at Tippecanoe, in 1811, to
the final battle at New Orleans in 1815, which crowned the American arms
with a glory never to fade.

The Filson Club, whose broad field of work in history, literature,
science, and art is hardly indicated by the name of the first historian
of Kentucky, which it bears, has deemed three of the battles which were
fought during the War of 1812 as the most important of the many that
were waged. These three were, first, the battle of Tippecanoe, regarded
as the opening scene of the bloody drama; second, the battle of the
Thames, by which the power of the British was crushed in the west and
northwest, and third, the battle of New Orleans, which ended the war in
a glorious victory for the Americans. The Club determined to have the
history of these three battles written and filed among its archives, and
to have the matter published for the benefit of the public. Hence, the
task was undertaken by three different members of the Club.

The first of these, "The Battle of Tippecanoe," was prepared for the
Club by Captain Alfred Pirtle, and published in 1900 as Filson Club
Publication Number 15. It is an illustrated quarto of one hundred and
sixty-seven pages, which gives a detailed account of the battle of
Tippecanoe and the acts of the Indians and British which led to it and
the important consequences which followed. The names of the officers and
soldiers, and especially those of Kentucky who were engaged in it, are
given so far as could be ascertained, and the book is a historic record
of this battle, full enough and faithful enough to furnish the reader
with all of the important facts.

The second, "The Battle of the Thames," the 5th of October, 1813, was
undertaken by Colonel Bennett H. Young, and appeared in 1903 as the
eighteenth publication of the Filson Club. It is an elaborately
illustrated quarto of two hundred and eighty-six pages, and presents a
detailed account of the acts which led up to the main battle and the
engagements by land and water which preceded it. It contains a list of
all the Kentuckians who as officers and privates were in the battle. The
reader who seeks information about this battle need look no further than
its pages.

The third and last of these important battles occurred at New Orleans
the 8th of January, 1815. Its history was prepared for the Club by Mr.
Z.F. Smith, and now appears as Filson Club Publication Number Nineteen,
for the year 1904. It is an illustrated quar