This collection consists of letters primarily between George Washington "Wash" Nelson, Jr., of Hanover County, Virginia and his cousin and future wife Mary “Mollie” Nelson Scollay of Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Nelson commanded the Hanover Light Artillery (Va.) and was a staff officer of General William Nelson Pendleton, the Chief of Artillery of the Confederacy’s Army Northern Virginia, during the American Civil War. Nelson was captured in October 1862 and spent the remainder of the war in Union prisons at Camp Chase, Johnson’s Island, Morris Island, Fort Delaware., and Point Lookout. Nelson’s final letter is sent on May 23, 1865 within weeks of his release from prison. The bulk of the collection are twenty letters between George and Mollie. Also included are seven wartime letters from George to “Charlotte” who we believe is Charlotte Cazenove Massie, wife of William O. Massie, and of Alexandria, Va. The wartime letters describe prison life, details of fellow prisoners, updates on home and family, and George and Mollie’s courtship.