ALS, one page, 6 x 7.25, September 18, 1812. Harrison writes to a Lt. Bryson to arm the troops. In full: “Sir, if the detachment of Militia from the Indiana Territory are not furnished with a sufficiency of ammunition you will send on to them one hundred pounds of powder and balls and other ammunition in proportion to it upon the application of Colonels Dell, Noble, or Hunt.” Matted with a color portrait and framed to an overall size of 18.25 x 14. Intersecting folds and scattering soiling and toning, slightly heavier along the left edge and one horizontal fold, otherwise fine condition.
Harrison was governor of the Indiana Territory when, with the onset of the War of 1812, President James Madison appointed him commander of the Northwestern Army—orders received less than a week after dispatching this message to deal with the attacking Indians. In command of the Northwestern Army for just three days, he faced his first foray against the enemy—an attacking horde of Native Americans who need to be beaten back...but an offensive for which additional ammunition was necessary. Believing that Virginia militia reinforcements he had been promised might arrive at any time, he wrote field orders to its commander laying out plans for the campaign. Wanting to be sure that the letter reached the recipient in a country swarming with the enemy, Harrison dispatched two couriers, each with identical versions of the letter. One of these originals survives in the collections of the Indiana State Historical Society; one is offered here. These may well have been the first such orders Harrison wrote as commander of the US Northwestern Army. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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