The collection includes a letter from John S. Powers to Nellie E. Williams describing the state of living in the recruitment camp and the city of Alexandria. The letter was written from a camp on November 23, 1862. Powers writes about sites local to Alexandria (including the Marshall House) and news from his regiment. Powers' letter includes his observation of the area where he is stationed, calling Alexandria "the dirtiest hole that I ever got into, nothing but secesh and contraband."

Powers reminisces over apples from his home in Massachusetts and tells Nellie that the salted pork is such that it "...would like a hog to eat it or a dutchman. They are the only ones that I see eating it. The bread is pretty fair only sometimes it is rather aged."

Powers enclosed a sprig of Boxwood in the envelope and explains the significance of it as a memento from the grave of an unnamed solider left behind by a regiment.