Charles A. Ray was born in Mississippi and his extended kin lived in Tishamingo and Itawamba counties in northeastern Mississippi. According to the 1860 census, he was 24 years old and was employed as an overseer in nearby Monroe County. Ray served as a corporal (later lieutenant) in Co. G, 26th Mississippi Infantry. He was taken prisoner after the surrender of Fort Donelson in February 1862 and wrote the two letters in this collection from Camp Chase, a prison camp near Columbus, Ohio.