The collection contains seven letters written to and from members of the Barnes family between 1961 and 1864. Also included are two handwritten poems. The correspondence documents the lives of Uz and Thomas Rufus and James H. Barnes (father and sons, respectively) while serving during the Civil War. Letters including rumors of troop movement and Thomas Rufus's wounding at Winchester in September of 1864.

Of the manuscript poems, Thomas Rufus Barnes dated both with two versions of his signature on March 12, 1860. The first poem, labelled "Hollow," seems to have appeared in a number of newspapers during the mid-19th century under the title "All Hollow, Hollow, Hollow." The second poem, "The Banks of--" seems to be a copy of "The Banks of the Schuylkill."