The collection includes a letter from Lewis M. Foster to his mother in December 1864. Written near Petersburg, Virginia, Foster's note describes his regiment's travels from the Shenandoah Valley to the Petersburg area. He writes of the defenses of the nearby fort in detail, daily activities, and food and rations supplied to the troops. He also talks about living on the site of previous battles and building winter quarters there: "the boys have accidentally dug up dead Johnies when they have been building their houses and there is lots of solid shot Shell and Bullets and pieces of Muskets laying around all over the Ground[.]"