Includes 8 letters (1835-63) and documents of Brigadier General Jacob Ammen (b. January 7, 1806; d. February 6, 1894). Born in Virginia, Ammen was an 1831 graduate of the U. S. Military Academy and during the Civil War held the appointment of commander of the military districts of Illinois and Tennessee, among several other wartime assignments.

The documents include:

• an 1835 U.S. Treasury Department account statement from Third Auditor Peter Hagner (1772 – 1850);
• an 1838 New York City hotel bill;
• a letter to Ammen by attorney Lucien Eaton (1831 – 1891) alerting the general to illegal slave smuggling through Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky;
• a letter from Eli Lofton (1797 – 1870) and a subsequent referral to Ammen by Illinois Governor Richard Yates (1818 – 1873) discussing a former Confederate loyalist who had recently moved to the area;
• a letter from Provost Marshall General J.M. Hiatt regarding a Union soldier who was involved in a fight with Copperheads (Northerners with Confederate sympathies) and eventually killed;
• two telegrams regarding troop movements and military business;
• a letter written in code to Ammen, author unknown.

Sometimes difficult to decipher, the letters are presented along with transcripts, allowing for easy page by page viewing.