This collection contains papers of William B. Gallaher, who served in Company E, 1st Virginia Cavalry during the American Civil War. Included are two letters written by Gallaher to his parents. Writing to his father while on picket duty near Harpers Ferry, (West) Virginia, on May 27, 1861, Gallaher notes that a local resident has generously provisioned them with food and milk. ("We are enjoying ourselves very much," he writes.) Gallaher writes at length about his personal business affairs, then relays word of the killing of Elmer E. Ellsworth at Alexandria, and other war news, before mentioning some recent purchases of firearms, including a Sharps rifle and a Colt revolving rifle. In the second letter, addressed to his mother from Manassas Junction, Virginia, on July 20, 1861 (the eve of the First Battle of Bull Run), Gallaher writes of the uncertainty of his future movements, the ready availability of food, the scarcity of water, and briefly describes a recent battle, probably the Battle of Blackburn's Ford. The collection also includes a document, dated August 6, 1861, certifying Gallaher's promotion from private to lieutenant.