The papers of Peyton Conway March (1864-1955) span the years 1897-1955, with the bulk of the material dating from 1898 to 1933. The papers are organized into the following series: Correspondence, Speeches and Writings, Subject File, Miscellany, Scrapbooks, and Oversize. The collection is focused on March's globe-spanning military career, specializing in artillery command, and his retirement writings and opinions on military topics. March is given credit for establishing the primacy of the chief of staff position within the army hierarchy. As chief of staff, March succeeded in transporting the troops and supplies to Europe for the rapid buildup of the American Expeditionary Forces in 1918 and then overcame the logistical challenge of demobilization in 1919. Notable correspondents in the papers include Newton Diehl Baker, Tasker Howard Bliss,William Sidney Graves, and John J. Pershing.

The Correspondence series has a chronological file from 1911 to 1955 and a small alphabetical file that dates solely from 1918 to 1921, while March was chief of staff. The correspondence is largely military-related before 1921, the year of his retirement. Post retirement correspondence concerns his writing projects, special requests from the public, and personal correspondence with friends, often other retired military personnel.

The Speeches and Writings file includes the drafts of his 1932 book The Nation at War , March's personal history of World War I and a critical response to Pershing's 1931 book My Experiences in the World War . Book reviews and related material are also included. Additionally, this series contains copies of lectures before the Army War College, speeches, newspaper articles, and draft writings on the Astor Battery, his memoirs, and his thoughts on Japanese intentions in Asia in 1933.

The Subject File is largely organized around March's various military assignments: command of artillery at Fort Riley, Kansas, command of the Astor Battery in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War, service in the Philippines working with General Arthur MacArthur during the 1899 Philippine American War, assignment to the Japanese Imperial Army in Manchuria as an observer during the Russo-Japanese War, and service in France during World War I. Also in the Subject File are reports and training manuals on a variety of army topics, but with a special focus on World War I and on artillery. March's memorandum arguing against the Siberian intervention by Allied forces in 1918 is in the Subject File; correspondence concerning the Siberian intervention is in the Correspondence File.

The Miscellany series is primarily composed of news clippings and printed matter related to March, an assortment of War Department proposals and reports, and other miscellaneous material.

The Scrapbooks series, all placed in Oversize, has nine volumes, seven of which are collections of newspaper clippings, with a few photographs and magazine articles, documenting the career of March. The last two scrapbooks relate to March Air Force Base, Riverside, California, which was named for March's son, Peyton C. March, Jr., an army air corps pilot who was killed in a 1918 flight training exercise in Texas.