CONFEDERATE TRANS-RIO GRANDE ROUTE FROM MEXICO: CSA 7-L, 5¢ blue pair, as usually seen on theses uses, tied EAGLE PASS, TEX / Oct 28 boldly struck cds on outer folded lettersheet (no contents) that ORIGINATED IN MEXICO, and was carried out of the mails across the River to Eagle Pass. Small tape stain sealed tear at top. Addressed to Sr. D. Juan Twohig, San Antonio, Texas, and docketed on reverse "October 23 – 1862 / Don Jesús Silba on / Flour & Wheat", Very Fine. Eagle Pass, Texas, is located on the east bank of the Rio Grande River directly across from Piedras Negras, Mexico. It was adjacent to Fort Duncan, built in 1849. Ratification of Texas secession from the Union took place March 2, 1861, although secession was in motion February 1, 1861. Texas joined the Confederacy March 6, 1861. After that date, the fort was garrisoned by Confederate troops until the end of the war. This cover originated somewhere in Mexico and was carried privately to Piedras Negras in an outer envelope addressed to a Mexican forwarder. From there, it crossed the border to Eagle Pass where the inner envelope was placed in the Confederate mails. This was one of the three major Trans-Rio Grande routes. F. Groos & Co. was the forwarder at Pedras Negras. All recorded Eagle Pass routed covers fall between October 1862 to September 1864. Ex Risvold and Kramer. RARE AND HIGHLY DESIRABLE! Ex Ralph Swap. $5,500.

JOHN TWOHIG (1806–1891) was a San Antonio merchant and banker who was born in Cork County, Ireland, in April 1806. After serving as an apprentice on a British merchant vessel and engaging in coastwise trade between New Orleans and Boston, he established a mercantile business in San Antonio, Texas, in 1830 and took part in the Siege of Bexar in 1835. At the time of the Adrián Woll invasion of San Antonio in September 1842, Twohig blew up his store to keep ammunition from the enemy. Captured and taken to Mexico, he and fourteen other San Antonians held in Perote Prison (in Mexican state of Vera Cruz) cut a tunnel and escaped on July 2, 1843. Twohig was one of nine not recaptured. He returned to San Antonio, became a banker, and was widely known for his breadline for the unfortunate. This breadline, which he financed personally, was continued by his sister for several years after his death. In April 1853, Twohig married Bettie Calvert of Seguin. In the years prior to the Civil War, he amassed a large personal fortune. His banking business declined because of the effects of the war, but soon recovered. In 1870, Twohig was among the 100 wealthiest men in Texas, with real property estimated at $90,000 and personal property worth an additional $50,000. He died at his home in San Antonio in October 1891.