A diary, letters, and other writings. The diary, apparently composed during 1863 and 1864, discusses Richard Wharton's service in the Confederate Army with the 154th Tennessee Senior Infantry Regiment under John Bell Hood in defense of Atlanta. Also included are a love letter, 1864; letters, 1889 and 1901, relating to family affairs; letters, 1905-1906, to Wharton from W. S. Ray, also of the 154th Tennessee, discussing the fates of several of their former comrades and the death of Wharton's brother in 1863 at the hands of Tennessee guerilla leader Fielding Hurst; poems; speeches; a genealogy of the Wharton family; and a brief description of the battle of Perryville, Ky., dictated by Wharton to his daughter, Winnie Wharton.