Illustration of a Union army mail wagon
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For many soldiers, the Civil War was their first extended absence from home. Their letters
often included references both to the loneliness life and the horrors of the conflict. Letters
from home were always welcome relief in a soldiers' day. Families were not the only ones eager
for word from their loves ones at war. For the first time, newspaper publishers could rely on
soldiers' letters for first person depictions of battles.
Because they were often on the move, soldiers' mail service was irregular at best. While
letters might find them easily when they were camped for extended periods, when on the march,
units could travel for weeks without receiving their mail.
The postal service acknowledged that many soldiers did not carry stamps with them and permitted
them to send letters without stamps. A soldier's envelope had to bear his name, rank, and unit.
Such mail was marked "postage due," and the amount indicated was collected from the addressee.
Prisoner of War Mail
Confederate and Union prisoners were allowed to exchange mail through flag-of-truce ships.
Confederate and Union prisoner-of-war letters were exchanged at designated points. These letters usually were enclosed
within an inner, unsealed envelope that bore enemy stamps or was sent postage due. The outer cover was destroyed after
the contents were censored, as indicated by proper markings and endorsements on the envelope carrying the letter to its
destination.
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Johnson's Island near Sandusky Bay, Ohio, where Confederate POWs were held during the war
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