Manuscript DS, signed “Wm. H. Harrison, A.d.C.,” one page, 7.5 x 5.25, February 26, 1795. Request for rations "for six spies for two days" signed by William Henry Harrison while serving as aide-de-camp at Fort Greenville. In full: "Provision return for six spies for two days commencing the twenty seventh and ending the twenty eighth at one and half ration per day: Man: 6, Days: 2, Rations: 18. The contractor will issue eighteen rations agreeable to the above return at Greenville." In fine condition, with irregular trimming to the bottom edge.
In 1792 President George Washington ordered Revolutionary War hero General 'Mad Anthony' Wayne to lead an army against a Native American alliance fighting to keep settlers out of their traditional lands in Ohio, part of the Northwest Territory. U.S. soldiers had been struggling against persistent Indian warriors. Harrison, from Virginia, who had enlisted in the army in 1791 at Philadelphia, served under Wayne in Fort Washington at present-day Cincinnati in southwestern Ohio. Harrison rose through the ranks quickly and became Wayne’s aide-de-camp in 1793.
On August 20, 1794, General Wayne’s 3,000-man army defeated an alliance of 1,500 warriors, which included British support, in the Battle of Fallen Timbers at present-day Maumee, Ohio, northeast of Cincinnati. The victory was the last major battle of the Northwest Indian Wars. Wayne commended Harrison for his role in the battle, saying, 'I must add the name of my faithful and gallant Aide-de-camp…Lieutenant Harrison, who…rendered the most essential service by communicating my orders in every direction…conduct and bravery exciting the troops to press for victory.'
This interesting 1795 military document concerns rations for spies. The U.S. Army often sent spies among the Indians, and the missions were dangerous. The spies sometimes posed as British sympathizers, and some spies spoke the Indian language. The spies gathered information about the locations and numbers of Indian warriors, their weapons, and their support from the British. The spies even kidnapped Indians to be interrogated by officers. Spies who were caught were sometimes shot.
The Indians signed the Treaty of Greenville on August 3, 1795, bringing peace and increased settlement to the area for more than a decade. The treaty was signed at Fort Greenville, at 55-acres, one of the largest of the many wooden forts that troops built in Ohio to protect settlers and soldiers.
Harrison married Anna Tuthill Symmes of North Bend, Ohio, on November 25, 1795, and the couple honeymooned at Fort Washington. Harrison became commander at Fort Washington after Wayne died in 1796. Harrison first retired from the military in 1798, and President John Adams appointed Harrison secretary of the Northwest Territory that year, beginning his political career.
Harrison would be inaugurated as the ninth President of the United States in 1841, becoming the first president to die in office. Harrison died on his 32nd day in office of complications from pneumonia, serving the shortest tenure in United States presidential history. He was the grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, who was the 23rd President from 1889 to 1893.
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