TUDOR HALL VA. AUG  17 1861 cds with manuscript [due] 5 on cover to Mrs. J. B. Griffin, Edgefield C.H., S.C. with endorsement of J. B. Griffin Lt. Col., Hampton Legion, SCV.  On the back flaps is a note from the receiving postmaster, “Mrs. Griffin, you will please send me the postage on this letter. J.S. Adams, P.M. Dorns Mill, S.C.” The Act of July 29, 1861 permitted Confederate military personnel to send all types of mail without prepayment of postage. The postage was collected on delivery from the recipient. Postage rates were the same as if prepaid. All such mail was to be endorsed with the name and unit of the soldier. Mrs. Griffin may or may not even have been aware that she needed to pay the postage since the Act was only dated a little over two weeks before. This cover was the subject of my column in the 3rd Quarter 2014 issue of La Posta and is posted on this site on the articles page. $200.

James Benjamin Griffin (1825 -1881) – Hampton's Legion.  Jimmie Griffin did not go off to war as an ordinary soldier. The wealthy 35-year old planter of Highland House Plantation took with him two slaves, two trunks, his favorite hunting dog and his favorite horse as well as other tangible amenities. He left behind seven children twelve years old and younger, as well as his wife Leila (Eliza Harwood Burt 1829-1922 of Sunnyside Plantation) who was eight and a half months pregnant. The 1860 Edgefield District, South Carolina, slave census showed that Griffin owned 61 slaves and 1,500 acres, of which 700 were improved. In April 1861, Confederate President Jefferson Davis wanted to raise a "legion of honor." Wade Hampton was authorized to create this legion and thus Hampton's Legion was mustered into Confederate Service on June 19, 1861. Hampton Legion was prominent at the First Battle of Manassas, but Major Griffin was stationed at Camp Ashland, near Ashland, Virginia, on July 21, 1861, thus not present at First Manassas. On the death of Colonel B.J. Johnson, killed in that battle, Major Griffin was promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel, assigned to command the infantry. Various mentions of Lt. Col. Griffin may be found in the Official Records. I commend to you A Gentleman and an Officer by Judith N. McArthur and Orville Vernon Burton who edited Griffin’s letters and added so much more history. It is a great read for anyone interested in riveting Civil War history. And there is so much more to the story than I can relay here. It is readily available online. The actual Griffin letters are a privately held family collection in the possession of Griffin’s great-grandson. Photocopies are at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin, as well as newspaper clippings and genealogical research.