The War of 1812 mss. collection consists of materials dating from 1776 to 1879 relating to the War of 1812. It includes correspondence, log books, legal documents, diaries, speeches, letter copybooks, orderly books, and receipts.

The materials in the collection were acquired principally during the period 1942 to 1969 from a variety of sources through the cooperative efforts of historians, librarians, and booksellers. Indiana University history professors Logan Esarey, R.C. Buley, Donald F. Carmony, Chase C. Mooney, and O.O. Winther all supported the acquisition of books and manuscripts that would create an in-depth collection to support serious scholarship. With their librarian colleagues Cecil K. Byrd and Geneva Warner, they scanned book catalogues, sent out inquiries, and followed up on leads to manuscript collections. The bookseller partners in the development of the War of 1812 collections included John S. Van E. Kohn and Wright Howes, but one man deserves special credit for his ongoing engagement in the building of the collection: the Crawfordsville, Indiana, bookman R. E. Banta. Of particular note, Banta orchestrated the acquisition in 1943 of the important collection of manuscripts assembled by Forest G. Sweet.

The manuscripts described here are one part of a larger body of materials that make up the War of 1812 collections at the Lilly Library which includes books, broadsides, prints, periodicals, newspapers, and other manuscript collections. Highlights of the books and manuscripts are described in the exhibition catalogue, An exhibit to commemorate the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the War of 1812, published by the library in 1962.

Note on Indexing Term - "International relations": Many items document the foreign relations between the U.S., England and France during this period of conflict.