Difficulty In Reducing The Debt

Albert Gallatin Statue

From the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission:

Once in office, he [Albert Gallatin] vigorously attacked the public debt, and through careful management of the country's finances he was able to reduce the debt materially until the War of 1812 made this policy impossible.

After 1811, it became increasingly unpleasant for him to remain as secretary of the treasury. It was with a feeling of great relief that in May, 1813, at the request of President Madison, he went to Russia to study the details of a Russian offer to mediate Anglo-American differences. He stayed in Russia several months, but nothing came of the Russian offer. In 1814, he was one of the five American commissioners who negotiated the Treaty of Ghent which ended the war. It was now that he was officially replaced as secretary of the treasury.

Daniel Sheldon's Eyewitness Account Of The Burning Of Washington

From the Magazine Of American History, a letter dated August 26, 1814, from Fredericktown, Maryland:

More about the Sheldon family here.

Cass Papers At The Clements Library

Taken from the University Of Michigan's Clements Library's Finding Aids:

Abstract: "The Lewis Cass papers contain the political and governmental letters and writings of Lewis Cass... . At the outbreak of the War of 1812, he enlisted as a colonel in the 3rd Ohio Infantry under General William Hull."

"War of 1812 items include 16 receipts of payments to soldiers for transporting baggage, a payment of Cass' troops approved by Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, and a report made up of eyewitness accounts of General Hull's surrender at Detroit (September 11, 1812)."

A Gallatin Cipher

Jefferson appointed him [Albert Gallatin] Secretary of the Treasury... . His communications from Europe on public affairs at that time were mostly written in cipher, composed of numbers, of which (copied from one of them in the State Department at Washington) a facsimile is here given from a letter dated at London June 13, 1814.  Each number represents a word or sentence perfectly intelligible to a person with a key.

John Payne Todd Attache At Ghent

Would the finding aid at Princeton University reveal anything of interest pertaining to the War of 1812 in the John Payne Todd Correspondence?

Here's what was found online through Princeton:

"Todd had a weakness for gambling, and was unsuccessful in an assignment seeking Russia's help to end the War of 1812."  There was "his appointment in Ghent (Belgium) as secretary to the U.S. legation...".
"After the death of President Madison, Dolley Madison was forced to sell the family plantation, Montpelier, to pay her son's debts."

Source

From the Montpelier Organization:

Attaché to the Treaty of Ghent Delegation

Following the completion of his formal school, Todd traveled to Europe as Albert Gallatin’s attaché on a diplomatic mission to end the War of 1812 conflicts. Abroad between 1813 and 1815, he did not serve as an official member of the delegation and was therefore not paid a stipend for living expenses.

Source

Source