CIVILIAN FLAG OF TRUCE: SOUTH TO NORTH cover from Dr. Joshua Barker Whitridge of Greenville, S.C to his wife in Boston, where she endured the war years. The cover is addressed to Daniel Hammond Esq. For Mrs. Whitridge, Boston, Mass.,with manuscript "Flag of Truce," franked with US 65 3¢ rose tied by segmented cork cancel and postmarked OLD POINT COMFORT VA MAR 28 (1865), Very Fine. The cover may have been his last to his wife since Whitridge died in April of 1865.  The original letter from this cover is housed at the South Carolina Historical Society. $300.

Dr. Joshua Barker Whitridge (1789-1865) was born in Tiverton RI where he spent his youth and childhood. He graduated from Union College in 1811 and received his medical degree at Harvard in 1815. He practiced medicine and surgery in the United States Army from December 1812 on the northern frontier. He resigned his commission in July 1815 and in December moved to Charleston, SC, where he entered private practice. In March 1846, Dr. Whitridge retired and moved to his plantation Rose Bank on Wadmalaw Island, south of Charleston, where he engaged in sea-island cotton planting. After the death of his first wife, Joshua remained a widower for many years and then married Caroline Hammond of Boston. They lived in South Carolina and in 1862, Mrs. Whitridge found life difficult in war-ridden South and took her two small sons to Boston for the duration. Joshua remained, endeavoring to protect his property.