The Benjamon Franklin Bailar Collection: A Postal Historical Study of America's First Postmaster Gen continued...

VERY FINE. AN OUTSTANDING CONFEDERATE STATE USE OF UNITED STATES STAMPS AND A VERY RARE NAVY AGENT FORWARDER MARKING.

According to the docketing at the top of this cover, the letter was written on February 3, 1861, during Louisiana's Independent Statehood period and one day prior to joining the Confederate States. The February 7 New Orleans postmark indicates Confederate use of United States postage.

The addressee, Louisiana-born Hilary Cenas, was at this time a midshipman in the United States Navy, serving on the U.S. Frigate Congress. He resigned from the U.S. Navy and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Confederate States Navy on December 24, 1861. He served on the C.S. steam ram Arkansas in 1862, the C.S.S. Gaines in 1862-63, special service abroad in 1863-64 and in the Battery Semmes, James River, in 1864. Lt. Cenas was ordered by the C.S. Navy Department to travel secretly to England in 1863 via Nassau or Bermuda.

The U.S. Frigate Congress served in the Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the first year of the war. In March 1862 the Congress was destroyed in the Battle of Hampton Roads. According to NavSource Online: "[The Congress was] attacked by the Confederate ironclad, CSS Virginia (ex-USS Merrimack) and five other small ships. After exchanging broadsides with Virginia, Congress slipped her moorings and ran aground in shallow water. The ironclad and her consorts attacked from a distance and inflicted great damage on the ship, killing 120, including the commanding officer. Ablaze in several places and unable to bring guns to bear on the enemy, Congress was forced to strike her colors. Heavy shore batteries prevented Virginia from taking possession, instead she fired several rounds of hot shot and incendiary causing Congress to burn to the water's edge, and her magazine to explode."

Ex Turner, Grunin and "Sevenoaks". Illustrated on the front cover of the third Grunin sale. With 1988 P.F. certificate (Image)

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VERY FINE. A REMARKABLE AND HISTORIC COVER FROM FAMED UNITED STATES ARMY GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT TO MAJOR ROBERT ANDERSON, COMMANDER OF FORT SUMTER DURING THE CONFEDERATE SIEGE.

The letter from General Scott that was once contained in this cover is now in the Library of Congress (copy accompanies). Brief and to the point, General Scott reprimands Major Anderson for comments he made about conditions at Fort Sumter: "I have heard of your declaration to Col. Lamon, indicating a desperate purpose. I forbid it as your commander, it being against your duty both as a soldier & Christian." On April 11 Beauregard sent representatives demanding the surrender of the fort, and on April 12 Confederate shelling of the fort began, continuing for 34 hours before Major Anderson agreed to evacuate.

Applying the stamps and writing the address on the back of the envelope were no mistake or indeliberate act on General Scott's part. His long history in military campaigns taught him the value of information, and he was probably (and rightfully) suspicious of Confederate spying through mail tampering. To ensure the integrity of the envelope, the address was written across the flaps and the stamps were affixed over the flaps as well.

Ex Calhoun. (Image)

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VERY FINE. A BEAUTIFUL AND RARE DOUBLE-RATE USE OF 30-CENT 1860 ISSUE ON A CIVIL WAR PATRIOTIC COVER TO FRANCE. THE CARTOON DEPICTS WINFIELD SCOTT AS A BULLDOG DEFENDING WASHINGTON D.C. FROM JEFFERSON DAVIS AS A DOG WITH HIS TAIL BETWEEN HIS LEGS.

The 1857 issue was demonetized soon after this cover was mailed. Very few Civil War patriotic covers to foreign destinations are known with the 30c 1860 stamp, including those from the Angell correspondence.

The cartoon and other similar representations were created early in the war when General Winfield Scott commanded U.S. forces protecting the nation's capital from the threat of Confederate invasion. It depicts General Scott as a bulldog wearing Scott's military hat and Jefferson Davis as a frightened dog dressed in a Confederate flag and wearing a plantation owner's hat. Scott dares Davis, "Why Don't You Take It?", with Washington D.C. shown as a prime rib cut of meat between them. In April 1861 the isolated U.S. capital was exposed to invasion until sufficient U.S. forces arrived and secured the surrounding region.

Ex Myers. (Image)

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VERY FINE APPEARANCE. A RARE USE OF UNITED STATES ONE-CENT STAMPS ON A CONFEDERATE PATRIOTIC COVER.

Although the postmark date cannot be read, this must have been mailed prior to June 1, 1861, when the Confederate postal system went into operation and United States stamps were no longer valid in the seceded states. (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE. A SPECTACULAR "REMEMBER ELLSWORTH" MAGNUS PATRIOTIC COVER WITH AN INTERPANE STRIP OF THREE OF THE ONE-CENT 1857 ISSUE.

