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West speaks of leaving winter camp, and of his recent duties as Judge Advocate. Describes a visit to the Union signal station atop Pony Mountain near Culpeper, Virginia, where he encounters Grant: "It was the first time I ever saw him. I was not disappointed. He has a look of immense determination and force about his face." Now back with the 1st New York Dragoons, West mentions that 240 men in the regiment are currently dismounted.

Scope and Contents Most of this letter was written on 20 May, after the battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania and before Grant moved the Army of the Potomac south to the North Anna River. Capt. Gifford was now serving on the staff of the 49th New York Infantry (3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 6th Corps). He spends a page or so summarizing the Overland Campaign to date: "We have been through a series of terrible battles since we crossed the Rapidan on the 3rd of May. My own division has been in every engagement...

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Responding to an inquiry of Sarah Stilson's, Mary West writes that her brother Waldo ". . . was taken prisoner by the rebs. May 7th and, with others, immediately taken to Libby Prison, Richmond . . . ." West is unwounded but, according to the report of a surgeon who left the prison on 28 May, in need of food.

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Stuart, chairman of the U. S. Christian Commission, writes to thank Stilson for a donation of $12.25 from the Elocution Class of Corning Academy.

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Though this letter obviously ended up in Stilson's hands, it was addressed not specifically to her but to "one of the Numerous Pretty Young Ladies of Corning." The author identifies himself only as J. B. M., a member of Troop L, 6th New York Cavalry, then attached to the Army of the Shenandoah. Asserting that his intentions are "no other than honorable," he describes himself, says he was formerly a resident of Corning, and asks that the recipient write him in return.

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West writes from Camp Parole in Maryland, where paroled Union prisoners of war were required to report pending exchange for Confederate prisoners. He writes that he is just returned from a trip home to Dansville, but lacked the time to visit Stilson at Corning. He also mentions that the officers at Camp Parole were allowed to attend Lincoln's funeral in Washington, which he did.

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The concluding sheet of a letter of uncertain date, in which Stilson writes at length of her teaching.

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The concluding sheet of a letter of uncertain date.

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Written in a fine hand on one side of a small sheet, this is doubtless a draft. Stilson writes with great indignation of West's possessiveness: "What is more I am not your jewel nor your pride nor your pet—not a bit of it . . . . I have written to you for my amusement. I am under no obligation to do so. There is not a hair of my head nor a little finger of mine that belongs to you and if you tell me again that I am your pet &c I will not write to you in a great while."

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Three enclosures, which cannot be readily associated with any individual letter. These are: 1) an oval pencil drawing (perhaps by Stilson) entitled "News from War," showing four family members seated in a drawing room, listening to the reading of a letter; 2) a newspaper clipping with the box score of an intrasquad game played by the Dansville (NY) Base Ball Club (the "second Nine" was captained by West); 3) a cotton boll.

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A patriotic cover which bore a letter from Lyman Stilson to Sarah Stilson; the letter itself is not present in the collection.