Salisbury Prison, N.C. Prisoner-of-war cover with 10c Rose (5), ample to large margins all around, tied by "Salisbury N.C. Jul. 17, 1861 [1862]" circular datestamp -- used in 1862, but the old year date left in place -- from Chief Engineer Joseph Parry to his wife in Philadelphia Pa., U.S. postage paid by 3c Rose (65) tied by "Old Point Comfort Va. Jul. 29" double-circle datestamp, Confederate censor mark in pencil "Ex NK", endorsed "Prisoner of War Letter" and pencil "July 12, 1862", homemade oatmeal cover with some creasing which appears between stamps but does not affect them, 10c with inconsequential small toned spot at bottom

VERY FINE. ONE OF THREE RECORDED PRISONER-OF-WAR COVERS WITH THE 10-CENT ROSE LITHOGRAPH, WHICH FOLLOWED A RARE FLAG-OF-TRUCE EXCHANGE ROUTE VIA PETERSBURG AND OLD POINT COMFORT. THIS WAS DESCRIBED IN THE EARL ANTRIM BOOK AS "PERHAPS THE MOST DESIRABLE OF ALL THE CONFEDERATE PRISONER-OF-WAR COVERS" -- AN OPINION WITH WHICH WE CERTAINLY AGREE.

When Federal troops occupied Norfolk on May 9, 1862, the C.S.A. flag-of-truce exchange point was moved up the James River to Aiken's Landing, Virginia, with the U.S. exchange point remaining across the Chesapeake Bay at Fortress Monroe. Aiken's Landing was used by the C.S.A. for only a short time, after which their exchange point was moved to City Point, Virginia. With the July 1862 implementation of the prisoner exchange cartel, prisoner populations were temporarily drastically reduced and flag-of-truce mail exchanges were virtually eliminated. Because of the very short period of time this route was in existence, mail via Petersburg is among the rarest of prisoners' flag-of-truce mail. These covers also represent the earliest possible mixed-franking covers with U.S. and Confederate stamps.

Joseph L. Parry was chief engineer on the U.S. transport steamer Union when it ran aground on November 3, 1861, on the North Carolina coast. Parry was held at Salisbury Prison until his exchange in September 1862. The Parry correspondence to and from the prison was described in two outstanding articles by Lawrence Lohr in the Confederate Philatelist in 1995 and 2008.

We record only three 10c Rose lithographs on prisoner-of-war covers (not counting civilian flag-of-truce covers). Each was sent from Salisbury Prison, and the other two (both to Maine) bear only the 10c Rose, without the U.S. 3c 1861 (see Siegel Sales 1071, lot 4678 and 1087, lot 581). A very similar cover from the Parry correspondence, but franked with a 10c Blue Hoyer & Ludwig issue, was in the Steven Walske collection (Siegel Sale 988, lot 107).

Ex Kilbourne. Illustrated in Antrim Civil War Prisons and Their Covers on p. 154

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