This collection contains seventeen wartime letters (photocopies only) written by Silas H. Stepp, a Confederate soldier in Company C, 6th North Carolina Cavalry (and later a prisoner of war) during the American Civil War. The letters are addressed to Stepp's wife (Eleanor Fortune Stepp), whom he sometimes refers to as "my sweet pink." Fourteen of the letters were written by Stepp from unspecified locations in Tennessee and North Coarlina during the spring of 1864. The letters focus on his regiment's movements. He also discusses--among other things--mutual acqaintances, the new Confederate currency, being tried for not obeying an order to curry his horse, being under fire, destroying rail and telegraph lines, camp fare, and taking prisoners.

A fifteenth letter was written from the camp of the 132nd New York Infantry, just after Stepp had been taken prisoner. Stepp's final three letters were written from Elmira Prison Camp in the summer and fall of 1864, and discuss his health, treatment by his captors, and the impossibility of being exchanged or released on parole. He also conveys news of mutual acquaintances among his fellow prisoners and provides his wife with instructions for managing the farm.