A handwritten, one-page letter from James Simons to John Julius Alston in which Simons appoints him as his Aide-de-Camp, ranking Alston as Captain of the fourth Brigade Infantry.
A certificate naming John Julius Alston a solicitor in South Carolina on January 16, 1861, signed by John Belton O'Neall, Job Johnston, and Thomas J. Gantt. Chancellor Wardlaw was noted as absent. At the bottom, "United States of America" is crossed out and replaced by "Commonwealth of South Carolina."
A handwritten, four-page letter from William Alston Hayne to his uncle, Charles Alston, in which he requests Peruvian Guano or Rhodes Supplemental Phosphate of Lime to use as fertilizer. He also mentions the possibility of the Civil War dragging on for years and suggests that the Alston family build a cottage near his home in case of a sea invasion.
A handwritten, three-page letter from Charles Alston to his sister, Mary Pringle, in which he explains John Julius Alston's journey to Richmond to see Governor Pickens and the Secretary of War about starting a new Company of Artillery. He presents this story to disprove claims made by William Bull Pringle.
A handwritten, six-page letter from William Alston Pringle to his uncle, Charles Alston, in which he defends his brother, Charles Alston Pringle, and his father, William Bull Pringle, amid the family controversy about Charles Alston Pringle's exclusion from the new Company of Artillery.
A certificate appointing John Julius Alston to the post of Senior First Lieutenant in the Battalion of Artillery in the Regular Enlisted Force of South Carolina on August 13, 1861. This was signed by Francis Wilkinson Pickens, James A. Duffus, and William H. Peronneau.
A handwritten, one-page letter from L. P. Walker to General Anderson in which he approves the raising of John Julius Alston and William Peronneau's Company of Artillery.
A handwritten, one-page letter from Charles Alston to his sister, Mary Pringle, in which he defends his son, John Julius Alston, against insults from his brother-in-law, William Bull Pringle.
A handwritten, three-page letter from Charles Alston to his nephew, Charles Alston Pringle, in which he clarifies John Julius Alston's meeting with Governor Pickens and the Secretary of War, explaining why Charles Alston Pringle did not receive a commission in their new Company of Artillery.
