This collection contains 36 letters from Samuel H. Edwards to Mary L. ("Molly") Hulse, whom he married in 1866. Edwards wrote the bulk of the letters between 1862 and 1864 while serving in the United States Military Telegraphic Corps during the American Civil War. With the exception of a few letters written while on leave in Washington, D.C., he wrote from military camps in Virginia and Pennsylvania. Edwards describes the material conditions and challenges of daily life (housing, food, water, alcohol, weather, clothing, and sleep are often mentioned) as well as the movement of troops, dangers faced on the front lines as a telegrapher, a visit from President Lincoln (June 21, 1864), the Battle of the Spotsylvania courthouse, and the burning and pillaging of Petersburg, Virginia, among other things. He describes the overwhelming number of dead and wounded in the wake of battles, and once writes of a woman disguised as a man who was shot in the leg during battle. These letters are also love letters, in which Edwards expresses his deep affection for Hulse and responds to letters he received from her (not in the collection). Many passages concern their courtship, engagement, and future plans. Edwards also enclosed gifts with his letters, including garden seeds, a gun he found on a battlefield, Confederate stamps confiscated from a prisoner, portraits of himself he had made while visiting Washington, D.C., soldiers' buttons, and sheet music of popular songs. Also included in the collection is a folder of biographical information about Edwards; a letter to him from Geo[rge], who was traveling in Switzerland; and a poem presumably sent to the Edwards following the death of their son, Harry, in 1879.
