POW203

Very interesting and very unusual POW related Turned Cover -- 1st Use (inside) - Through-the-Lines POW cover with the small double circle Brooklyn NY CDS 12 SEP 1864. Addressed to Lieutenant Joseph A. Peloubet, Prisioner of War, Libby Prison, Richmond, Va. There is no stamp and no indication of any postage paid and no examiner's mark. What appears to be the case is that the cover was posted and processed at the Brooklyn post office and then was sent through-the-lines at the transfer point under a larger separate cover perhaps together with a number of other covers from the same post office addressed to the prison and then carried by courier from the transfer point (presumably Fortress Monroe) without entering the Confederate postal system. 2nd Use (outside) - The original CSA stamp from the second use is missing (either removed or fell off), and a replacement stamp (CSA #12 AD) has been hinged in place for display purposes. A partial strike of the Richmond, Va CDS Powell Type 5- is apparent which means this use was either in late September or October 1864. Addressed to Mrs. Martha Carroll, Lynchburg, Va. On arrival in Lynchburg, the cover was not picked up by the addressee and was advertised with the application of the RED-BROWN Lynchburg, Va CDS 2 DEC (1864) on the reverse with the matching ADVERTISED 2 handstanp in the same red-brown ink as the postmark Type K. This advertised handstamp is a very scarce Lynchburg mark in its own right. Covers were generally advertised if they had not been picked up after two or three weeks. This second use would not have been sent by the POW from the first use. It has been surmised that the cover may have been used by a prison guard to send a letter home. That is entirely possible as the prison guards did trade with the prisoners even though trade with the prisoners was severely frowned upon. Very clean cover with just a little minor edge wear. Ex-Kaufmann, Ex-Randy Neil Exhibit. Joseph Alexander Peloubet (1835-1907) of Bloomfield, New Jersey, enlisted in New York City as a private in the New York 4th Heavy Artillery. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant 8/17/1864. He was captured as a POW at the Second Battle of Reams' Station, Va (Petersburg Campaign) 8/25/1864 and confined at Libby, Salisbury, and Danville prisons until exchanged 4/5/1865. He mustered out of service 9/26/1865. After the war, he lived in Bloomfield, New Jersey, and was active in the New Jersey Association of Ex Prisioners of War. The 1870 Federal Census shows that he was engaged in the family's organ building business.

$1,000.00

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 --