This collection contains six letters from Asahel (Asa) Baldwin, a private in Company F, 82nd Ohio Infantry during the American Civil War, from camps in Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee, to his wife in Blanchester, Ohio. Also included is one letter from Baldwin's half-sister, R. (Rebecca) F. Baldwin, written from Blanchester.

Baldwin's first letter, written from Columbus, Ohio, on October 5, 1864, notes that he and others will soon be traveling south to join the 82nd Ohio Infantry. Over the next two letters, he describes the journey from Columbus to Chattanooga, Tennessee, via Indianapolis and Louisville, noting along the way the political views of his company ("The majority of our hundred men are for McCleland [sic], their [sic] is only 8 or 10 out of the 100, for Abe ...") On October 23, Baldwin writes that he has fallen ill, and he describes the hopital at Chattanooga. He instructs his wife on what to buy and how to manage the household and its debts. By December 20, 1864, Baldwin was in the hospital in Madison, Indiana, and his next two letters relate almost entirely to personal matters--the prospects for a furlough or of being sent to the front and news from home. Baldwin's final letter is written from Camp Denison, Ohio, on April 3, 1865, and relates to the possibility of Baldwin's discharge and muster out.

Accompanying Asa Baldwin's letters is a single letter written to him by his half-sister, Rebecca. Writing from Blanchester on February 10, 1865, Rebecca informs Asa that his half-brother, Thomas Benton Baldwin is being held a prisoner-of-war at "Chahoba" (Cahaba), Alabama. She briefly describes the prison and the rations issued to the prisoners and provides Asa with instructions on how to address a letter to the prison.