Twenty-two letters from Richard Realf to Laura B. Merritt and her sister Marian Merritt Cramer of Chicago, written while in active service in the Civil War as a soldier in the Illinois Eighty-eighth Volunteer Infantry, organized at Chicago in 1862. Some letters contain vivid, often poetical descriptions of Realf’s experiences as a soldier in the midst of several skirmishes as his regiment moves south. The Illinois 88th was stationed in several locations around Atlanta, becoming involved in Sherman’s advance on Atlanta in 1864. The content of other letters is solely about his fluctuating moods, his health, his uncertain future, and various philosophical and sentimental topics. Also, two poems of Realf’s and a poem written by Marian M. Cramer.