DANVILLE, VIRGINIA: Southern prisoner of war cover from Capt. William F. Tiemann to J. W. Tiemann Esq Care Miss D. F. Tiemann, 128 William Street, New York, N.Y. “Per Flag of Truce” with pencil docketing up left side “Danville Feby 11 / 65” and Capt. Tiemann’s POW endorsement at upper right under encircled DUE 6, Old Point Comfort Feb 18 double circle. A number of additional pieces including 2010 letter from POW student Galen Harrison to Jerry Palazolo re this cover. Also a partial transcript of Tiemann’s recount of February 18, 1865 when he was among those transferred from Danville to Libby Prison in Richmond. He arrived Richmond on February 19 and was paroled on February 20 at Annapolis. Cover a bit rumpled with tiny edge tears at top but in generally good shape. A scarce Southern prison. Detailed biographical information on linked page. [VA] [NY] $1,600.

William Francis "Frank" Tiemann (1844-1926) served during the Civil War with the 159th Regiment of the New York State Volunteers, perhaps longer than any other member of the regiment. He was a recruiter for the regiment and three years later he was discharged when the regiment was disbanded. He was wounded in the Battle of Irish Bend and fought in two other major engagements in Louisiana, at Port Hudson and Mansura. In Virginia at the Third Battle of Winchester (Opequon), he was captured and held prisoner for five months before being exchanged in February 1865. He rejoined the regiment and was in Augusta and other locations in Georgia until late September 1865. He was an infantry officer who also performed duties as an adjutant and provost marshal. After the war he was the regiment's historian. Frank, as he was called, was born on March 29, 1844, in the Manhattanville section of New York City. His father was a bookkeeper for a leading paint manufacturing company founded by his grandfather.  Frank Tiemann enlisted on September 5, 1862, as an 18 year-old sergeant with the understanding that he would later receive a commission. The 159th was organized on October 28, 1862, and mustered into Federal service on November 1 "for three years, or during the war." Initially, Frank Tiemann was assigned to Company B; His brother, Harry, was a lieutenant in Company B. On December 3, the 159th sailed for Louisiana with an expedition led by Major General Nathaniel P. Banks. Shortly after the unit's arrival at Baton Rouge, Frank Tiemann received his commission and was reassigned to Company A. Later in the war he was promoted to captain and at war's end to major. The 159th left Louisiana on July 17, 1864, for duty in Virginia, initially at Bermuda Hundred and then in the lower Shenandoah Valley. At the close of the war the regiment was posted in Georgia.
The majority of Frank Tiemann's war-time letters were written to his father, Julius William Tiemann, addressed to him at 128 William Street, New York City, the Manhattan office of D. F. Tiemann & Company. Other letters were sent to his step-mother, Marie Antoinette Megie Tiemann (1841-1902), who he called Nettie. In 1891, Frank Tiemann, then residing in Brooklyn, compiled and published the regimental history, "The 159th Infantry, New York State Volunteers, in The War of The Rebellion, 1862-1865." Perhaps at that time he penned his "Personal recollection of Army Life during the War of the Rebellion, 1862-1865," a narrative based largely on the letters he wrote home. He also wrote two other unpublished monographs, "Reminiscences," an account of his growing up on Manhattan, and in 1894, "Prison Life in Dixie," an account of his wartime imprisonment. Typescript copies of both are in the New York State Library. "Prison Life" is also in the library of the Virginia Historical Society. Frank Tiemann was one of the last survivors of the 159th New York State Volunteers.

See http://dmna.ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/159thInf/Tiemann/159thInfTiemannIndex.htm for much more information on Tiemann as well as transcripts of his war-time letters.