This collection was assembled by Thomas La Lancette in the course of his research on the life of Elijah Gibbons, the captain of Company B of the 14th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry.The collection consists of original manuscript material, archival materials copied from other collections, published sources from the 19th century, and photocopies of rare published primary sources. The largest set of manuscript sources is a collection of 72 letters written by William Digby Smith to his wife. Smith, an Irish immigrant and locksmith from Middletown, wrote to his wife on average every few weeks between September 1862 and May 1865 alternating tales of running into former neighbors with harrowingly detailed descriptions of combat and its aftermath. There is also a manuscript notebook containing personal reminiscences recorded years later and a history of Company B, a carte de visite of Elijah Gibbons, and a letter from Imri Spencer, a sergeant in Company F from Voluntown, describing the hostility faced by Federal troops in Maryland.

Photocopied supplementary material includes correspondence, reminiscences, and photographs as well as pension records, morning reports, and other similar archival materials. These documents were copied from repositories like the National Archives, historical societies, and private collections.