Of the seven manuscripts in the group, five are letters by Pratt to his mother or father—one written from western Virginia in August of 1861, and four from various locations in the Shenandoah Valley, December 1862 to November 1863. The two remaining documents (March-June 1862) are letters to Pratt from the headquarters of Brig. Gen. Wise, responding to Pratt's own, perhaps repeated entreaties that Wise use his influence to expedite Pratt's exchange. Pratt's initial assignment to Wise's command may be seen, in retrospect, as unfortunate. Wise had enjoyed a long and influential political career, including a recent term as governor of Virginia (1856-1860), but was temperamentally unsuited for military command: his inability to cooperate with fellow brigadier John B. Floyd in the Kanawha Valley of western Virginia undermined Confederate efforts to maintain a foothold in that crucial sector in the first year of the war. Pratt's letter of 30 August 1861 was written from Camp Dogwood, an advanced position along the line of the James River & Kanawha Turnpike in what is now Fayette County, West Virginia. Pratt mentions two minor engagements of Floyd's, at Piggott's Mill on 25 August and at Summersville the next day. Wise's Legion itself experienced only occasional skirmishing during the campaign, before being withdrawn to Richmond in December.