1James Madison to George Bancroft, 13 April 1836 (Madison Papers)
I have recd. with your letter of the 8th. the first Vol: of Genl: Armstrong’s "notices of the War of 1812"
and offer my thanks for the politeness to which I owe it.
2Thomas Dyson Clark to James Madison, 12 September 1834 (Madison Papers)
...look as a father would took to his family
and let ambition alone there would and is more Room to Heal than to Lascerate. I Digress. But one thing I Know that I
fought for my Country in the War of 1812. I went from Louisville Kentucky But if such a partiality of measures will
ultimately go on I say in
3To James Madison from Jonathan Roberts, 15 February 1828 (Madison Papers)
Encyclopedia of the War of 1812
4To James Madison from John Cox, 1 February 1828 (Madison Papers)
...13 Jan. 1828; to John C. Calhoun, 30 July 1826; and to Samuel Southard, 1 May 1825, attesting to the excellence of Cox’s character and his exertions in support of U.S. forces during the War of 1812.
5To James Madison from William Beach Lawrence, 30 January 1828 (Madison Papers)
Edward Sabine (1788–1883), a graduate of the Royal Military Academy and a career army officer who achieved the rank of general in 1870, was a veteran of the War of 1812 who fought in the Niagara Campaign in 1814. On his return to England, Sabine immersed himself in studies of astronomy and ornithology, and he was elected to the Royal Society in 1818, serving as its secretary, 1827–...
6From James Madison to John A. King, 17 October 1827 (Madison Papers)
). John Alsop King (1788–1867), son of Rufus King, was a veteran of the War of 1812 and a New York lawyer. He served as secretary of legation and charge d’affaires in London, 1825–26, and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1849–51. King served multiple terms in...
7To James Madison from Duff Green, 15 October 1827 (Madison Papers)
Duff Green (1791–1875), a veteran of the War of 1812, was a prominent Missouri merchant and politician before he moved to Washington, D.C., in 1825 and purchased the
8To James Madison from Alexander Macomb, 18 June 1827 (Madison Papers)
Alexander Macomb (1782–1841) was a career army officer who was promoted to brevet major general for his defense of Plattsburgh, New York, during the War of 1812. He was appointed chief engineer of the army after the war and in 1828 became commanding general, a position he held until his death (Heidler and Heidler, Encyclopedia of the War of 1812
9To James Madison from John A. Dix, 20 May 1827 (Madison Papers)
John A. Dix (1798–1879) was a veteran of the War of 1812 who remained in the army until 1826, assigned some of that time as aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen. Jacob Jennings Brown and rising to the rank of major. (For Dix’s visit to Montpelier with Brown...
10To James Madison from John Myers, 2 May 1827 (Madison Papers)
John Myers (1787–1830) was a Norfolk merchant. He served as aide-de-camp to Gen. Robert B. Taylor, the commander of U.S. forces at Norfolk during the War of 1812, and as deputy collector of customs at Norfolk from 1828 until his death (Rosenbloom,
11To James Madison from John Hartwell Cocke, 2 April 1827 (Madison Papers)
John G. Gamble (1779–1852) was a Richmond merchant and veteran of the War of 1812. He served as chief engineer for the James River Company, June 1821–March 1823, before being replaced by Moncure Robinson (
12To James Madison from Nicholas P. Trist, 21 February 1827 (Madison Papers)
...1785–1872) of Braintree, Massachusetts, studied at Dartmouth College but graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1808 and subsequently served in the War of 1812. From 1817 to 1833, he was superintendent at West Point, where his reorganization of the school and its curriculum created a first-class institution. From 1833 until his retirement in 1863, Thayer was chief...
13From James Madison to Henry Lee, [16] February 1827 (Madison Papers)
...Inst: to the object of which I have not been able to give an earlier attention. With your purpose of giving a historical character to the events of a very critical period of the war of 1812, you are very properly anxious to obtain whatever information may contribute to the authenticity and accuracy of the work; and I cannot but wish for your researches every success which may have that...
