Items for Sale - Prisoner of War & Civilian Flag of Truce - Section One - Item#19606
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Item# 19606

CIVILIAN FLAG OF TRUCE: CSA 12a, 10¢ milky blue, beautiful shade from first printing, tied by blue PETERSBURG / VA. // JUL / 5 (1863) CDS on cover addressed to Julien C. Ruffin, Esqr, Garysville post office,  Prince George County, Virginia; franked with instructions at top in the hand of Capt. P. P. Oldershaw, Assistant Adjutant-General to Major General Thomas L. Crittenden, commander of the 21st Army Corps in the Department of the Cumberland, "Maj. Genl. Crittenden requests that the Pro Marshal will forward this the first opportunity. Oldershaw AAG." The back is endorsed "Approved, Office Prov Marshal Gen. Dept Cumberland, Wm. L. King Clk." (U.S. Provost Marshal's censor marking) and "Examined H.A.C." (CSA censor marking), the Confederate examiner also wrote "Chg Box 589 HAC" on the front and the post office applied the 10¢ stamp, small piece out of flap and glue smears where sealed after censorship, Very fine. Ex Walske. $3,500.

Aiken's Landing Va. (near Petersburg) was the regular exchange point for flag-of-truce mail from May to September 1862, when U.S. authorities stopped prisoners' mail exchange. Because Petersburg was the entry post office for flag-of-truce mail for only a few months, COVERS CARRIED ON THIS ROUTE ARE RARE. This civilian flag-of-truce cover with Major General Crittenden's AAG's instructions to expedite delivery was carried in July 1863. By this time, Union prisons filled up again, and prisoners' mail increased in volume. However, the exchange point had been moved to City Point, Va., near Richmond (the entry point for CSA mail). This North-to-South flag-of-truce cover was handled through the U.S. Provost Marshal's office and entered the Confederate postal system at Petersburg. The use of a Confederate stamp on a North-to-South flag-of-truce cover is unusual. Such covers typically show a due marking for Confederate postage. Rare.

Julian Calx Ruffin (1821-1864) served in the 12th Battalion of Virginia Light Artillery at the time of his death at the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff May 16, 1864. His father was well-known Confederate firebrand. Julian attended the College of William & Mary, from which he graduated in 1839. He helped his father edit the Farmers' Register for three years, he settled at Ruthven in 1843, becoming a planter. Ruffin worked in the fields beside his slaves and also worked on the public roads in the county. He married Charlotte Meade in 1852, and they had five children.

Price: $3500