A handwritten, four-page letter from Emma Alston to her husband, Charles Alston, in which she discusses her fear of the Union's destruction of Georgetown, South Carolina. She also mentions the dissatisfaction of the enslaved people from one of their plantations and encourages him to visit them in order to dissuade them from escaping.
A handwritten, four-page letter from Emma Alston to her husband, Charles Alston, in which she laments the ongoing Civil War and specifically worries about their ability to maintain their enslaved workers. She advises him on which enslaved people to bring to Georgetown and the possibility of hiring out Jack, a blacksmith.
A handwritten, four-page letter from Joseph Alston to his father, Charles Alston, in which he tells him of his experience in a skirmish with a Union gunboat and updates him on the movement of other Confederate troops. He also discusses the spread of edema among enslaved people and them escaping to Union soldiers. In addition, he mentions the conditions at his residence and the spread of fever there.
A handwritten, four-page letter from Joseph Alston to his father, Charles Alston, in which he updates him on his status as a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. He informs his father of the Confederate troops moving north to Virginia and discusses topics such as Benjamin Huger's actions and the lack of intervention from England or France in the war.
A handwritten, two-page letter from Emma Alston to her husband, Charles, in which she advises him on the management of enslaved people (Alfred, Forester, Philemon, Mitchell, and Andrew) in the face of them possibly escaping to the Union. She also reports on the family's situation and health at the new farm in Greenville.
A handwritten, two-page letter from Emma Alston to her husband, Charles, in which she shares her fear for the future of South Carolina, specifically Charleston and Georgetown, amid the Civil War. She also mentions the impact of the war on enslaved people and the Middleton family.
