CSA 9a, 10¢ light milky blue "T-E-N" with full to large margins except top right corner, tied by SALEM VA JUL 7 (1863) circular datestamp with second strike to left on cover to Hon. George Moore, Her Britannic Majesty's Consul, Richmond VA, or whoever the British Consul may be at Richmond. Sent one month after Moore was expelled from the Confederacy. Moore served in Richmond as one of the British Consuls to the Confederate States and was expelled on June 6, 1863. Signed Brian Green. SCV $1,500. $1,100.

Expulsion of British Consuls from the Confederacy. Consuls were helping British subjects in the Confederacy avoid conscription, which Confederate officials were increasingly applying to citizens and non-citizens alike. Britain allowed that foreign-born men could be required to take part in emergency local defense, but denied the Confederacy’s right to draft them into regular military service. President Jefferson Davis ruled that the British consuls could “…no longer be permitted to exercise their functions or even to reside within the limits of the Confederacy.” In a move that dashed any hopes that Britain would recognize Confederate sovereignty. On October 8, 1863, its consuls were expelled from the Confederacy.