Scope and Content From the Collection: This collection contains two letters from Henry G. Mervine, a private serving in the 17th New York Light Artillery Battery during the Civil War, written to "Dear Lizzie," presumably his wife, from Petersbug and Richmond, Virginia. In the earlier letter, written from the trenches before Petersburg on July 24, 1864, Mervine describes conditions in the trenches during the siege and taking furniture from a nearby house to protect himself in the earthworks. He notes that "the trees--trunks &...