Confederacy, Fort Pulaski Prison, Ga. - "The Immortal 600". Prisoner of war cover from W.E. Johnson, Lieutenant in the 7th South Carolina Cavalry, to his father in Camden, S.C., sent via flag of truce to Savannah where the cover entered the mails for Camden, postmarked "Savannah, Geo./Nov. 6" (1864) cds with stars at side and (Due) "10" rate handstamp, endorsed at top left "W.E. Johnson, Prisoner of War/By Flag of Truce" and pencil "Exd" (examined) censor notation below, Extremely Fine a wonderful rarity in stunning condition (Pictured in Monroe Book, pg. 102). Estimate  $1,500 - 2,000. Fort Pulaski prisoner-of-war covers are quite rare and there are only three known covers to have a Savannah, Ga. postmark. Since Savannah fell to Union forces on December 21, 1864, there was only a brief 60-day period that a Fort Pulaski prisoner-of-war letter could have been sent via Savannah.There are many interesting stories of prisons and one of the most interesting is that of three Southern locations where captured Confederate officers were held by Federal forces, right in the bosom of the Confederacy itself. These three prisons were Morris Island in Charleston Harbor, SC, Hilton Head in the harbor of Port Royal, SC, and Fort Pulaski near Savannah, GA. All are interconnected with the plight of 600 Confederate officer prisoners known in Southern history as "The Immortal 600."The story begins in June 1864 when the Confederates placed 50 high-ranking Union officer prisoners in Charleston where the Union believed they would be subject to Union artillery fire from Morris Island. The North promptly sent a similar number of Confederate officers to Morris Island to be exposed to Confederate artillery. On August 3, 1864, both sides exchanged these prisoners. Then the Confederates transferred 600 more prisoners to Charleston. On August 20, 1864, the Union retaliated by shipping 600 prisoners from Fort Delaware to Morris Island near Charleston, arriving on September 7. They were held in open barracks as "human shields" under direct shelling from Confederate forces in retaliation for Union prisoners being held in Charleston under shelling from U.S. forces. General Grant vetoed another prisoner exchange, however, the stalemate was broken when the Union prisoners were moved from Charleston because of an outbreak of yellow fever. On October 21, 1864, the prisoners from Morris Island, who had been exposed to mortar fire from their own Confederate batteries in Charleston, were moved to Fort Pulaski at the mouth of the Savannah River, conditions were not much better there as they were forced to subsist on a near starvation diet. Shortly thereafter about 200 of them were again transferred to Hilton Head. On March 12, 1865, the prisoners at both locations were returned to Fort Delaware. Forty-four died from illness and very bad treatment, and including those that were later exchanged or had escaped, about half of the original 600 made it back to Fort Delaware. $0 (Image)