This collection consists of a single, three-page letter written by F. B. Lewis, an enlisted man serving in Company B of an unidentified regiment within the U. S. Army. Written from Fort Columbus (now Fort Jay) in New York Harbor on January 23, 1845, the letter is addressed to Lewis's brother, William Lewis of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Lewis's letter concentrates largely on his efforts to secure a discharge from the army. He writes at length and bitterly of the degradation of the army through the "admission of Foreign Renegades and unprincipled Brats (in the shape of Lieutenants) from West Point." He particularly complains of favoritism shown to soldiers of English and Irish origin over those born in the United States. Of officers who had graduated from the U. S. Military Academy, Lewis writes that they are "poor gentlemens' sons, and are placed at West Point, because they cannot be supported at home in idleness and ... are too elevated in society(!) to learn an honest profession ..." Lewis also writes obliquely of some domestic problems which may have led to his enlistment.