The Steven C. Walske Collection of Special Mail Routes of the American Civil War continued...

VERY FINE. AN EXCEPTIONALLY ATTRACTIVE MIXED-FRANKING COVER FROM LYNCHBURG TO A CONFEDERATE PRISONER AT POINT LOOKOUT WHO HAD ALREADY BEEN EXCHANGED.

Mixed frankings on prisoner-of-war covers are always desirable, especially so on South-to-North mail.

Ex Judd and Birkinbine (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

A REMARKABLE PAIR OF LETTERS. THE FIRST TELLS OF THE WRITER'S IMPENDING JOURNEY ON A BLOCKADE RUNNER, WHILE THE SECOND IS AN EXTREMELY RARE FLAG-OF-TRUCE USAGE FROM CUBA TO SOUTH CAROLINA VIA NEW YORK CITY, FORTRESS MONROE AND RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

The first is datelined Wilmington N.C. Oct. 7, 1863, as Aichel is awaiting his departure on board the "Blockade Runner... Margaretha & Jessie" to be transported to Nassau and Havana, with 10c Green, Die B (12) tied by "Wilmington N.C." circular datestamp.

The second, headed "Fourth letter", is datelined "Habana, 22 Decemb. 1863" and written in English for the purpose of censoring. Aichel mentions he has been in Havana for 1-1/2 months, describes the difficulty of finding work at reasonable wages and characterizes locals as "those mis-trusting vicious creoles." He closes by wishing his family a Merry Christmas. This letter is endorsed "By Flag of Truce" and was enclosed in an outer envelope (discarded at the exchange point), which carried it by steamer to New York City and from there to the exchange point through Old Point Comfort to Fortress Monroe in Virginia. The enclosed letter was censored and marked "Examined J. Cassels" (John Cassels, Captain and Provost Marshal), then sent by flag-of-truce boat to Richmond, where 10c Greenish Blue, Die B (12), large margins, was tied by "Richmond Va. Jan. 18" (1864) circular datestamp.

Both covers are in Very Fine condition. Letters originating outside the continental United States and carried into the Confederacy under the flag of truce are extremely rare -- far rarer, in fact, than blockade-run covers into Confederate ports. Two similar covers from the Aichel correspondence -- one with a faulty stamp, the other stampless -- were offered in our sale of the Kohn collection (Sale 382).

Illustrated in Special Routes (p. 93). Ex Murphy (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

A FINE AND EXTRAORDINARY FLAG-OF-TRUCE AND INTRA-CITY FORWARDED USAGE WITH A RARE COMBINATION OF CONFEDERATE GENERAL ISSUES.

The letter is discreetly addressed to "Mr." James C. Reynolds at Charleston. Reynolds was, in fact, a Lieutenant with the 1st S.C. Artillery stationed at Fort Johnson. The sender, who would have known his status, probably used a civilian salutation to evade Federal interception of correspondence with an active Confederate officer, and may have even known where he was stationed but used the less specific Charleston address for the same reason. The letter was mailed under flag-of-truce from Georgetown Washington D.C. to the Federal exchange point at Fortress Monroe inside another envelope with 3c U.S. postage, which was discarded. At Richmond the 10c C.S.A. stamp was tied by the Richmond circular datestamp and sent in the mails to Charleston. The Charleston post office did not recognize the addressee as a Confederate officer and advertised the letter, applying the "2" handstamp for the advertising fee. Lt. Reynolds likely sent the 2c fee, and, judging from a small pre-use pinhole in the 2c stamp, he probably pinned the stamp to his written directions to the Charleston post office. The "2" handstamp was obliterated with a grid and the 2c stamp was tied by the Charleston circular datestamp -- the charge for forwarding postage being only 2c because of the local forwarding. The combination of the 2c Jackson to pay the local forwarding charge with the flag-of-truce routing and the advertised "2" marking on a cover from the North to a C.S.A. officer, disguised as a purely civilian letter, makes this a most extraordinary artifact of Civil War postal history and probably unique.

Ex Grant and Bogg. Discussed by Stanley B. Ashbrook in his Special Service (p. 154) and in Weekly Philatelic Gossip (Feb and May 1953). Illustrated in Special Routes (p. 92) (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

A FINE APPEARING AND RARE HENRY WIRZ CENSORED COVER TO A PRISONER-OF-WAR AT ANDERSONVILLE. COVERS TO ANDERSONVILLE ARE RARE ENOUGH, BUT THE SURVIVAL OF A COVER AND LETTER TO A PRISONER WHO DIED AT ANDERSONVILLE IS EXTRAORDINARY.

Sgt. Oliver Williams was a member of the 24th New York Battery and was captured at Plymouth N.C. on April 20, 1864. The enclosed letter is from his wife Laura and contains a poignant and pleading request for him to write, asking that he have a fellow prisoner write if he is too ill to do so. She closes by asking him not to get down-hearted, to trust in Providence and to look forward to their meeting. One month later, on July 25, 1864, Sgt. Williams died at Andersonville. He is buried at the National Cemetery at the site (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

FRESH AND VERY FINE FLAG-OF-TRUCE COVER TO A UNION PRISONER AT ANDERSONVILLE.

Mail from the North to Union prisoners in Confederate prisons was normally carried via Old Point Comfort to the C.S.A. War Department in Richmond, where it was examined and then sent outside the C.S.A. postal system to the prisons via military courier. No Confederate postage or postmarks appear on this type of mail. (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com