As usual with contemporary letters, these are only useful in spots. Barclay gives good descriptions of the battles of First Manassas, First Winchester and Gettysburg (dispelling once and for all the myth that the Stonewall Brigade was not heavily involved in the latter). His expression is naturally limited by the fact that he's writing to relatives; there aren't a lot of humorous scenes of camp life here. We do find out something about the Liberty Hall Volunteers, Barclay's company, who were apparently something of a prima donna bunch and were often assigned as Jackson's HQ guards. Unfortunately, the letters have several gaps and do not cover the period from Spotsylvania, where Barclay was captured, to the end of the war. He was a prisoner during this period and it would have been interesting to know what his experiences were.