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During the fall of 1861, Virgil Moats assisted in organizing a company of infantry at Camp Dennison, Ohio, accepting a commission as Captain when the regiment was formally admitted into service in December. His letters include accouts of the Battle of Shiloh, and useful information on Chickasaw Bluffs, Port Gibson, and Arkansas Post. The majority of Moats' letters were written during the Vicksburg Campaign.

The survivng Civil War correspondence of Virgil Moats covers only fourteen months of his military career, March 1862 to May 1863. While these 18 letters represent only a fraction of his correspondence, even during this period, they include important accounts of the Battle of Shiloh, and useful information on Chickasaw Bluffs, Port Gibson, and Arkansas Post. The majority of Moats' letters were written during the Vicksburg Campaign. His letter of May 8, 1863, was written from the town of Rocky Springs, Miss., then a bustling town about forty miles inland from the river, though today it is reduced to a ghost town.

In addition to Moats' letters are three letters by two of Eliza's brothers: John E. Richardson, a sergeant in Co. F, wrote from Vicksburg to the convalescing Virgil, then in a Cincinnati hospital, and Lay Whitney Richardson, a soldier in the 68th Ohio Infantry, wrote Eliza two letters in 1864 and 1865.