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The John J. Peck Papers consist of journal entries, correspondence, and printed material, bound in eight volumes, that document Peck's military and political career. Manuscript copies of journals and outgoing letters to newspapers, family members, and military officers record his experience in the following campaigns: several battles including the Battle of Monterrey and occupation of Mexico City during the Mexican-American War; a campaign against the Navajo and Apache in New Mexico (1849-1851, including an account of a journey over the Santa Fe Trail); and the 1863 seige of Suffolk, Virginia during the American Civil War. Newspaper clippings and manuscript copies of correspondence document Peck's involvement in Democratic Party politics, including an unsuccessful run for Congress in New York State in 1856. The Papers include one typescript volume of transcriptions, presumably compiled when researching The Sign of the Eagle, edited by Richard F. Pourade and commissioned by James Strohn Copley in 1970.