CSA 11, 10¢ blue (4 nice margins) tied dateless MADISON C.H. / VA. cds on darling small embossed ladies cover (2 ½” x 4 ¼”) with portraying bird sitting in a fruit tree, addressed to Warren Mosely, Care of Major [Cornelius] Boyle, Gordonsville, Va. Not only is this a charming cover, it has a fascinating backstory of intrigue which extends to the assassination conspiracy of Lincoln. It will be the subject of an article in 4Q 2019 Kelleher's Stamp Collectors' Connection. Major (Dr.) Cornelius Boyle was a Confederate secret agent for General Lee. He was provost marshal and post commander at Gordonsville. $550.

Warren A. Moseley served in the 4th Georgia Infantry. He was initially mustered into Company H then commissioned into Company A, George 4th Reserve Cavalry 15 January 1863. He was surrendered at Milledgeville, Georgia, in 1865.Military records of the Medical Director’s Office, Richmond, Va., show him as serving at Receiving and Wayside Hospital, General Hospital No. 9, Winder Hospital--Division 5, Richmond. He was detailed to Gordonsville by order of General Robert E. Lee, in 1863 and 1864. Taken prisoner at Strasburg, Va. 1 June 1862, where he was wounded, exchanged 15 September 1862 at Point Lookout, wounded again slightly in the arm and leg at Chancellorsville 3 May 1863.

Dr. (Major) Cornelius Boyle was wealthy landowner with a thriving medical practice in the District of Columbia. Before the war, as tensions increased between the North and South, he founded a pro-Southern militia unit, known as the National Volunteers. When he was questioned before a Congressional Committee (on February 1, 1861) concerning his and the group's loyalties, Boyle asserted that it was a social marching club. When war broke out, he set aside his professional practice and marched his volunteers to the state of Virginia, becoming a Major in the Confederate Army. He was made provost marshal and post commander at Gordonsville, a critical position due to the railroads. The key location allowed him to pass messages quickly to and from the Headquarters of the Army of Northern Virginia, and he became an important Confederate agent. General Robert E. Lee is reported to have said when it was suggested that Boyle be moved to another area, "Major Boyle was commissioned specifically for the service in which he is now engaged. I know of no one who can take his place." Boyle was part of numerous undercover operations and communications during the Civil War. It has even been suggested that he was aware of, or played a small role in, Thomas R. Harney's attempt to bomb the White House and strong evidence he was involved with John Wilkes Booth's assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. After the war, Boyle's vast properties were seized by the government, and he was denied entry into the District. He was not allowed to return to the District of Columbia until 1871.