Armed Conflicts & the Military in the Special Collections Research Center

Accounts and a signed check, 1832-1842, of Francis Scott Key. Papers also include a letter, 22 August 1779, from Levin Handy, Paramus, N. J. to George Handy, Snow Hill, Md. describing the battle of Paulus Hook, N.J.; and notes, n.d., concerning the Revolutionary War claim of [?] Cazeau.

Photostats of correspondence, 1777-1812, of Bishop James Madison, President of College of William & Mary, with Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Joseph C. Cabell, St. George Tucker, and others. These copies are from originals housed in various libraries: Harvard College Library, Free Library of Philadelphia, University of the South, Church Historical Society in Austin, Texas, Maryland Historical Society, Chicago Historical Society, Yale University and the Free Library of Philadelphia. Includes Acc. 1971.15, copies of material relating to James Madison, collected and compiled by Dr. George Cleaveland.

Letters, copies and extracts, written by Edward Coles (1786-1868), who held the positions of secretary to President James Madison and Governor of Illinois. Subjects covered by the letters include James Madison and the War of 1812; Madison's not emancipating his slaves at his death; the claiming of public lands by individual states; the estate of James Monroe; Andrew Jackson; Thomas Jefferson's authorship of the Ordinance of 1787; and Jefferson's relationship with John Adams. Typescripts of letters written by Edward Coles to Nicholas Biddle, Joseph C. Cabell, Henry Clay, Albert Gallatin, Thomas Jefferson, Dolley Madison, James Madison, Joel R. Poinsett, Henry S. Randall, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, William Cabell Rives, Charles Sumner, Martin Van Buren and Robert C. Winthrop, among other correspondents.

Letters, chiefly 1765-1817, of the Blair, Banister, Braxton, Horner, and Whiting families. Correspondents include John Blair (1732-1800), Anne (Blair) Banister and Mary (Blair) Braxton Burwell Prescott. Many of the letters are written by women. Subjects covered in the collection include the Baron de Botetourt, William Tryon, Martha Washington, dueling, social life and customs, marriage and courtship, medicine, the Richmond theater fire, slavery, War of 1812, the College of William and Mary, and Williamsburg, Va.

Papers of four generations of the Campbell family of Orange Co., Va. including correspondence of William Campbell (1755-1823). His papers pertain to Revolutionary pensions, bounty land claims, the War of 1812, his superintendency of the Virginia State Penitentary, and his estate and includes a diary of a trip to Kentucky in 1798. There are also papers (correspondence and accounts) of his wife, Mrs. Susan Campbell and their children.

Diary, 1814 September 9 -1815 April 23, kept during military service in Captain [?] Otey's Company in War of 1812. Concerns line of march from Liberty (now Bedford), Va. to Richmond and discusses prices of items in Richmond and drills, and rations at the camp at Fairfield. Murphy spent 9 October to 26 November 1814 away from his unit, recovering from a broken arm. Diary concerns trip back to Bedford County and a trip to Pittsylvania County. The volume includes a description of Williamsburg and the celebration of Christmas there as well as descriptions of Yorktown and Tappahannock. Other subjects include a lawsuit for the troops to be discharged with William Wirt arguing against the commonwealth, Methodist meetings in Bedford County and an account of Murphy's expenses.

Items, 1785-1819, relating to William's sons, Francis Preston (1765- 1836), lawyer, member of the Virginia Legislature and the U.S. Congress; and his brother John Preston (1764-1827), member of the Virginia Assembly and long-time Treasurer of Virginia, including letters from John Preston to Francis Preston as well as correspondence of the two men with other people. Subjects covered in the letters include politics; the War of 1812; a carriage; the College of William and Mary; duels; the building of a house; and Indians. These papers also contain a certificate, 20 September 1793, of emancipation for a slave signed by Francis Preston; and his appointment of two military aides.

Artificial collections of papers, mainly 1830-1880 and 1941-1946, concerning the United States military but excluding Civil War materials. Collection includes return, 1782, of J. Pannill's Brigade, Williamsburg, Va.; printed regulations, 1814, for the uniform of U.S. Light Dragoons; pay voucher, 1833, for Philip St. George Cocke; papers, 1836-1848, concerning service of M.M. Payne; general order no. 94, and pencil sketch concerning the Mexican War; printed general orders for 1869, 1871, and 1877-1879; and posters concerning World War II.