Elmer E. Ellsworth was a favorite assistant to Abraham Lincoln and the best-known early casualty of the Civil War. After his death in Alexandria, Virginia, in May 1861, Ellsworth's name became a rallying cry for northern vengeance against the rebel southern states.

In 1860 Ellsworth went to Illinois where he studied law in Lincoln's office and helped with his 1860 campaign for president. Ellsworth was only 5 feet 6 inches tall; Lincoln called him "the greatest little man I ever met." He accompanied the newly-elected president to Washington, D.C. in 1861. After the surrender of Fort Sumter, on April 15, 1861, Lincoln called for 75,000 troops to put down the rebellion. Ellsworth raised the 11th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment (the "Fire Zouaves") from New York City's volunteer firefighting companies and led them to Washington as their colonel. On May 24, 1861 (the day after Virginia's secession was ratified by referendum), with an order that came a day prior, Col. Ellsworth led his troops into Alexandria, Virginia, where Confederate sympathies were strong. He entered the Marshall House Inn, in order to remove a Confederate flag that had been flying over the hotel for weeks. Accompanied by seven men, he went up to the roof and cut down the large flag. On his way down the staircase, he encountered the owner of the house, James W. Jackson, an ardent secessionist who had earlier represented himself as a boarder. With a shotgun blast to the chest, Jackson killed Ellsworth, and then Jackson was killed with a bayonet thrust from one of Ellsworth's men.

Lincoln was deeply saddened by his friend's death and ordered an honor guard to bring his body to the White House, to lay in state in the East Room. Ellsworth's body was then taken to City Hall in New York City, where thousands of Union supporters came to see the "first man" to fall for the Union cause. Thousands of Union supporters enlisted to avenge Ellsworth's death. Most of the offending flag and Ellsworth's uniform, showing the hole from the fatal shot, can be seen today at the New York State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs.

With 1999 P.S.E. and 2005 P.F. certificates. (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE. AN OUTSTANDING THREE-COLOR FRANKING USED ON A RARE ELLSWORTH PATRIOTIC COVER TO ITALY FROM THE ANGELL CORRESPONDENCE.

Dr. Henry C. Angell was an optometrist who spent a considerable amount of time in Europe. Covers are known sent to him in France, Italy, England, Germany and Austria, plus a very few forwarded to other destinations. He was an art collector and undoubtedly appreciated the wide variety of Civil War patriotic envelopes mailed to him while he travelled abroad. In a New York Times article (March 6, 1897), Dr. Angell's name is mentioned in connection with the loan of seven works of art to an exhibition in Boston at Copley Hall, including two works by Corot.

This "Remember Ellsworth" design is a remarkable depiction of two Union soldiers and a Zouave trampling a fallen Confederate soldier and flag. The house with a figure in the window in the background represents the building where Ellsworth was killed trying to remove a Confederate flag raised by a secessionist. This design is extremely rare, even as a domestic use, and this is one of the greatest of the Angell covers.

Ex Matthies and Haas. With 1999 P.F. certificate (Image)

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VERY FINE APPEARANCE. A GORGEOUS "UNION" PATRIOTIC COVER USED TO GERMANY FROM THE FAMOUS ANGELL CORRESPONDENCE.

Dr. Henry C. Angell was an optometrist who spent a considerable amount of time in Europe. Covers are known sent to him in France, Italy, England, Germany and Austria, plus a very few forwarded to other destinations. He was an art collector and undoubtedly appreciated the wide variety of Civil War patriotic envelopes mailed to him while he travelled abroad. In a New York Times article (March 6, 1897), Dr. Angell's name is mentioned in connection with the loan of seven works of art to an exhibition in Boston at Copley Hall, including two works by Corot.

Ex Matthies. (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE. A RARE CIVIL WAR PERIOD ADVERTISING COVER AND CIRCULAR, ADVERTISING TO PROVIDE DRAFTEE SUBSTITUTES.

The Civil War is the first United States war that required conscription (the draft) to raise troops. After the Federal draft was announced the practice of finding substitutes to serve in place of the draftee became a business in urban cities. The New York Herald reported that men "must pocket their conscientious scruples and go forth to fight, or fork out three hundred dollars each for a substitute." Relevant postal artifacts are seldom encountered. (Image)

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VERY FINE APPEARANCE. A PHENOMENAL USE OF THE ONE-CENT 1861 ISSUE ON AN ADVERSITY COVER MADE FROM A CARDBOARD SHIRT COLLAR.

This inventive use from a Union soldier is extraordinarily rare, not only for its raw material, but also for the fact it was used in the United States mails. Most adversity covers were sent though the Confederate mails due to paper shortages in the South.

With 2010 P.F. certificate (Image)

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