This collection consists of eighteen letters, three of which are incomplete. The first fifteen letters range in date from 16 September 1862 to 22 November 1868. They begin shortly after Watkins and the Sixth Massachusetts arrive in Suffolk, Virginia, during the American Civil War and end with him attached to the Eighth Cavalry as an Acting Assistant Surgeon on duty at Camp Winfield Scott, Nevada. The first several letters are written most often to "friends at home" and describe camp life and battle action in the Blackwater Creek area around Suffolk during what was known as the Sixth's Massachusetts' Nine Month's campaign. Watkins may have been assistant to the regiment's Adjutant and writes at one point that his desk has been packed and sent to the Hospital. One letter (5 May 1863) describes a short truce between soldiers that resulted in casual conversation between members of the warring sides. Watkins mentions seeing a union ironclad in the James River and says that he expects to "go west" when he returns home. Other letters, from 1864 to 1866, describe his time in Washington DC, during and after his time as a medical student at Georgetown University. Two letters dated 1868 are from Camp Winfield Scott, Nevada, where Watkins served as Acting Assistant Surgeon. The last dated letter in the collection was written by Hattie Clary Watkins, then Watkins's wife of one month, in January 1870 from Winnemucca, Nevada. A final undated letter from John Watkins completes the collection.