William Smith Herndon, a promising young attorney in Tyler, Texas, and his bride, Mary Louise McKellar Herndon, faced starting a family at the beginning of the Civil War. After the miscarriage of their first child, Herndon volunteers in the 13th Texas Infantry which was stationed at Velasco on the Texas coast for nearly all of the war. Mary Louise spent part of her time in Tyler and part of the time with her parents in nearby Henderson County. She gave birth to a son (with disabilities) and a daughter during the war. Their frequent letters tell of loneliness and frustration, issues with a slave and issues with extended family.