Collected in this website are 100 letters from Augusta County and Franklin County. The letters contained here are primarily from enlisted men, representing several divisions of the Union and Confederate Armies. They also include correspondence from family and friends of these soldiers. Letters were written from all fronts, as regiments from these counties traveled throughout Pennsylvania and Virginia, south to the Carolinas, and west to Tennessee. The letters span early 1861 until the summer of 1865, after the Confederacy surrendered.

By using the searchable database, it is possible to see examples of the themes highlighted on the interpretive pages of this site. For example, to explore the hypothesis that letters from both North and South were similar in nature, enter a keyword such as "home". The search reveals 63 matches from letters of Franklin County. Similarly, there are 70 matches from the Augusta letters. In keeping with the simple interests of soldiers from Franklin and Augusta, the keyword "fishing" appears a total of 9 times, while a controversial issue such as "slavery" appears only 3 times.

The diaries presented in this archive offer an intimate view into the minds of soldiers and civilians of Augusta and Franklin Counties. The true feelings of the authors are reflected in their entries and we are left with an often blunt but honest representation of their daily experiences and outlook on the war. The diaries vividly represent that life during the Civil War was hours of sheer boredom punctuated by moments of extreme terror. The diaries seem to have been an outlet for the writers to express their thoughts and feelings as they faced this new experience.