OLD CAPITOL PRISON, WASHINGTON, DC: US 65, 3¢ rose tied WASHINGTON D.C. OCT 29 1863 circular datestamp on prisoner’s cover to Samuel Lee, 414 West Lombard St., Baltimore Md. Scarce red provost marshal examined, CSA Catalog type PWH-06, Harrison type II, signed C.D.W. (not identified by Harrison in his POW opus). Ex Ralph Swap. $1,000

Samuel Phillips Lee (February 13, 1812 – June 5, 1897) was an officer of the US Navy. During the war, he took part in the New Orleans campaign, before commanding the North American Blockading Squadron, covering the coastlines and inland waters of Virginia and North Carolina, and finally the Mississippi River Squadron. As a cousin of Robert E. Lee, his refusal to join the Confederate side by remaining loyal to the US demonstrated the extent to which the war had divided families. Lee married the daughter of Francis P. Blair, Sr., and their house in Washington is now the president's official guest house.