CSA 6, 5¢ light blue single tied by blue 7-bar Army grid on cover to Genl. Joseph R. Anderson, Head Quarters Massaponax Hill, near Fredericksburg, Va.; manuscript "Via Richmond" at upper left, the field marking is scarce in blue. Ex-Walske and Burton. $400.

Gen. Joseph R. Anderson was an iron manufacturer and Confederate army officer during the war. In 1848, he purchased the Tredegar Iron Company, the largest producer of munitions, cannon, railroad iron, steam engines, and other ordnance for the Confederate government. One of Anderson’s most notable decisions was to introduce slaves into skilled industrial work at the ironworks, and by 1864, more than half the workers at Tredegar were bondsmen. Anderson served as a brigadier general for the Confederate army, and fought and was wounded during the Seven Days’ Battles. He resigned his commission in the Confederate Army in 1862 to resume control of the ironworks, and after the war, Anderson was a strong proponent for peace, hoping to keep the Union army from taking possession of the ironworks. He failed, but regained control of Tredegar after he was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson in 1865. He was a graduate of West Point.