Series: 1 N (Volume 1)
Scope and Content Note

Original Croghan family manuscripts, 1769 -1819. One letter (1780) and a few other papers concern land claims of the elder George Croghan. William Croghan's papers include muster rolls and payrolls, 1776 1779, for his company in the Eighth Virginia Regiment, and similar records, 1779-1782, for the companies of John Bailey, Abraham Chaplin, Robert George, John Girault, and Richard McCarty in the Illinois Regiment; William's diary and notes on land surveys during a trip from Louisville to Nashville in 1784; a passport (1788) issued to him and signed by Estevan Mere, governor of Louisiana; and correspondence on land business, payment for military service, and administration of the Illinois grant. There are a few letters by his son John and a series of letters, 1811-1816, by his son George detailing his military experiences in Indiana and Ohio during the War of 1812, daring which he won acclaim as commander of Fort Stephenson for his brilliant defense against a larger force of British and Indians (1813).

In addition to the Croghans, writers of letters include John Bailey, John Brown, Jr. (Kentucky), Joseph Calvit, Arthur Campbell, John B. Campbell, Abraham Chapline, Daniel Clark, Jonathan Clark, Lardner Clark, Nicholas Clarke, Joseph H. Daviess, John Dodge, William Henry Harrison (1814), William Leas, Presley Nevill, John O'Connor, John C. Owings, Littleton Tazewell, and Robert Todd.

Series: 2 N (Volume 2)
Scope and Content Note: Notebook and diary kept by Richard McCarty while a sergeant in William Croghan's company in the Eighth Virginia Regiment. The volume contains rolls (1776) of Croghan's company and McCarty's diary entries, August 26 - September 25, 1776, and November 23, 1776 - February 1, 1777, covering campaigns in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Series: 3 N (Volume 3)
Scope and Content Note: William Croghan's manuscript diaries, November 28, 1779 - May 4, 1780, and February 7 - April 8, 1781. The earlier entries give detailed coverage of the march of his regiment from New Jersey to South Carolina and of his participation in the siege of Charleston, accompanied by a summary of events in Charleston in February and March prior to his arrival there on March 30. Although he was captured during the siege, no entries describe this event or his months as a British prisoner. The few sheets for 1781 describe his trip from Charleston to Virginia after his release. Both diaries contain accounts of social activities he enjoyed with the Marquis de Lafayette and members of the Washington, Ball, and Lewis families in Fredericksburg. On February 11 and 22, 1780, he also recorded civic celebrations in Fredericksburg and Richmond, Virginia, in honor of George Washington's forty-eighth birthday.