Letters home, 1862-1863, by Charles W. Gallentine of the 7th Illinois Cavalry, from Camp Butler, Springfield, Ill., Jacinto and Corinth, Miss., Memphis and LaGrange, Tenn., and Lawrence Co., Ala., regarding camp life, skirmishes, men killed and wounded, Southern guerillas, northern Copperheads and the draft, Southern plantations and slave attitudes, Union and Confederate prisoners, etc.

Nineteen letters from Otis Mason, a sergeant in the Civil War to his Illinois wife, Francema Otis. Twelve letters from various friends and family, and a wedding invitation are also included.

Six letters, Sept. 14-Oct. 15, 1862, from Camp Peoria in Peoria, Ill., from Henry Rice of the 103rd Illinois Infantry to family in Lewistown, Ill., describing military life in the camp. Included with the letters is an envelope addressed to "Mrs. Amory Rice, Lewistown, Fulton County, Illinois," illustrated in red and blue with the seal and motto of the United States

Twelve letters of John J. Russell of Sterling, Illinois, documenting his service as a sergeant and 2nd lieutenant in Company B of the 13th Illinois Infantry in Missouri, Mississippi, and Alabama. Russell writes to his brother, Charles, and sister, Julia, from Rolla, Franklin, and Heetsville, Mo., Vicksburg, Miss., Cairo, Ill., and Bridgeport and Madison Station, Ala. One letter (Dec. 6, 1861) is written on stationery containing a printed vignette portrait of McClellan.

First Lieutenant in the 11th Illinois Cavalry, Company G, who later served as major and aide-de-camp to General James Birdseye McPherson. Includes letters home to family from Brimfield, Peoria County, Illinois, from Camp Benton Barracks, St. Louis, Tennessee, and Louisiana, 1862-1864.