The letters, written Quaker-style, use numbers for the days of the week (Sunday is "First Day", etc.), and show the thoughts, hopes, and fears of a sixteen-year-old in wartime. She sometimes wears womanly clothes, awkwardly preferring "the girlish dress"; other times, she revels in her budding womanhood. The journal covers nine months, a span of time that included the capture of Philadelphia, the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, the encampment at Valley Forge, the Conway Cabal, and the eventual British evacuation of Philadelphia. The battles of Germantown, Whitemarsh, and Barren Hill were fought relatively close to North Wales, but the Wisters remained safe, although there were moments of trepidation. Sally hears gunfire on December 7, and her next journal entry begins "Rejoice with us, my dear. The British have return'd to the city. Charming news this."