What do you know about mail service in the US Civil War?

LTC Stephen F. — Mon, 02 May 2016 16:13:43 -0400

I think that every service member and family member left back home has appreciated mail service especially while deployed. Mail wasn’t as common in the Revolutionary period. But by 1861 many were familiar and appreciated sending and receiving letters. In modern wars service men and women frequently write letters to be mailed at the death. In the civil war this was fairly common and many dead soldiers had letters stuffed into their pockets to be mailed after their death.
"The U.S. Post Office Department introduced several improvements during the war which made it easier to send and receive mail. Since soldiers sometimes had trouble acquiring postage stamps. If they did get them, they had trouble keeping the gummed bits of paper from congealing into sodden lumps. Soldiers were allowed to mail letters without stamps beginning in July 1861 by writing “Soldier’s Letter” on the envelope; postage was collected from the recipient. In July 1863, postage rates were simplified and in some cases lowered when distance-based letter rate categories were eliminated and all letters given the lowest rate. That same month, free home delivery of mail was introduced in the nation’s largest cities.
To prevent the fraudulent use of the large quantity of U.S. postage stamps held by postmasters in the seceded states, the U.S. Post Office Department redesigned its postage stamps soon after it suspended mail service to the South. The newly designed stamps were distributed to postmasters and customers beginning in August 1861, in exchange for the old ones. Initially Postmasters were instructed to give customers six days following notification in which to exchange old stamps for new ones, after which time the old ones were demonetized (rendered valueless). But the time limit was stretched in some cases to accommodate customers. In New York City, citizens were given about six weeks to exchange their postage stamps. As the war progressed, coins, which were more highly valued than paper money, gradually disappeared from the marketplace. By the summer of 1862, the lack of coinage posed a serious hardship to trade. Merchants began issuing their own promissory notes, called “shinplasters,” and many people began using postage stamps as small change. Unfortunately, shinplasters were often redeemable only where received, and stamps were liable to crumple and clump together."
Pictures: Group in front of post office tent; Mail wagon for headquarters, Army of the Potomac, at Falmouth, Virginia, March 1863; U.S. Mail wagon, 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac, ca. 1864. The clover painted on the side of the wagon was the insignia of the 2nd Corps: red for the 1st Division, white for the 2nd Division, and blue for the 3rd Division; Distant view of Belle Plain Landing, Virginia, on the James River, with U.S. Mail wagon, 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac, in foreground, 1864.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made May 2 at 2016 4:18 PM

LTC Stephen F. — Mon, 02 May 2016 16:18:50 -0400

I was glad to learn that POWS could send mail from northern and southern POW camps and that soldiers could send mail without stamps by writing “Soldier’s Letter” on the envelope with postage due collected from the recipient of the letter.
Here is the complete text from the response choices:
A. The United States banned the exchange of mail between citizens of the North and South in August 1861, although smugglers often carried mail illegally across the lines. Prisoner-of-war mail was exchanged between North and South at designated points under a flag-of-truce.
B. Citizens could also send letters via the flag-of-truce system, although like prisoners’ mail, their letters were read by censors and rejected if the contents were objectionable.
C. In 1861, the cost of mailing a half-ounce letter up to 3,000 miles by the U.S. Post Office Department was 3 cents. On June 1, 1861, the Confederate Post Office began charging 5 cents for mailing half-ounce letters up to 500 miles.
D. A law of July 17, 1862, authorized the use of postage stamps as currency, and beginning in August 1862 the Treasury Department issued special “postage currency” — reproductions of postage stamps on larger, thicker, ungummed pieces of paper, in denominations of 5, 10, 25, and 50 cents. Due to coin shortages the Treasury Department continued issuing paper notes representing fractions of a dollar through 1876, although beginning in October 1863 they were called “fractional currency” and did not feature reproductions of stamps.

Response by SGT John " Mac " McConnell made May 2 at 2016 4:31 PM

SGT John " Mac " McConnell — Mon, 02 May 2016 16:31:44 -0400

Very Interesting read LTC Stephen F... Mail was a big factor for helping boost the morale in times of distress.. Plus soldiers knowing that their final words reached their family if they were to fall.

Response by 1stSgt Eugene Harless made May 2 at 2016 4:50 PM

1stSgt Eugene Harless — Mon, 02 May 2016 16:50:55 -0400

Excellent bits of history!!! Soldiers letters are the best glimpses into the past we can get. I have a copy of a small book produced by the decendent pf a Civil War soldier called "Kiss Little Liliah For Me" that has a collection written by a soldier who was conscripted into the 8th Alabama Infantry.
What is really touching is that he way he always ends his letters with how he misses his infant daughter is worded almost exactly the way I ended my letters home when my daughter was a baby in 1991 and I was deployed.

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 2 at 2016 5:18 PM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Mon, 02 May 2016 17:18:00 -0400

Did they have forever stamps at all? Lol

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made May 2 at 2016 5:32 PM

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 02 May 2016 17:32:25 -0400

I was NCOIC of an Army Post Office in Baghdad, Iraq in 2004. This was a very interesting read.

Response by CSM William Payne made May 2 at 2016 6:23 PM

CSM William Payne — Mon, 02 May 2016 18:23:52 -0400

A lot of the detail that we know from the Civil War comes directly from letters written by Soldiers to back home and vise versa. Walt Whitman did a lot of volunteer time working in hospitals around the DC area during the war and one of the comforts that he provided was to write letters for the wounded that were either too injured to write or were illiterate and couldn't read or write.

Good info Sir.

Response by SFC William Farrell made May 2 at 2016 8:11 PM

SFC William Farrell — Mon, 02 May 2016 20:11:10 -0400

Interesting article LTC Stephen F.. I liked when I was able to mail a letter in Vietnam by just writing FREE where the stamp should have been placed! I did not realize they did that during the Civil War although the recipients were charged!

Response by SP5 Mark Kuzinski made May 2 at 2016 8:58 PM

SP5 Mark Kuzinski — Mon, 02 May 2016 20:58:37 -0400

Very good read!

Response by LTC Trent Klug made Jun 17 at 2023 4:28 AM

LTC Trent Klug — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 04:28:54 -0400

LTC Stephen F. Very cool slice of history. I have to say I've never thought about the importance of mail during the Civil War.

Response by Maj Kim Patterson made Jun 17 at 2023 11:51 AM

Maj Kim Patterson — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 11:51:42 -0400

The fine art of the written letter seems to be getting lost as AI takes over. My phone rarely rings people communicate by text