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EXTREMELY FINE COVER FROM FORT DELAWARE PRISON, SENT VIA PORT ROYAL AND BY LOCAL FLAG-OF-TRUCE BOAT TO CHARLESTON.
This unusual cover was sent via Port Royal and Charleston with C.S.A. postage due at the 2c drop rate.
Ex Birkinbine. Illustrated in Special Routes (p. 76) (Image)
Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com
VERY FINE AND EXTREMELY RARE LOCAL FLAG-OF-TRUCE COVER FROM ONE OF THE "CONFEDERATE 50" PRISONERS ON BOARD THE U.S.S. DRAGOON OFF HILTON HEAD -- THE PREDECESSORS TO THE WELL-KNOWN "IMMORTAL 600."
On June 13, 1864, U.S. Major General John Foster, in command of the Department of the South at Hilton Head S.C. received a message from C.S.A. Major General Samuel Jones, commander of Confederate forces at Charleston, that five generals and 45 field officers had been transferred as prisoners-of-war to Charleston, which was under bombardment of Federal batteries. Foster immediately retaliated by ordering an equal number of prisoners of the same grade to be brought south and exposed to Confederate guns from Charleston. These 50 Confederate prisoners were taken from Fort Delaware and delivered to Gen. Foster at Hilton Head. Gen. Jones immediately proposed an exchange, which was completed on August 2.
From their arrival on June 29 until their exchange, the Confederate officers were held aboard the U.S.S. Dragoon off Hilton Head, in extreme conditions. According to Harrison (p. 222): "...for many days they had only bread to eat, but that was good because the meat when it was served was so decayed and disgusting that it had to be thrown overboard." The prisoners were allowed to write letters, but the short time they were on board the Dragoon accounts for the extreme rarity of known covers. (Harrison records only five). Shortly after their exchange, 600 more Federal prisoners were brought to Charleston and this touched off the famous "Immortal 600" incident.
Illustrated in Harrison (p. 223) (Image)
VERY FINE COVER FROM ONE OF THE 600 UNION OFFICERS HELD IN CHARLESTON UNDER FIRE FROM FEDERAL FORCES ON MORRIS ISLAND.
The officer who sent this letter was captured June 29, 1864, during the Wilson-Kautz cavalry raid at Stony Creek Va. His letter states in part "We moved from Macon last week and arrived here yesterday...There are six hundred prisoners here -- all officers". The Charleston 600 were the U.S. prisoners for whom Union General John Foster retaliated by bringing the Confederate "Immortal 600" to Morris Island. This cover is especially desirable with the prisoner's letter and reference to the "six hundred". (Image)
VERY FINE COVER FROM ONE OF THE IMMORTAL "600" ON THE U.S.S. CRESCENT CITY, JUST PRIOR TO BEING PLACED ON MORRIS ISLAND.
In August 1864, approximately 600 Confederate prisoners were moved on the Crescent City to Morris Island near Charleston by Federal forces, arriving on the island 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, a continuation and escalation of the prior "50" prisoner incident. Lt. Johnson was a member of Company K of the 7th S.C. Cavalry. He was captured on May 30, 1864, at Old Church Va., and taken to Fort Delaware, then to Morris Island as one of the "600". He was sent to Fort Pulaksi when the prisoners were moved from Morris Island on October 23 and finally back to Fort Delaware.
Ex Harrison (Image)
VERY FINE AND CHOICE COVER FROM ONE OF THE IMMORTAL "600" ON MORRIS ISLAND.
In August 1864, approximately 600 Confederate prisoners were moved to Morris Island near Charleston by Federal forces, 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. This cover is from the same officer as the prior Crescent City cover and the following Fort Pulaski covers.
Illustrated in Special Routes (p. 236) (Image)