The Edgar Dickey letters were written to members of the Dickey family while Dickey was serving with Company I of the Minnesota Second Regiment in the Civil War. Letters dated 11 October 1861 through 2 July 1865 covered Dickey’s entire time in the Minnesota Second Regiment and paralleled the history of the regiment. Also, William Wells, who served with Dickey and was a neighbor of the Dickey family, wrote some letters or the fragments of letters.

Dickey’s correspondence illuminates numerous aspects of a soldier’s sometimes dreary and at other times hectic life. The letters ranged from joy, sorrow, economic worries, homesickness, and patriotism. Throughout his years in the Civil War, Dickey saw battles such as Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, the battlefield of Shiloh, the taking of Atlanta, and Sherman’s march to the sea. Furthermore, Dickey mentioned foraging for food, military chaplins, “niggars,” the war’s end, and Lincoln’s death. The letters’ conclude with his return home in the summer of 1865.

The collection is arranged chronologically dating from October 1861 through 1965. The folders for the letters are dated according to a numbering system designed by the collection’s donator, E. Dudley Parsons. The numbers represent the year, month, and letter. For instance, a letter numbered 61-10-1 was the first letter written during October 1861.