SR8

USA 3c Red Star Die with a Grid Cancel and the small double circle Vicksburg, Miss CDS 29 APR (1861) US Mail Service in Confederate Mississippi to Confederate Louisiana. Addressed to Messers J. T. Hardie & Co, New Orleans, La. Manuscript at lower left “Steamer Fair Play.” The Fair Play was the US Mail Packet Boat designated to carry the cover by the sender on the Mississippi River to New Orleans. Such routing designations were generally honored by the postal service if the cover was not directly placed on the packet boat by the sender himself. The cover may have originated somewhere upriver from Vicksburg at a landing or plantation and placed on the packet as a loose letter and then serviced when it reached Vicksburg, or it may have originated in Vicksburg itself. Difficult to say without the original contents. The Fair Play (built 1859) would soon become a Confederate Mail Packet and supply boat and was captured by the Union 8/18/1862 with a load of rifles and other goods destined for the Confederate forces. The Union converted her into a tinclad that operated on the Ohio River for the remainder of the war. After the war, she was sold to a private owner and renamed “Cotile” and continued to operate on the Mississippi River until dismantled in 1869. Cover with sealed back flap opening tears and very slightly reduced at the top but still with an overall Very Fine appearance. Scarce Confederate period packet boat use. Ex- Brian Green with his note on the reverse.

$1,000.00 SOLD

If you wish to order this cover, send me an E-mail or use my secure Confederate Order Form. Clicking on my Confederate Order Form link below will open the order form in a new window or tab which can be kept open while you browse the remainder of the listings. JLKCSA@aol.com -- Confederate Order Form --