This collection contains a soldier's benefit receipt paid to Mrs. Margaret Leslie of Wythe County, Virginia, on May 11, 1863, for supplies furnished to James Leslie, a soldier in the 45th Virginia Regiment of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.

The collection contains a letter written by sailor Edwin C. Stone aboard the U.S.S. Minnesota, November 11, 1861 to his brother Persley Stone. The majority of letter is advice from Edwin to Persley on how to behave at his new job. It also contains a run in between the Minnesota and an "infernal machine," and the threat of the Merrimac attacking.