14From James Madison to James Hamilton Jr., 30 December 1826 (Madison Papers)
). James Hamilton Jr. (1786–1857), a South Carolina lawyer and veteran of the War of 1812, served in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1822–29, and was a vocal supporter of anti-tariff and states’ rights causes. He was governor of South Carolina, 1830–32, leading the fight for the principle...
15To James Madison from William P. Duval, 14 November 1826 (Madison Papers)
Regiment of Infantry during the War of 1812, retiring as a colonel in 1821. A year later, he was appointed a federal judge in East Florida. Smith’s antipathy toward
16To James Madison from Thomas I. Wharton, 6 November 1826 (Madison Papers)
Thomas Isaac Wharton (1791–1856), an 1807 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, served as a volunteer in the War of 1812. His literary pursuits included contributions to the Philadelphia
17To James Madison from Edmund Pendleton Gaines, 16 October 1826 (Madison Papers)
...Pendleton Gaines (1777–1849), a Virginia-born soldier, entered the U.S. Army as an ensign in 1797 and became a captain in 1807. A series of rapid promotions followed the start of the War of 1812, and his service at the Battle of Crysler’s Field and as commander at Fort Erie, where he was severely wounded, led to a rank of brigadier general. He saw service in the Seminole and Black Hawk...
18To James Madison from John B. Richeson, 2 October 1826 (Madison Papers)
John Brett Richeson (1787–1855), formerly of King William County, Virginia, and a veteran of the War of 1812, operated Hotel B at the University of Virginia from 1826 to 1828. In 1832 he settled in Maysville, Kentucky, where he established and taught at the Maysville Seminary (Julia Munro, “Hotelkeepers of the Academical Village,
19To James Madison from Byrd C. Willis, 15 September 1826 (Madison Papers)
Alexander Macomb (1782–1841), a career officer in the U.S. Army and victor at the 1814 Battle of Plattsburgh, was head of the Office of Engineers after the War of 1812. In 1828, Macomb became commanding general of the army, a position he held until his death (Heidler and Heidler, Encyclopedia of the War of 1812
20To James Madison from William Taylor, 10 August 1826 (Madison Papers)
Richard H. Douglass (d. 1829) was a prominent Baltimore shipping merchant and had been an investor in and prize agent for American privateers during the War of 1812 (Brantz Mayer, The Republic’s Private Navy: The American Privateering Business as Practiced by Baltimore during the War of 1812
21From John Jay to the Committee of the Corporation of the City of New York (Jacob B. Taylor, John Yates Cebra, Richard … (Jay Papers)
4: 476–77. Jacob Morton (1756–1837), led the New York Militia during the War of 1812 and was clerk of the New York City Council from 1809 to 1836.
22To James Madison from Roger C. Weightman, 14 June 1826 (Madison Papers)
Roger Chew Weightman (1787–1876), a Washington, D.C., printer and veteran of the War of 1812, was mayor of the city, 1824–27 (Allen C. Clark, “General Roger Chew Weightman, a Mayor of the City of Washington,”
23From James Madison to Thomas Ritchie, 18 December 1825 (Madison Papers)
appointed him collector of the port of Burlington in 1813. After the War of 1812, Van Ness was selected as a member of the boundary commission established by the Treaty of Ghent to negotiate and fix the boundary between the United States and Canada. He was, successively, a member of the Vermont legislature...
24To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 18 October 1825 (Madison Papers)
Bernard Peyton (1792–1854), a Richmond commission merchant, was a veteran of the War of 1812, having served in the U.S. Army Twentieth Regiment of Infantry from March 1812 to June 1815. He rose to the rank of captain. In 1825 he was appointed adjutant general of Virginia. Peyton was also Richmond...
