The collection consists of seven letters written by brothers and Confederate soldiers, Greer and Emilius Baughman from locations in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and the trenches around Petersburg, Virginia. Letters were written to family back home in Richmond between 1862 and 1865.

Highlights include a letter written by Greer, September 14, 1862, near Winchester, Virginia, describing activities during the Maryland Campaign of 1862, which culminated with the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg) in Maryland, September 17, 1862. The letter describes Greer being left behind in Virginia while the Confederate army marched into Maryland, as well as his wish and anxiety to go into Maryland with the army. Several letters from Emilius written in late 1864 and 1865 from around Petersburg, Virginia, shed light into life within the Confederate lines. Of particular interest is the letter dated February 26, 1865 in which Baughman confidently writes his father " I do not think that the combined forces of Sherman and Grant can capture it [Richmond]."