2011 Rarities of the World continued...

VERY FINE APPEARANCE. AN UNUSUAL MIXED FRANKING ON A PRISONER-OF-WAR COVER FROM POINT LOOKOUT THROUGH OLD POINT COMFORT AND RICHMOND.

A description of Point Lookout Prison can be found at the William L. Clements Library website (http://www.clements.umich.edu/Webguides/Schoff/NP/Point.html): "The Point Lookout Prison was built on the tip of the peninsula where the Potomac River joins Chesapeake Bay. In the two years during which the camp was in operation, August 1863 to June 1865, Point Lookout overflowed with inmates, surpassing its intended capacity of 10,000 to a population numbering between 12,500 and 20,000. In all, over 50,000 men, both military and civilian, were held prisoner there. G. W. Jones, a private of Co. H, 24th Virginia Cavalry, described his ominous entrance into the prison amidst 'a pile of coffins for dead rebels,' hearing the lid close shut on his own soon thereafter when he learned that the system of prisoner exchanges had been suspended. Prisoners, who lived sixteen or more to a tent, were subjected to habitually short rations and limited fire wood in winter, and when the coffee ration was suspended for federal prisoners at Andersonville, the Point Lookout prisoners lost theirs as well. The flat topography, sandy soil, and an elevation barely above high tide led to poor drainage, and the area was subjected to every imaginable extreme of weather, from blazing heat to bone-chilling cold. Polluted water exacerbated the problems of inadequate food, clothing, fuel, housing, and medical care, and as a result, approximately 4,000 prisoners died there over 22 months."

Ex Walske. With 2011 P.F. certificate (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE. A PHENOMENAL PRISONER-OF-WAR COVER FROM CAMP SORGHUM TO MASSACHUSETTS WITH A STUNNING CORNER-MARGIN EXAMPLE OF THE 10-CENT DIE B STAMP.

Ex Haas. With 1982 C.S.A. and 2008 P.F. certificates (Image)

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VERY FINE APPEARANCE. A WONDERFUL WESTBOUND TRANS-MISSISSIPPI EXPRESS COVER TO TEXAS FROM THE ARMY OF TENNESSEE AFTER EVACUATING CHATTANOOGA.

The "roving" Chattanooga datestamp was taken from the city post office after evacuation and used as an army field office marking from September 1863 to January 1864. It is extremely rare on a Trans-Mississippi Express cover.

Illustrated in Krieger book (No. W-2). Ex Boshwit. With 1984 P.F. certificate. (Image)

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VERY FINE. ONE OF FIVE RECORDED TRANS-MISSISSIPPI EXPRESS COVERS WITH ARMY FIELD OFFICE CANCELLATIONS AND THE ONLY ONE OF THESE ORIGINATING WITH THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA.

Listed in Krieger as E53 (p. 53). Four of the five covers recorded by Krieger with army field cancellations come from the Army of Tennessee. Only this cover has the grids used by the Army of Northern Virginia in the field. Three other covers have targets or grids of uncertain origin.

Ex Simon. With 1983 P.F. certificate (Image)

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