This article is from the April - June 2011 issue of the Confederate Philatelist. Posted under a prior agreement with the then journal editors in effect since the early days of this website.

"Naval Rendezvous" On the surface, after examining the above envelope, one may think it is an unremarkable CS Navy related cover. That was my impression when it was offered to me for purchase. Even though this 3¢ Scott #U27 "star die" entire had an unreadable postmark, I still had some interest mainly because of the curious term "Naval Rendezvous" in the address. So I went ahead and acquired it. Since I'd never heard of the term before, I had absolutely no idea what it meant. I searched  through numerous books on the CS Navy in the hope I could solve the puzzle. After many hours of hunting, I happily found the answer. The term "Naval Rendezvous" is most interesting in that it simply means "Naval Recruiting Station." The term is now outdated and is no longer used in the Navy. Such recruiting stations were established by the Confederate Navy in Macon, Mobile, Norfolk, New Orleans, Raleigh, Richmond and Savannah. Each "Rendezvous" usually had a sea officer, surgeon, and two or three junior officers. A potential recruit could be as young as fourteen with parental consent. Free blacks could serve provided the local squadron commander or the Navy Department approved. Slaves could serve with their master's approval. However, blacks were not permitted to number more  han 5% of the ship's crew. In spite of these seven recruiting stations, most of the Confederate Navy enlisted personnel came from the ranks of the Confederate Army. I also researched the name of the addressee on the cover, "Lieut. Leonard H. Lyne, CSN" and determined that he was an officer in the Virginia State Navy. However, there is no record of his being transferred to the CS Navy notwithstanding the "CSN" notation after his name. This is a good example of an unremarkable cover which, after research, turns out to be a remarkable cover.

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