This collection consists of a typescript memoir bearing the title "Mrs. S. G. Tinsley's War Experiences[,] From Original Manuscript: Being a Civilian's Account of the Battle of Mechanicsburg [i.e., Mechanicsville]." A note on the first page explains that the typescript was copied from the original manuscript, then owned by H. E. Matheny of Akron, Ohio. The 14-page, bound manuscript, dated January 6, 1912, provides Fanny W. Tinsley's eyewitness account of the Battle of Mechanicsville, June 26, 1862. Tinsley's story begins in May, 1862, as she explains why her family decided to remain in their home after the Confederate evacuation, and she describes the family's treatment by Union soldiers during the ensuing six-week occupation. She recalls the army's activities, including the use of a reconnaissance balloon (the "Intrepid") and the interactions between Union soldiers, her family, and enslaved workers. Later, Tinsley describes the family's flight from their home and between the lines of the two armies as Union forces fell back, and the family's eventual passage through the Confederate lines to the home of a neighbor. Following the battle, Tinsley concludes, the family moved to Richmond, where they remained for the remainder of the war, and the family's home at Mechanicsville was destroyed.