Scope and Contents Wishes to visit her sister-in-law Pattie Watkins but thinks it wise to wait until late July or August, when they should be over the whooping cough; their daughter Minnie H. Watkins had again taken ill but has fully recovered; have commenced cutting wheat but the rain is slowing them down; the crops of corn and pumpkin are doing well; refers to soldiers running the blockade and confiscating Yankee provisions; relays news of family and friends; the neighborhood id getting healthy again; deeply mourns the death of their son, Charley R. Watkins; gives details of church services held in the area; states how much his family, the Smileys (his overseer), and his negroes love and miss him; refers to her boarding of Confederate soldiers; has had a problem with one of the negroes burning down his house; is ashamed of the luxury in which she lives compared to the hardships soldiers must face; assumes he is keeping up with his Bible class; expresses her dislike for the "drinking and profane officers;" mentions the task of exchanging their wool for cotton; Smiley (their overseer) has been possibly ordered into service, and Nannie will have to watch over the farm; will send him the shoes he needed; has heard that the war effort is going well; Grant is weakening in the west and Lee is in control of the east; is hopeful about their success at Vicksburg and their holding of Fredericksburg; refers to the tyranny of the Yankee troops and the actions taken against the Southern civilians; expresses doubt concerning the actions of West Tennessee; God will see the South through the war and deliver them the victory; the prospects for peace are very bright.