Isaac H.M. Pray began his journal on the day of his enlistment on Monday, the 6 th day of October, 1862, as a volunteer in Company K. 13 th Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers. The four diaries of Isaac H.M. Pray were transcribed just as they were written, in the language and spelling of the writer and only appear corrected when it was difficult to read the entries. It is a view of the Civil War through a common soldier at a time when few could read or write. The diaries were written in a nearly indelible ink that withstood rain, snow and handling and some were written with a lead or graphite type pencil. In places where the diaries were rain damaged, he wrote over the old entries. An effort was made to transcribe those original notes and compare the wording to the overlaying notes.The diaries were passed down through the family of Isaac H.M. Pray through his Grand niece, Estelle Thomas Pray Estes and her husband Robert Francisco Estes, of Rangely, Maine and then to their daughters Elizabeth Estes Pray Zimba and Elaine Estes Pray Sandoval.