This collection contains two letters written by Frederick Blackman, a private in the 2nd Independent Battery, Connecticut Light Artillery during the American Civil War, to Frank Sherwood in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In an undated letter written at Fredericksburg, Virginia, Blackman asks Sherwood to send his box and blouse, as he "shant never Come Back to Bridgeport to live again." Writing on January 6, 1863, from an unidentified location, Blackman mentions having been "sick the knight that we had the fite" (possibly the skirmish with Stuart's cavalry near Fairfax Courthouse on December 27, 1862). He describes the local area as a "godforsaken looking country ... all of the barns are torn Down and About all the houses and the Bigest part of the trees ..." He mentions building berths and floors for tents and playing dominoes most nights. Blackman asks Sherwood if he thinks the war will end within six years, then expresses his hope that it will: "I have got A great hole in the [rer?] of My pants Most as big as A plate I hope that this war Will Close soon or I Shal Be Bare ass soon if they Dont give Abe some clothes soon."