The collection contains seven letters written by Jellison to his wife and his mother during the American Civil War. In addition, the collection includes Jellison's his discharge papers.

Despite the short duration of his service, Jellison's letters were written from a variety of locations in Virginia, Washington, DC, and aboard the gun boat St. Louis. All the letters are dated, but not all include the year, so the sequence is unclear. For the most part, Jellison writes of his regiments marches and camps, and news of the war from nearby regions.

Excerpt from December 15, 1862, Camp Vermont Near Alexandria: "...We had a pleasant time on picket we took three prisoners we had to shoot one. It was hared to stand and see a man shot down it was on my post and I ordered it was my duty to do so..."