Confederacy, Fort Deleware Prison, Delaware City, Delaware. Lovely prisoner of war cover sent by Lieutenant William A. Smith, Company J, 50th Virginia Regiment, to his wife in Hillsville, Va., franked with United States 1861 3¢ rose cancelled by grid & tied by "Delaware City, Del./Jul. 30" cds in combination with Confederate States 1862 5¢ blue, horiz. pair cancelled by grid & tied by light strike of "Richmond, Va./Aug. 17" cds, cover endorsed at top left "For flag of Truce via Fortress Monroe & City Point" and struck with nice "Prisoner's Letter/Examined/Fort Delaware" oval handstamp, 3¢ adhesive with two blunt perfs at bottom right, Confederate States 5¢ pair with four large margins, Extremely Fine and choice, a rare usage & combination franking, very few 1862 5¢ adhesives are found on prisioner covers (Pictured in Monroe Book, pg. 100). Estimate  $1,500 - 2,000. Mail from Confederate soldiers in Union prisons to the South generally bore the U.S. 3¢ stamp of 1861. However, Confederate postage was also required to be paid. This was accomplished by placing a Confederate stamp on the envelope when the prisoner had access to such postage. If the envelope lacked the proper Confederate postage, it was forwarded within the Confederacy with a postage "Due 10" marking. Because most Southern prisoners could not obtain Confederate stamps, covers with both Union and Confederate stamps are quite scarce. Lieutenant William A. Smith, was captured at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia, on May 12, 1864, he was first taken to Point Lookout Prison and then transferred to Fort Delaware Prison on June 23, 1864. Lieutenant Smith survived his captivity and was released from prison on June 16, 1865. $0 (Image)