The collection consists of two volumes of Beck’s diary compiled during his service in the Army of Northern Virginia. Beck’s diaries from 1861 through February 1864 were lost in a 1894 fire at the headquarters of a Confederate Reunion in Birmingham. In 327 diary entries, Beck provides detailed observations on the daily life of an enlisted man in the Confederate Army. Beck ruminates on weather conditions, daily marches, and his primary duty of feeding the troops. He gives detailed accounts of troop movements and battle strategies. Beck vividly recounts the battles at Spotsylvania, Second Cold Harbor, Monocacy, Cool Spring, Berryville, Opequon, Fisher’s Hill, and Cedar Creek. After the Confederate defeat at Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864, Beck embarked on a four month tour of Northern Virginia in which he attended numerous social functions; conducted daily business in the local towns; and met, courted, and fell in love with his future wife. Beck’s final diary entries find him back home in Alabama in February, 1865, on what turns out to be a permanent furlough.