. Pinkney was the U.S. Minister to Great Britain.

GLC01191

July 9, 1813

Harrison, William Henry, 1773-1841

Manuscript letter signed

Title: to John Armstrong

Harrison makes an urgent request to the Secretary of War Armstrong for medical supplies to be sent to Cleveland, Ohio. Also asks that all liquor shipments be sent with a "dry-barrel" because "Experience has long since convinced all those in the western Country" that it is the only way to prevent its plunder. Letter written during the Siege of Fort Meigs. Numbered "No. 72."

GLC01193

February 23, 1813

Bainbridge, William, 1774-1833

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Timothy Bigelow

Letter written aboard the U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides), Boston Harbor. Bainbridge expresses pleasure in hearing of a vote of appreciation for the Constitution's victory over the British frigate H.M.S. Java. "To merit and receive the appreciation of our Country is our highest ambition, and is the greatest stimulus we can receive in the exertion of our duty." Letter addressed to Bigelow as the speaker of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

GLC01125

November 14, 1811

Gerry, Elbridge, 1744-1814

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Monroe

Gerry praises a message written by President James Madison, possibly pertaining to hostilities with England precipitating the War of 1812, as "firm, cool, candid, judicious & dignified - it is entitled to the resolute support of every friend to his Country, by every mean [sic], civil & military." In a postscript, he thanks Monroe for a letter he wrote and agrees with his ideas on "men & measures."

GLC01248

August 22, 1814

Beall, William Dent, 1757-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Lieutenant Colonel Beall reports on the British advance into Marlboro, Maryland, and the strength of the British force. Also requests money. Adds in a postscript: "It is of great importance that Col. Hood should march immediately. The Flotilla is in ashes & the men with General Winder." Letter written in the field two days before the Battle of Bladensburg, where Beall commanded. The American defeat at Bladensburg allowed British forces to enter Washington, D.C.

GLC01836.01

January 15, 1861

Townsend, Aurelia W., 1820-1885

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Benson John Lossing

Indicates that she is sending two engravings of General William H. Winder to Lossing. Also suggests sources for Lossing's historical research on the War of 1812 and indicates that Mrs. Winder (Gertrude Polk Winder) is forwarding contacts to Townshend's mother. Hopes to exonerate General Winder of perceived errors in his defense of retreat from Washington, D.C., when the city was captured by the British in 1814. Lossing, an historian, published 'The American revolution and the war of 1812' in 1875. Townshend was clearly Winder's kin, but the exact relation is unclear.

GLC01836.02

December 6, 1850

Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874

Autograph manuscript signed

Title: The Case of General Gratiot

Summarizes all the details of the case of the War of 1812 hero, General Charles Gratiot, from Gratiot's 1838 dismissal order through various appeals during the John Tyler administration. This brief was possibly prepared by a clerk for Fillmore's review and opinion. On page 25, Fillmore gives his conclusion on the case and writes about the presidential power of the right of removal vested by the constitution. He states, "It may have been good or bad, right or wrong, but the act itself was constitutional and perfect, and nothing can restore him [Charles Gratiot] but the appointing power,…

GLC01807

1828

Binns, John, 1772-1860

Broadside

Title: Monumental Inscriptions!

Depicts 6 fictitious funeral monuments, each to a militiamen executed by Jackson on 21 February 1815, after the Battle of New Orleans, for being deserters. The tombstones bear inscriptions detailing how each was a good man and soldier, and regardless of this, was "By the Orders of General Andrew Jackson, Shot to Death." Each monument was supposedly erected on 4 July, 1828. One monument reminds the reader "Let not the splendor of Military renown Blot out from your indignant recollection this bloody deed DONE BY A HERO." Includes a verse at the bottom entitled "Mournful Tragedy." Jackson…

GLC01825

circa 1815

Lee, John T., fl. 1815

Print

Title: View of... the... action between HMS Shannon and USF Chesapeake

Hand-colored aquatint published by G. Webster. The battle was fought near Boston. (Title is abbreviated here.)

GLC01853

29 November 1814

Adams, Abigail, 1744-1818

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Richard Rush

Addressed to Rush as Attorney General in Washington, D.C. Encloses a letter received from her son, John Quincy Adams, to the President, James Madison, and states that he may read the political parts to the President if he desires. States that the letter is John Q. Adams opinions on the "farce" of the peace negotiations with Britain during the War of 1812, and should not be made public. Comments upon the fate of Alexandria, Virginia. Finishes by saying, "I have not a word to say, in vindication of the conduct of my own native State, but much to deplore." Free frank of John Adams.

GLC02291