This collection consists of correspondence by brothers Alfred Otis Chamberlain and LeRoy S. Chamberlain written while enlisted during the Civil War, to family members in Lynn and Boston, Massachusetts. The collection is divided into two series.

Series I. Alfred Otis Chamberlain (1842-1932) Papers contains letters written to his mother and father. Topics include daily activities in the army, marching South, taking rebels prisoner, fighting, pay, Drewry's Bluff, and inquiries about news from home. He requests items from home such as food, pens, paper, "mother's good cake"; discusses his female correspondents; seeing his brother Roy (LeRoy); hearing of General Lee surrendering. Also included is an order to report for extra duty in the commissary department, dated July 31, 1864, and a poem that Alfred Otis read at a Roanoke dinner on February 8, 1911.

Series II. LeRoy S. Chamberlain (1833-1867) Papers contains correspondence to family members. Topics include: waiting at the camp in Annapolis, spending time in the hospital for a sore ankle, guarding prisoners, Major General Burnside shooting a rebel, participating in the fighting, the lack of pay, the emancipation proclamation prolonging the war, how he feels about fighting alongside blacks, Fort Darling (Drewry's Bluff), his everyday activities, and inquiries about news from home. There is a hand drawn map of New Berne battlefield. Of interest are the different letterheads on the various stationary that LeRoy used.