This collection consists of a letter and a poem written by John Edward Thompson of the 20th Illinois Infantry. The letter, written on March 17, 1862 to a friend while Thompson was stationed in Savannah, Tennessee, discusses Thompson's thoughts on surviving the war and on arriving in Savannah. The poem, entitled Good Night: Who Wouldn't be a Soldier and written before the Battle of Shiloh, was published in the Advocate in 1887.