This collection contains three letters written by Gamaliel Lyman Dwight Jr. of batteries A and B, 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery during the American Civil War. The letters are written from Muddy Branch Camp (Montgomery County, Maryland), November 16, 1861; outpost near Conrad's Ferry [Maryland], January 15, 1862; and camp near Falmouth, Virginia, April 12, 1863. Two of the letters are addressed to "St. Helena" (Dwight's pet name for close friend Mrs. Sarah Helen Whitman, one-time fiance of Edgar Allan Poe). The third is simply addressed to "My dear Saint." Dwight writes of art, literature, poetry, photography, and nature, often mentioning mutual acquaintances, chiefly "St. Emma" and "St. Anna." On November 16, 1861, he describes the local fall foliage, noting that it suffers in comparison to that of New England, and mentions a pair of horseshoe charms that he keeps with him. On April 12, 1863, Dwight reports being in charge of his battery.