Written sometime around 1900, the memoirs recount the military career of Archibald Atkinson, Jr., as a doctor in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, serving as a surgeon for the 10th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry, followed by appointments with the 31st Regiment, Virginia Infantry, and the Second Army Corps, Army of Nothern Virginia.

The memoir was writen in a commercially prepared notebook (printed, lined paper) on a total of 58 pages. The memoir seems to begin in the middle of the text; there is no introductory material or conclusion. There may well have been another notebook with the first part of the narrative; if so, there is no indication anywhere on the notebook preserved at Virginia Tech of its existence.

A transcription of the text is available online. The transcription preserves the page and line breaks as they appear in the original. Links throughout the transcript point to additional information on relevent people and places.