| MSC216 |
Imprinted
Cover "Headquarters Fitzhugh Lee's Cavalry Brigade, OFFICIAL BUSINESS."
"Official Business" is lined through and "Private"
written in manuscript. Military address to
Col W. C. Wickham Comdg 4th Va Cav.
No enclosure, no postal markings, and undated. Very likely carried by a
military courier. Cover with period staining at the left upper corner
and a good-sized opening tear at the top center and top right which
does involve the imprint. Still quite presentable and a very
scarce Unlisted military imprint.
Fitzhugh Lee
(1835-1905), Robert E. Lee's nephew and a graduate of West Point, was
one of the most well-known CSA Generals of the war and commanded
cavalry in the Army of Northern Virginia. After the war, he was
governor of Virginia (1886-1890), and later re-entered service as a USA
Maj-Gen during the Spanish-American War. Gen Lee's handwriting is very
distinctive. This cover is addressed entirely in General
Lee's hand but is not signed.
Williams Carter Wickham (1820-1888), a prominent Virginia planter,
lawyer, and politician, was comissioned Lt Col of the 4th Va
Cav
September 1861 and promoted Colonel of the regiment in August 1862 and
promoted Brig-Gen in September 1863. His entire military career was
with Stuart's Cavalry Corps. He was wounded at Williamsburg and again
during the Maryland campaign. He remained with the army until his
resignation in November 1864 in order to take his seat in the Second
Confederate Congress where he remained until the end of the war. After
the war, he served in the Virginia State Senate and as President of the
Virginia Central Railroad and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad.
His
time as Colonel would date this cover to either late 1862 or early
1863. The Lee and Wickham families were related. |
$600.00 |
JLKCSA@aol.com
-- Confederate Order
Form --