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This collection contains the papers, dated 1859-1934, but mainly 1862-1864, of Augustus C. Golding (also spelled as Goldin and , Golden). It includes letters, a letterbook, diaries, documents, pension papers, printed materials, and photographs. All items relate to Golding's service in the Union Army, 1861-1864, in Northern Virginia, on the Virginia peninsula, and in Maryland. Golding's letters to family and friends describe troop movements, battles, camp conditions, his health, a hospital, and the weather. Golding describes his participation in the following battles or their aftermath: Gaines Mill, Malvern Hill, Mechanicsville, 2nd Bull Run or Manassas, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. He occasionally presents his views on war, politics, and the destruction of Virginia's cities and countryside. He also gives financial and practical advice. The collection contains genealogical data on Golding's immediate family.

Sixty-six letters home from Corporal Samuel H. McNutt of Company H, 12th Pennsylvania Reserves from camps in Maryland and Virginia. Includes comments on battles of Mechanicsville, Gaines Mill, Malvern Hill and Gettysburg. A history of the 12th Regiment Reserves Infantry can be found in Folder 1 of this collection.

The diary of William Coe, a minister from the Shenandoah Valley, with entries dated from May 29, 1862 to August 13, 1862. He writes about the Seven Days and Cedar Mountain battles and shifts in area from Confederate to Union control. He discusses slavery, specifically a man he enslaves who marries a free woman, as well as the death and burial of an enslaved woman who was his servant's mother.