Soldier's Letter 3d Maine Volunteer Infantry Envelope

    Was there free mail for the Civil War soldier to write home?  The simple answer is "no".  I remember thinking how sad that was for the soldiers back then not to have that simple privilege extended to them as they faced life and death fighting for their cause & country.  Letter writing was an important part of the typical soldier's life.  Far from home, letters were the only way to stay connected with family & friends.  They would never get enough letters from home.  They stayed connected with home through the letters they sent back.  

    I recently picked up the Union Soldier's Letter Cover shown here.  I admit its not an impressive envelope and there was no letter inside to give additional details about the soldier who sent it.  It does have the basic notation in the upper right corner of "Soldier's letter" along with the unit designation (3d Maine Regiment Volunteers, possibly company H in the third line down).  The cover is stamped with an Alexandria VA cancellation.  The 3d Maine fought at first Bull Run July 1861, the Peninsular Campaign of 1862 and through the rest of the war.   As beat up as the cover is, I bought it because its an interesting reminder of an unknown soldier's attempt to stay connected to "normal" in the midst of "uncertainty".

Civil War "Soldier's Letter" Envelope
3d Maine Reg. Vols.
Addressed to Mrs Mr J Greenleaf? Bath, Maine

  The designation "Soldier's letter" recognized the reality that often the active duty soldier might not have access to a 3 cent stamp or have the money on hand to buy one even if stamps were available.  Though the letter would be delivered to the addressee, they would have to pay the 3 cents postage due to get the letter.  If the soldier did not tag the envelope with "Soldier's letter" along with his unit designation, then the family would have to pay 3 cents for the letter and 3 cents additional penalty for a total of 6 cents to redeem the letter.  This particular envelope is not stamped "DUE 3" but the Alexandria VA cancellation mark shows it went via the postal system, so maybe the postal clerk knew the family member who picked it up in Bath, Maine?  Don't know.  Like I said its not a perfect example with all the "expected" details of a Union "Soldier's letter".  This envelope's conformity with deviations shows we need to be careful in making broad statements of "this is how they did it. . ." 

    Harry K. Charles, Jr. wrote an informative paper on "American Civil War Postage Due:  North and South" for the Postal History Symposium, Nov. 2012 which has a good section on Soldier's letters.  Both Union and Confederate soldiers could send letters home, postage due (the family needed to pay to redeem them).  Charles says the proper designation needed to be "Soldier's letter" with his rank and unit designation, and possibly unit commander's signature.  The above cover does not have the soldier's name and rank listed; only his unit designation.  As with all things, there was some flex in how things were designated.  The Confederate soldier's letter would have "Due 5" or "Due 10" depending on what the rate was at that time in the war.

    Since letters to home were so important to the soldiers, they came up with various ways outside of the postal system to send letters back to their family.  Anyone going back on furlough was given letters and notes to take with them.  United States Christian Commission delegates would collect letters and carry them back home whenever they could.  The USCC handed out free envelopes and stationery because they realized the importance of keeping the soldiers connected with family.

    So how might knowing some of these details help us do better living history?  Those representing civilians at home could have covers showing an envelope marked "Soldier's letter" with the details of your soldier on it as part of your living history display.  Again, you could mark it PAID 3/ or PAID 5 or 10 to help you explain to spectators what you have to do to keep in touch with your soldier.  For a soldier impression, you could have a letter written up with the envelope labeled correctly that you are "planning on mailing out as soon as possible" to explain to spectators the details and the importance of keeping connected with your family.  You can use patriotic or plain covers.  You can use a USCC or USSC cover which has "Soldier's Letter" printed on it.  Just remember that you as a soldier would not have a Soldier's letter mailed to you from the folks back home.
    At the tent I hand out  to the reenactors who visit us a gift of a USCC or a Plain cover stationery set.  If you are a reenactor, and if you place a regular order just tell me what you portray (US or CS and unit type) and I'll include with your order a gift of  a stationery Mail Kit that you can use for your impression.