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The Noah Deaton papers contain six letters written by Deaton to his father, William Deaton, and to his future wife, Sarah Jane McDonald, during his service in the 26th North Carolina Infantry Regiment of the Confederate Army. Deaton's regiment served in the Army of Northern Virginia during the Gettysburg campaign.

The Noah Deaton papers contain six letters written by Deaton to his father, William Deaton, and to his future wife, Sarah Jane McDonald, during his service in the 26th North Carolina Infantry Regiment. Deaton wrote mainly about military movements and interactions between his regiment and Union soldiers, including several skirmishes in Virginia and North Carolina. On one occasion, North Carolina Governor Zebulon Vance accompanied the regiment, as the Yankees broke up telegraph and railroad lines and eventually skirmished with the rebels outside of Goldsboro, North Carolina (December 19, 1862). Shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg, Deaton expressed his fear that the conviction of his fellow soldiers was waning, but he staunchly refused to submit to "Old Abe" (July 8, 1864). Deaton composed the final letter while imprisoned at Point Lookout, where he manufactured rings and breast pins for the Union Army. He described his condition as tolerable, but expressed pleasure at hearing news from home (October 10, 1864).

Deaton included a poem, "Soldiers Farewell," in his letter of June 23-30, 1863,