Civil War POW Cover - Camp Douglas
Feb 20, 2015 13:30:35 GMT -5
kacyds, Gordon Lee, and 3 more like this
Post by philatelius on Feb 20, 2015 13:30:35 GMT -5
Although I think Civil War postal history is interesting, it's largely outside the bounds of my collecting interests. Enough other people think it's interesting that it tends to be too dear for my wallet! Several years ago, however, I had the opportunity to purchase an accumulation of old envelopes that included this POW cover.
The black oval marking on the left side of the envelope reads "Camp Douglas / Examined / Prisoner's Letter." Camp Douglas was located just outside of Chicago and may have housed as many as 26,000 Confederate soldiers over the course of the war. I've seen various figures thrown about, but some authorities think as many as 1 in 5 men held there died.
Unfortunately the cover contained no letter when I acquired it, so I don't know anything about the sender or his relation to the Miss Fort (sweetheart? sister?) to whom the envelope was addressed. Nevertheless, it's a treasured piece in my collection, as I'm sure you can imagine.
The black oval marking on the left side of the envelope reads "Camp Douglas / Examined / Prisoner's Letter." Camp Douglas was located just outside of Chicago and may have housed as many as 26,000 Confederate soldiers over the course of the war. I've seen various figures thrown about, but some authorities think as many as 1 in 5 men held there died.
Unfortunately the cover contained no letter when I acquired it, so I don't know anything about the sender or his relation to the Miss Fort (sweetheart? sister?) to whom the envelope was addressed. Nevertheless, it's a treasured piece in my collection, as I'm sure you can imagine.
