Mainly original manuscripts, 1812-1823, most of which were written during the war years, 1812-1815. Supplementing these are a few contemporary publications and later Draper notes and correspondence. Events in numerous theaters of war are touched upon in this miscellaneous assortment.

Two letters (1812) by Charles Larrabee to his father Adam describe his journey from Pittsburgh to Vincennes, the battle of Tippecanoe, and the earthquakes of 1811-1812. A bitter denunciatory account (1812) of William Hull's surrender was sent from Detroit by Nathaniel Adams to his brother; other criticism of the Detroit defeat was made by William Eustis to Henry Clay. Events in Illinois, Missouri, and the upper Mississippi region were the topics of one letter by Mann Butler and several by the younger John C. Symmes in 1812. James Winchester's defeat at Frenchtown in 1813 is documented by a letter by Thomas Smith, printed articles, manuscript lists of Kentucky militiamen and members of the Seventeenth Regiment of United States Infantry taken prisoner by the British, and abstracts of the numbers of Americans killed, wounded, and captured. Pertaining to Andrew Jackson's Creek campaign are his orderly book for October-December 1813, and an incomplete letter to him by William Martin. A letter (1815) to William A. Tremble and later reminiscences apparently based on a journal, both by Symmes, describe the campaign around Niagara in the summer of 1814. On naval affairs there is a letter by Thomas D. Owings about Perry's victory on Lake Erie (1813). Writing from Washington, D.C. (1814), Joseph H. Hawkins commented not only on the victory of the United States sloop Wasp but also on the economic need for a new bank. Losses sustained at the hands of British troops and Indians encamped on her property in Ontario near Lake Erie were detailed in an account (1815) by Catharine Brant, widow of the Mohawk leader, Joseph Brant. A letter (1823) of James Winchester to Alfred Shelby concerned use of some of Winchester's war documents. Writers of other letters on military matters in the West were John Bickley, Green Clay, Asa Lewis, Duncan McArthur, Return J. Meigs, and George Walker. Addressees not previously mentioned included Thomas T. Crittenden, Eustis, John S. Gano, Hugh Moore, Robert Patterson, Frederick Ridgley, Daniel Symmes, the elder John C. Symmes, and William W. Worsley.

Printed items of special interest include: several handbills and patriotic war proclamations issued by Governor Return J. Meigs of Ohio in 1812-1813; and three announcements (1813) of British victories issued by Edward Baynes, adjutant general at Kingston, Ontario, of which two were published as extra editions of the Quebec Mercury .