25To James Madison from Benjamin Waterhouse, 30 June 1825 (Madison Papers)
Encyclopedia of the War of 1812
26To James Madison from George Thompson, 3 June 1825 (Madison Papers)
, ibid., 13:235–37). His son, George C. Thompson (1778–1856), who served in the Kentucky militia during the War of 1812, was a member of the Kentucky legislature for many years, serving as speaker of the house, 1820–22 (Baltimore Index to War of 1812 Pension Files
27To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 13 May 1825 (Madison Papers)
John Howe Peyton (1778–1847), a 1797 graduate of the College of New Jersey, and veteran of the War of 1812, studied law with Bushrod Washington, and practiced first in Fredericksburg, and after 1808, in Staunton, Virginia. His first wife, Susan Madison, who he married in 1804, was the niece of Bishop James Madison. Peyton served...
28To James Madison from Byrd C. Willis, 7 April 1825 (Madison Papers)
...1781–1846), after his marriage to Mary Willis Lewis, lived for a time near Orange Court House but settled at Willis Hill, his plantation near Fredericksburg. He was a captain in the Twentieth Regiment of Infantry during the War of 1812. In 1825 Willis moved to Florida Territory, where he was appointed navy agent at Pensacola in 1832, a position he held until his resignation in 1836 (du Bellet,
29To James Madison from Dennis A. Smith, 21 February 1825 (Madison Papers)
’s administration and subscribed large loans for the Treasury Department during the War of 1812 (...merchant, banker, and shipowner who subscribed to loans amounting to two million dollars for the U.S. government during the War of 1812, and he was a director of the Second Bank of the United States. He built an impressive estate called Calverton on the outskirts of Baltimore but lost...
30To James Madison from William B. Randolph, 20 November 1824 (Madison Papers)
On the bankruptcy of her husband, David Meade Randolph, in 1808, Mary Randolph solicited an office for her son, William Beverley Randolph (1789–1868). After a stint in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812, Randolph secured an appointment to a clerkship in the Treasury Department. He later served as chief clerk of the department, 1836–68 (
31To James Madison from James Barbour, 14 November 1824 (Madison Papers)
’s nephew, Conway C. Macon (1792–1860), a planter living at Mt. Erin in Orange County, Virginia, who served in the state militia during the War of 1812, was county sheriff in 1843, and a justice of the peace. He sold his property in 1848 and eventually moved to Richmond, where he was employed as a tobacco inspector (Chapman, “Descendants of Ambrose Madison,”...
32To James Madison from Joseph Wheaton, [9 October 1824] (Madison Papers)
For Wheaton’s claim for compensation for services rendered during the War of 1812, see
33From James Madison to Joseph G. Swift, 31 May 1824 (Madison Papers)
). Joseph Gardner Swift (1783–1865), the first graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, was appointed second lieutenant in 1802. A veteran of the War of 1812, he rose to colonel and commander of the Corps of Engineers of the army, holding that position until his resignation from the service in 1818. He was surveyor of the port of New York, 1818–29, and...Encyclopedia of the War of 1812
34To James Madison from James Monroe, 10 May 1824 (Madison Papers)
...Sullivan (1783–1866), the son of former Massachusetts governor James Sullivan (1744–1808) and a Harvard graduate, was the Massachusetts state agent in Washington pursuing the claims of the state for reimbursement for militia activity during the War of 1812 (
35From James Madison to Robert S. Garnett, 22 April 1824 (Madison Papers)
...(1787–1837), the son of Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee of Revolutionary War fame, and half brother of Robert E. Lee, was a graduate of the College of William and Mary and a veteran of the War of 1812. He wrote a number of books, including two in defense of his father, and pamphlets and newspaper articles in support of Andrew Jackson’s presidential campaign.
36To James Madison from James Monroe, [ca. 6] April 1824 (Madison Papers)
: Jefferson Papers). Monroe informed Jefferson that the administration had denied Virginia’s request to be paid interest on the money the state had borrowed and paid to its militia during the War of 1812 but that the claim should be presented to Congress.
