The digitized content of the Illinois Artillery, 1st Regiment Record Book consists of the company muster book for Joseph Cross's company in the 1st U. S. Artillery Regiment. The record book contains registers of men, priority rolls, accounts of equipage, and individual accounts, all dating from 1812 to 1814. It also features additional content from the 1830s, when some pages in the book were used for secondary purposes.

The company of the 1st U. S. Artillery Regiment led by Captain Joseph Cross served at several forts along the Mississippi River in Louisiana Territory during the War of 1812. The regiment saw duty at Fort Belle Fontaine and Fort Massac, with detached services at Forts Madison and Osage.

The digitized content contains the company's record book, which contains priority rolls of enlistment and description; registers of men tried, discharged, or transferred; registers of dead, deserted, and missing; provision returns; accounts of clothing and equipage; and individual accounts. In the mid-to-late 1830s, several pages were used for secondary purposes. Some pages were used to record legal fees, and others appear to have been used as scrap paper by a schoolchild.

The Illinois History and Lincoln Collections unit at the University of Illinois Library manages the physical items of the Illinois Artillery, 1st Regiment Record Book (MS 800). The collection was completely digitized in 2018. For more information, contact an archivist at ihlc@library.illinois.edu.