This 108-page orderly book belonged to Major General Amos Hall, who commanded a New York militia unit near Buffalo, New York, during the War of 1812. The volume contains general orders and communications between Hall and other commanding officers stationed in western New York between December 24, 1813, and April 10, 1814. Two newspaper articles, published as late as 1893, are pasted on the book's final pages. The orderly book is accompanied by 4 copies of 2 reports of the United States House of Representatives in the 1840s, concerning financial claims John R. Williams made for property lost during the Niagara campaign of the War of 1812. Also included are a belt and attached buckle.
The Orderly Book contains copies of general orders and correspondence issued daily between December 24, 1813, and December 29, 1813 (pp. 1-20), as well as orders and correspondence issued less regularly between January 10, 1814, and April 10, 1814 (pp. 20-108). Entries are composed in a number of different hands. Most orders were issued at American headquarters in Batavia, Buffalo, and Williamsville, New York, and from other unnamed posts in the Niagara region. The first order pertains to Hall's assumption of command of troops assembled near Buffalo. Throughout the following months, he issued and received orders about several aspects of the campaign in western New York, such as troop movements, troop numbers, and developments in the war. Other topics include the transfer of prisoners of war (January 10, 1814, pp. 40-41) and the hire of local Native Americans (December 27, 1813, pp. 11-12).
A copy of Amos Hall's certificate of membership in the Society of the Cincinnati is laid into the volume (July 4, 1786), and 2 newspaper clippings are pasted on its final pages: "In Olden Times. Robert Sutcliff's Travels in the Genesee Country" (Stephen B. Ayers, Post-Express, February 28, 1893) and "Interesting Sketch of Gen. Amos Hall" (Myron S. Hall, the Journal, undated).
The Government Publications series is comprised of 2 copies each of 2 printed reports issued by the United States House of Representatives, concerning claims John R. Williams made against the United States government for property destroyed by the British Army in December 1813 (Report No. 102, February 7, 1845) and for land near Detroit, Michigan (Report No. 5, December 20, 1847).
The Realia item is a belt with its original buckle still attached. The buckle depicts a grenade over the number "100," and originally belonged to a member of the British Army's 100th Regiment of Foot grenadiers.
Major General Amos Hall was born in Guilford, Connecticut, on November 21, 1761, the son of Stephen Hall (1739-1783) and his wife, Abigail Saxton. Stephen Hall served as a captain with the 7th Connecticut Infantry Regiment during the Revolutionary War. Amos served as a sergeant in the Revolutionary War, and later worked as a surveyor in western New York and as a tavern keeper in West Bloomfield, New York, a town he helped found in 1796. Hall became a brigadier general in the Ontario and Steuben county militias in 1800, and served in western New York throughout the War of 1812. In December 1813, he temporarily commanded troops gathered near Buffalo, New York, and was the American commanding officer at the Battle of Buffalo (December 30, 1813). After the war, he returned to West Bloomfield. Amos Hall married Phebe Coe (1771-1841) of Granville, Massachusetts, on December 11, 1791, and they had at 9 children: Enoch Augustus (or Augustine), David Saxton, Stephen, Emilia Catherine, Hiland Bishop, Justus, Morris, Thomas, and Heman. Amos Hall died on December 28, 1827.