37To James Madison from William Browne, 4 March 1824 (Madison Papers)
Constant Freeman (1757–1824) was a career soldier who fought in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, and commanded troops in the Orleans Territory after the Louisiana Purchase. He was an accountant in the Navy Department and was appointed an auditor of the Treasury Department in 1817 (
38To James Madison from James Burn, 23 February 1824 (Madison Papers)
Peter Little (1775–1830), of Freedom, Maryland, was a veteran of the War of 1812 and served in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1811–13, and 1816–29.Isaac McKim (1775–1838) was a Baltimore merchant and veteran of the War of 1812. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1823–25, and from 1833 until his death.
39To Thomas Jefferson from Robert Smith, 7 February 1824 (Jefferson Papers)
and afterward I pointed out the capture of other fleet and other importan occurrances that took place through the War of 1812
40From James Madison to James Monroe, 31 January 1824 (Madison Papers)
Armistead Hoomes (ca. 1786–1827) was a Caroline County, Virginia, planter who served in the state militia as a captain of cavalry during the War of 1812, and in the state Senate, 1815–20.
41To James Madison from Charles J. Nourse, 22 November 1823 (Madison Papers)
Charles Josephus Nourse (1786–1851), a veteran of the War of 1812, who rose to the rank of major and assistant adjutant general in 1814, and who served as acting adjutant general from 1822 to 1825, married Rebecca Morris, daughter of Anthony Morris, in 1816. He resigned from the...
42To James Madison from Robert Pollard & Son, 17 November 1823 (Madison Papers)
Dr. Charles Beale (1795–1853) was a veteran of the War of 1812 who served in the Virginia militia and founded the town of Gordonsville. He married Mary Harrison Gordon, daughter of Nathaniel Gordon, and purchased an estate he called Weston that fell on both sides of the Richmond–Swift Run...Index to War of 1812 Pension Files
43To James Madison from Elbert Anderson, 12 October 1823 (Madison Papers)
Elbert Anderson (d. 1830), an army contractor during the War of 1812, initiated a claim against the United States in 1823 for “amounts actually due him by the terms of the said contract, partly by way of compensation for articles furnished and services rendered beyond the requisitions of the said...
44To James Madison from John H. Hall and Others, 10 October 1823 (Madison Papers)
Moses M. Russell (d. 1852), of South Carolina, was second lieutenant in the First Artillery during the War of 1812, saw combat at the battles of Chippawa, Fort Erie, and Fort McHenry, and was honorably discharged in June 1815. In 1817 he was appointed U.S. consul at Riga but apparently never established himself there (Baltimore
45Burwell S. Randolph to Dolley Madison, 24 September 1823 (Madison Papers)
During the War of 1812 he was the ranking naval officer and made several cruises; he later was involved in turning back the British assault on Baltimore in 1814. In 1815
46To James Madison from James Monroe, 3 September 1823 (Madison Papers)
These papers have not been identified. For Daniel D. Tompkins’s claims against the United States resulting from his actions as governor of New York during the War of 1812, see Irwin,
47To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 30 August 1823 (Madison Papers)
...in May 1800. He was U.S. senator from Massachusetts, 1803–11, and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1813–17, from which positions he bitterly opposed the Jefferson and Madison administrations and the War of 1812.
48To James Madison from William Eustis, 6 June 1823 (Madison Papers)
the “long continued opposition to the federal government” during the War of 1812, when “an unhallowed spirit of party was permitted to prevail over the vital interests of the country.”
49To James Madison from William H. Sumner, 5 June 1823 (Madison Papers)
..., a graduate of Harvard College, practiced law in Boston, 1802–18, and represented that city in the Massachusetts legislature, 1808–19. Sumner was aide-de-camp to Gov. Caleb Strong during the War of 1812 and rendered important services in defense of the District of Maine. In 1818 he was appointed adjutant general of the state militia and held that office until 1834, when he resigned to...
50To James Madison from Samuel T. Anderson, 22 May 1823 (Madison Papers)
...a Scottish-born marine architect and shipbuilder, settled in New York City in 1796, where he opened a shipbuilding business. He supervised the construction of armed vessels on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. Eckford was naval constructor at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 1817–20, but returned to private business, building frigates for the new navies of the South American republics. He was...