Confederacy, Old Capital Prison, Washington, D.C. Wonderful cover from prisoner of war to Patent Office, Washington, D.C. and franked with United States 1861-66 2¢ Blackjack (deep color) tied by target cancel with "Washington, D.C./Jan. 5, '64" double circle postmark alongside, manuscript censor's endorsement "Approved by CWR for W. P. Wood Supt./OC Prison" (Old Capitol Prison) at left of Lt. Charles W. Thompson, Extremely Fine, an superb prisoner of war cover with scarce Blackjack franking paying the 2¢ drop rate (Pictured in Monroe Book, pg. 106). Estimate  $750 - 1,000. On numerous occasions Confederate prisoners-of-war corresponded with citizens throughout the Union. These letters were mostly to family, friends, or those who sympathized with the plight of the prisoners. Rarely, would they have local correspondence and when such a letter was written, the proper U.S. postage was two cents, the drop letter rate. This cover is a beautiful example of this situation.The letter that accompanied the above cover is missing. Fortunately, because of the discovery of another Old Capitol Prison drop letter cover and letter to Professor Hedrick dated February 22, 1864, which is in the same handwriting as this cover, the sender has been determined to be Private Nathan B. Robbins (Company F, 46th North Carolina Regiment) of Randolph, North Carolina. Private Robbins was captured at Bristoe Station, Virginia on October 14, 1863. He was later released on or about March 14, 1864, after taking the Oath of Allegiance to the United States.Refer to the July-August 1993 issue of The Confederate Philatelist (pages 151-155) which featured this interesting cover. $0 (Image)

Confederacy, Old Capital Prison, Washington, D.C. Incoming cover to Aron Smith, Old Capital Prison, Washington, D.C. franked with United States 1861 3¢ rose (tiny margin tear) tied by "Memphis, Ten./Apr. 6" double circle postmark with a excellent example of the circular censor's handstamp "Passed W. P. Wood/Military Prison" (Type I), there are two interesting notations on the cover, "Contains $5.00" and "Released", Extremely Fine, a lovely strike of this censor marking, which is normally weak or incomplete, ex-Judd (Pictured in Monroe Book, pg. 105). Estimate  $300 - 400. Old Capitol Prison was the building that served as a temporary Capitol after Washington, D.C. had been burned during the War of 1812. W. P. Wood was the Superintendent and was also a special agent of the government. Much intelligence information was gathered by him from the prisoners for the Union. Old Capitol Prison was used mostly for disloyal citizens and spies, such as Belle Boyd and Rose O'Neel Greenhow, as well as captured sailors who had been running the blockade. It was the first Federal prison to hold Confederate prisoners. About a score of prisoners captured at First Bull Run (Manassas) were sent there in July 1861. The largest number of prisoners there at one time was 1,414. By war's end, 397 Confederate prisoners were buried in Washington, D.C. $0 (Image)