“Jan 28th Enola NC” in manuscript at bottom of scarce 13-star flag patriotic (F13-2, CCV $2,500). The 13th star represented the admission of Kentucky into the Confederacy on December 10, 1861. Kentucky never completely left the Union; the Confederate government spent most of its time in exile. Cover addressed with creative spelling to “John M. Tucker Raleigh peace institute horspitl in care of Dr hall 41 Regemint NC Co B Sate Troop.” Reduced a bit at right. $750.

Enola NC was originally located in Iredell County. The post office was functional from 1858-1872; the 1862 USPOD Register lists it. The Enola post office was established west of Statesville at the intersection of the Western Road and Georgia Road when the Western North Carolina Railroad was completed in 1858. Although it was discontinued in 1872, Thomas J. Conger established a post office there in 1889, called Conger's. Conger's was discontinued in 1880.
Raleigh Peace Institute Hospital refers to the historic Main Building of William Peace University, which served as a Confederate army hospital during the Civil War. After the war, it was used as the district headquarters for the Freedmen's Bureau. Later, it became the site of Peace Institute, which later became Peace College, and is now William Peace University. The institution was founded in 1857 as Peace Institute by the Presbyterian Synod of North Carolina. It was named after the prominent local merchant who gave the principal donation for its establishment. The Civil War and Reconstruction delayed the opening of the school, but Peace Institute finally opened in January 1872.
John M. Tucker served as a private in Company B, 42nd NC Infantry. He was a farmer prior to enlistment in Rowan County on March 7, 1862. He was absent or sick most of his service. He was discharged on October 30, 1863, by reason of “consumption contracted on Blackwater (River) in December 1862 while exposed to a great deal of wet and cold weather.” The discharge certificate gives his age as 30.