War of 1812

You did read the title right ----- I did say War of 1812 ----- did you look twice?

Some exciting news came through the Library listserv regarding the completion of a Collection of War of 1812 Papers which are now online!  Check out the press release from the Connecticut State Library and then check out the collection link below:

The Connecticut State Library has recently completed the digitization of the “Chauncey Hosford War of 1812 Papers” and has made them available online as part of the State Library’s Digital Collections   http://cslib.cdmhost.com/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15019coll1

During the War of 1812, Chauncey Hosford (1784-1855) enlisted as a first lieutenant in Capt. Elizur Warner’s Company of the United States Infantry Thirty-seventh Regiment on April 30, 1813.  His prior military service included a commission as ensign in the Third Company of the Fourteenth Regiment of Connecticut Militia as of April 28, 1810.  The Thirty-seventh Regiment was stationed at Fort Griswold in New London.

Hosford was assigned to the recruiting service and spent much of the time in his home town of Canaan in Litchfield County recruiting men from the area.  Most of this collection of 101 items reflects his recruiting activities. Included is correspondence, orders, weekly recruiting returns that list the names and towns of recruits, and receipts for recruiting expenses.  Also included is a muster roll for Capt. Elizur Warner’s Company.

The “Chauncey Hosford War of 1812 Papers” was donated to the Connecticut State Library by David A. Gibbs and Rosemary Pereira in 2012 and is part of the David Arthur Gibbs Collection of Hosford and Gibbs Family Papers.