Samuel A. Creelman, a native of Pennsylvania, served as Union soldier in the American Civil War in Company A of the 101st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. This collection consists of letters written by Creelman to his family and friends from various camps in Virginia during 1861 and 1862. In the letters, Creelman details the day to day details of camp life, inquires about people on the homefront, and discusses friends who died. After the Civil War, Creelman renounced Christianity and marked over certain passages of a religious nature from the letters.

The collection includes and address written by Creelman titled "Origin and Destiny, or My View of Life and Death," with the instructions, "To be read at my funeral instead of sermon," which expresses some of Creelman's views on life and death. The collection contains obituaries and a copy of Collections of Coffee Cooler, published in 1890 and written by Creelman about his war experiences, especially his capture at Plymouth, North Carolina, and his subsequent imprisonment at Andersonville, Georgia, and Florence, South Carolina.