Harrison’s military career saw him at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, 1794, an American victory that ended the Northwest Indian War. In 1811, he led a military force against Tecumseh’s confederacy at the Battle of Tippecanoe where he earned the nickname “Old Tippecanoe.” He was promoted to major general of the Army during the War of 1812, and led victorious American infantry and cavalry at the Battle of the Thames in Upper Canada. In 1840 he ran for president with John Tyler with the famous slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!” and served as the ninth president of the United States. Unfortunately, he died just 31 days after his inauguration giving him the shortest presidency in U.S. history. Harrison was also the last president to be born under British rule.

The details on this handpainted figurine are extraordinary.

NARA, the National Archives and Records Administration holds a wealth of records on the War of 1812. Among them are Compiled Service Records.

Beginning in the 1890s, the War Department created the Compiled Military Service Record (CMSR) to document the military service of Volunteer soldiers. Transcribed from original muster and pay rolls, regimental returns, descriptive books, hospital rolls, and other records, the CMSRs were intended to permit more rapid and efficient checking of military and medical records in connection with claims for pensions and other veterans’ benefits.

The War Department initially created CMSRs for Union veterans of the Civil War and later expanded the records to include state Volunteers from other conflicts. As a result, the National Archives now holds CMSRs for Volunteer soldiers from the Revolutionary War through the Philippine Insurrection.