This collection contains four wartime letters written by Daniel Blain, a Confederate soldier in the 1st Rockbridge Artillery during the American Civil War, and a post-war diary maintained by Blain while serving as a Presbyterian minister in Virginia.

The letters, all addressed to "My Precious Loulie" (presumably Mary Louise Mercer, Blain's future wife), were written from July to September, 1864, from camps near Petersburg, Virginia. In the first letter, dated July 5, 1864, Blain writes exclusively and at length of having attended the deathbed of "Mr. Hoge" (probably Rev. William James Hoge, who died that same day and is buried in Richmond). On August 8, Blain writes on religious matters, shares his low opinion of--and gossip about--a minister named Dr. Miller, and generally discusses war news and army rations. In a cross-hatched letter dated August 29, Blain focuses largely on personal matters but briefly mentions the shelling of Petersburg. Blain's letter of September 18 also relates largely to personal matters, responding melodramatically to Loulie's relationship with a local widower and the prospects of Loulie going to work. Blain briefly describes conditions in Richmond.

Blain's diary contains daily entries in which he briefly records his activities, particularly preparing and delivering sermons and reading. He also documents his local travels, visits with acquaintances, attendance at temperance meetings, garden work and household and leisure activities, and the day's weather conditions. Elsewhere, Blain mentions his introduction of an acquaintance to Robert E. Lee in Lexington, the stillborn birth of his son, and the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson. Although the diary is dated 1868, it contains entries for January 1869 and January 1870 as well. Following the diary are a few pages documenting Blain's personal cash accounts for early 1868.