This collection contains two letters from Henry G. Mervine, a private serving in the 17th New York Light Artillery Battery during the Civil War, written to "Dear Lizzie," presumably his wife, from Petersbug and Richmond, Virginia. In the earlier letter, written from the trenches before Petersburg on July 24, 1864, Mervine describes conditions in the trenches during the siege and taking furniture from a nearby house to protect himself in the earthworks. He notes that "the trees--trunks & limbs in this vicinity are filled with lead & iron, or shot away intirely [sic]. Every house completely demolished." He writes at length about rations, stating that the battery is well supplied: "As far as concerns eatables we are better supplied than ever before by Uncle Sam ... Have had Cabbage Sour Kraut, Onions Potatoes & Beets ..." He also mentions Confederate soldiers wanting to trade newspapers across the lines.

In the second letter, dated April 8, 1865, from Richmond, Virginia, Mervine writes of being quartered "in the basement of one of the big folks houses in the fashnonable [sic] part of the city" and being well treated by the owners but notes that the "young ladies of the city turn up their pretty noses at us ... though as a general thing they seem to be glad to be well rid of their own soldiers." He briefly describes the suffering of local residents through lack of luxuries and necessities and the Union Army's efforts to relieve them. Mervine continues by mentioning that citizens of Richmond had sent a committee to General Lee, asking him to surrender. "[T]he thing is nearly played out," he writes.