Federal Civil War Postal History
Illustrated, maps, photographs, notes, appendix, index, 408 pp., 2009, Northbrook Publishing Company Inc., www.northbrookpub.com,$90. This book belies its title in that it is really not a federal postal history. It did not tell me correctly what it really was about until I got to page 101. Midway down that page a new paragraph begins: “Because this book is about patriotic stationery and its usages, all of the known cornercard designs of the stationery manufacturers are being shown here.” And that they are — in 770 illustrations. Now for those of us who are not philatelists (stamp collectors) or cover (envelopes) collectors, this work is quite overwhelming. Within its 408 pages are pictured all of those envelopes and a discussion of each stamp, type of cancellation, reason for postage due and different postal usage. And, believe me, there were many, many different usages — 16 different chapters’ worth. These are just a few: soldiers’ letters; maritime mail from coastal, ocean, and inland waterway locations; West Virginia mail; Christian and Sanitary Commission mail; prisoner-of-war mail; express company mail, and registered mail. This book contains great, crisp, clean photographs of envelopes, with and without postage stamps, having some type of ink-stamp or hand-endorsed cancellation. One saving grace for those of us who are not philatelists or cover collectors is that in numerous cases there were letters in the envelopes and many letters are quoted verbatim, or at least in part. These letters are the “meat” that makes the book at least digestible to the general Civil War buff. There are antebellum letters discussing slavery and wartime letters from postal officials and clerks, soldiers (from Sumter through Gettysburg), Southern prison camps, hospitals, and Sanitary and Christian Commission personnel. One drawback is that although the author definitely knows his postal material, he is a little weak on some other aspects of Civil War history and documentation. Two examples illustrate this point. First, a photograph of a drawing on an envelope shows a snake coiled around a Palmetto tree. The author says this is a comment against secession by the artist. What he neglects to say is that a snake coiled around a Palmetto tree was a device used on both the flag of the Darlington Guards, Co. D, 2nd South Carolina Light Artillery, and on the buttons of the Palmetto Guard, Co. I, 2nd South Carolina Infantry, Kershaw’s Brigade (and possibly by other South Carolina units in both the Eastern and Western Theaters). Second, there is a photo of a U.S. Military Rail Road locomotive with a wood, not a coal, tender pulling a private car donated for the use of the president but never used until after his death to transport his bier. It is not a good illustration to show railroad rolling stock that would have transported Civil War mail. The book is beautifully printed, exceptionally well laid out, and chock-full of detailed information on postal stamps, cancellations of numerous types and hundreds of designs on covers. It certainly is a collectors’ reference book, For that I highly recommend it. It is definitely not a Civil War history of the Federal Post Office Department. Reviewer: Michael J. Winey Michael J. Winey, who has a BS in history and MS in history museum training, was a curator for more than 25 years and is retired from the U.S. Army Military History Institute in Carlisle, Pa.
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