Papers, 1772-1872, of the Blow family. Chiefly business papers, 1772-1820, of Richard Blow of Portsmouth and "Tower Hill," Sussex County, Va. and his son George Blow, Sr. and George Blow, Jr. of 'Tower Hill' and Williamsburg, Va. Richard Blow was a partner in stores in Virginia and North Carolina (trading as Richard Blow and Co., Briggs & Blow, Baker & Blow [South Quay, Nansemond County, Va.], Blow & Barksdale [Petersburg, Va.], and Blow and Scammel). He was also a plantation owner that operated in part by slave labor and he shipped the goods produced by the plantation by sea, often to European markets. His correspondence and papers during this period provide a model source on plantation management, sea trade, trade during the American Revolution, and trade during the War of 1812. Includes correspondence, plantation accounts, ship accounts, and legal papers.

Papers, chiefly 1783-1846, of Archibald Woods of Ohio County, West Virginia. The papers concern his family, the Poage family, and the Houston family, as well as his business dealings. Correspondents include Levi Barber, Daniel Call, Philip Doddridge, Chapman Johnson, Henry Lee, James Pindall, Benjamin Ruggles, Daniel Sheffey and John Tyler, Edgar Campbell Wilson, George Washington Wilson and Thomas Wilson. Subjects dealt with in the collection include banking, cholera, the Cumberland Road, land speculation, pioneer life near Wheeling, West Virginia and in Kentucky and Indiana, formation of and early days in Belmont and Monroe counties, Ohio (including the founding of Woodsfield, Ohio), the Northwest Territory, Indians of North America, family life, marriage and courtship, Virginia militia during peacetime and in the War of 1812, Ohio politics, sale of slaves and the Whiskey Rebellion.

Papers, 1765 (1800-1890) 1939, of the Austin, Twyman, Spiller and Horsley families of Amherst and Buckingham counties, Va. The papers include correspondence, accounts, legal papers and manuscript volumes. Includes papers of Archibald Austin (1772-1837), member of Congress, 1817-1819, member of the Virginia House of Delegates, 1815-1816, 1835-1837, his wife, Grace R. (Booker) Austin and their children, James M. Austin, John Austin and Bernard Austin, Grace Austin and Frances (Austin) Wright. Correspondents of Archibald Austin include William H. Cabell, Walter L. Fontaine, Charles Yancey, Waller Taylor, George Booker, and Robert T. Hubard. Subjects include the War of 1812, national politics and the business of the Virginia General Assembly.

Correspondence and other papers, mostly 1810-1860, of the Barraud family of Norfolk, Virginia. Correspondence of Dr. Philip Barraud (1758-1830), his wife, Ann Blaws (Hansford) Barraud (1760-1836), and their children, included Daniel Cary Barraud (1790-1867), Otway Byrd Barraud (b. 1801), and Leliana (Barraud) Baker (b. 1805). A number of the letters, as well as some poems, are from St. George Tucker (1752-1827), a close friend of Barraud's when he lived in Williamsburg, Va. Subjects covered include the War of 1812, medical service in the American Revolution and social life in Norfolk, Virginia. Also included are the commissions of John Taylor Barraud (1826-1860), U.S. Navy, and his narrative diary, 1844-1847, while serving off the Mexican coast; a contemporary copy (1820) of Thomas Jefferson's thoughts on the education of women; and grants for bounty lands awarded Daniel Cary Barraud for his service in the War of 1812.

Papers of Alexander Brown relating to the writings of his books, including notes, transcripts, drafts and correspondence with publisher Houghton, Mifflin & Co. and with members of his family requesting genealogical information. Collection includes letters of Benson J. Lossing concerning his "Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution" and "Pictorial Field Book of the War of 1812" and part of an agreement between the Mexican government and American capitalists drafted in the autumn of 1865 by Lew Wallace.

Reminiscences, 1846 February 22, of the War of 1812 and of the American Revolution. Concerns the Battle of Great Bridge, Norfolk County, Va., 9 December 1775; and the attack on and defense of Craney Island, also in Norfolk County, 22 June 1813. Also online at https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/25662

Correspondence of Dr. Caroline Baytop Sinclair and notes concerning his research of John Sinclair, Revolutionary and War of 1812 privateer. Collection also includes articles and clippings about John Sinclair, a Baytop genealogy, as well as correspondence about a piece of furniture given to the College of William and Mary. The book, "The Kidnapped Child" a novel about Henry Sinclair, written by Caroline B. Sinclair, 1983.

Contains Latin notes (Tacitus), scattered diary entries (concerning weather, farming and court business), drafts of deeds and agreements, drafts of speeches by Waller while running for commonwealth's attorney of Spotsylvania County and accounts, concerning corn and the rebuilding of Waller's Church. Includes a folder of loose Waller family items which concern the War of 1812, the Baptist Church and the Readjuster Party.