This collection consists of letters written to Colonel James Taylor and Major (later General) Thomas Bodley by General William Henry Harrison. The first letter, written to Taylor on Dec. 28, 1811, discusses the arrival of hospital stores at a military post. The other letters, written between 1814 and 1824 to Bodley, defend Harrison’s command of the Northwestern Army in the wake of General James Winchester’s defeat at the River Raisin. The letters become more defensive after the publication of Winchester’s defense of his action in 1817.  At the beginning of the War of 1812, General James Winchester was sent to Kentucky to take command of the Army of the Northwest. A short time later, General William Henry Harrison was appointed to the post and Winchester was assigned another command. On Jan. 18, 1813, after a sharp skirmish with the British, Winchester and his troops took the small settlement of Frenchtown on the River Raisin. Disregarding scouts who predicted a British counterattack, Winchester waited for reinforcements and provisions he had requested from General Harrison. Since these requests did not reach Harrison for weeks, Winchester was unprepared for the British and Indian attack on Jan. 22. Few soldiers survived the massacre and Winchester was captured. He was imprisoned until 1814 while Harrison continued to fight and win acclaim. In 1816, Robert B. McAfee published an account of the war and denounced Winchester's command as incompetent. Winchester published a defense of his actions in 1817 criticizing Harrison for failing to answer his plea for troops.