The collection consists of thirteen letters by Faucher to his parents while he was a seaman aboard the USS Augusta on its official trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1866-1867. The Augusta was under the command of Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox, and the purpose of its trip was to present Czar Alexander II of Russia with the congratulations of President Andrew Jackson and the U.S. government on his escape from an assassination attempt by Dmitry Karakozov. This is explained in Faucher's first letter, dated June 17, 1866, from Queenstown, Ireland. The ship stopped at many ports including London, Portsmouth, Copenhagen, Kronstadt, Moscow, and St. Petersburg (Russia), Stockholm, Hamburg (Germany), Cherbourg (France), Lisbon (Portugal), Gibraltar, Malaga and Barcelona (Spain), Genoa, Florence and Naples (Italy), and Barbados. Faucher wrote to his family about all the sightseeing, the lavish dinners and entertainment, and the important personalities whom he met during the course of his cruise. In a letter dated April 1, 1867, he writes that "This is the greatest cruise ever made by an American Man of War."

Also included in the collection are transcripts of all the letters.