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The Robert Johnston papers consist of letters from a Confederate soldier in Virginia and Tennessee, written to his wife living in Albany, New York, between November 1863 and April 1865. The letters describe the difficulties of sending mail between the North and the South, and mention the legal complications of Confederate prisoners of war after the South’s surrender.

The Robert Johnston papers (36 items) consist of letters from November 1863 to April 1865, during Johnston’s time with the Confederate Army; they track his movements around Virginia and Tennessee. The letters were primarily written to his wife Catherine "Kate" S. Johnston (also addressed "Mrs. C.S. Johnston" and "Mrs. Robert Johnston") who lived in Albany, New York, with her father, the retired General John Van Rensselaer.

Johnston's letters often concern his request for news about his young children. He often discussed friends and family members, but mentioned little of military matters, aside from officers with whom he has become friends. His letter of November 24, 1863, noted a recent bout of influenza in the camp and on March 30, 1864, Johnston wrote of being offered a professor's chair. In letters he wrote immediately following major battles, he does not mention them at length. However, some of their letters seem to have gotten lost in the mail, as he sadly noted. In his letter of April 8, 1865, he gave Kate explicit directions on how to address a letter to him and about what the appropriate length should be. The letter of February 20, 1865, contained a message from an unnamed examiner, who noted that the letter was too long and that it was supposed to be only one page in length.

Later letters have interesting content pertaining to the capture of Petersburg and Richmond and the end of the war. In his letter of April 4, 1865, Johnston mentioned his desire to see his mother and sister before the imminent evacuation of Petersburg, and that he had surrendered to Union General [George Henry?] Thomas of the Union and had received parole. Likewise, in his letter of the April 12, 1865, he expressed uncertainty about his legal position following the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox.

The William Boston diary is a bound typescript, which documents Mr. Boston's service in the 20th Michigan Infantry during the Civil War. This volume, compiled by William's son, Orlan W. Boston, contains supplemental information and facsimiles of original documents related to William's service.

The diary consists of brief entries written almost daily during Boston's service. Early on in the war, Boston looked favorably upon the regiment's colonel, but was not as enamored of other officers, writing that "[t]he boys were glad to see him [Col. Williams] and cheered him lustily. Most of the officers looked sober" (1863 April 26). His comments on routine daily life tend to be very brief.

During his western service, Boston's diary is fairly thin, with perhaps longest and best description relating to a trip taken to some caverns in southern Kentucky (1863 May 27). The writing improves, however, following Boston's second tour in Virginia, and includes a good account of battles in the Petersburg Campaign from late August through November, 1864, as well as descriptions of life during the siege in the late fall 1864 through Spring, 1865. Boston's best description of an engagement is that for the desperate Confederate assault on Fort Stedman. His entries from the Appomattox Campaign are lengthier than average and provide a very good account of the regiment's activities.