1863 Civil War Cover - Scott #65

This cover was sent from George Taylor Banks in Warren, Ohio to J. K. Wing in Corinth, MS dated 06/21/1963 05/21/1863. While there are still some things to learn about this cover, I thought I would share some of the things I have learned this far. Please feel free to further fill in the story of this cover.

Front:



Back:


The notes on the post-it note were written by the seller, a friend of mine.


The addressee was J. K. Wing who was most likely at the time Lieutenant of the 4th Iowa Volunteers under the command of General Greenville M. Dodge stationed in Corinth Mississippi.

Here is a picture of some of the detachment while in Corinth including Mr. Wing (red arrow).



Another interesting aspect of this cover is the transit or received cancel on the back.

A study of the main shipping channels reveals that Warren, OH is not far from the beginning of the navigable portion of the Ohio River. The cover would have been transported most likely to Pittsburgh, PA (or perhaps Liverpool, OH) and then traveled down the Ohio to the Mississippi River.

Cairo, IL sits at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Most likely it was a central mail processing point for traffic on the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio rivers.

In case you were wondering, the practice of placing received cancels on the backs of envelopes did not begin until 1879.

Corinth was the site of the Battle of Pittsburgh Landing - also known as the Battle of Shiloh.
Here's a patriotic cover with the map of the battlefield.
C.

Well, not exactly, Shiloh was several miles away, though Johnson's Confederate army concentrated at Corinth on their way to Shiloh, the Battle of Corinth was the following year.

I stand corrected.

Probably more than you ever wanted to know about the addressee, "J.K. Wing" a/k/a Joseph Knowles Wing, as excerpted from "A Historical and Genealogical Register of John Wing of Sandwich, Mass., and his Descendants 1662-1881":

Actually, that was exactly what I was hoping for. Now if only I could figure out more about the sender, George Taylor Banks (I think).

I believe what you're searching for is "George Taylor", Banker, as in this excerpt:

You are a wizard, wt1.

Back to the subject of the addressee of the cover, George Knowles Wing, here's another biography (with some duplication from that posted previously) but since it was written at a later date it does add some dates and information missing from the previous post:

Isn't Corinth something like 75 miles or more east of the Mississippi River. I am not sure about postal routes that that time, but it seems like that would have been a really indirect route to go.

Perhaps 05/21/1863? ;)

I noticed because the Cairo, IL, stamp on the back is May 24, which is my berfday.

Right you are Zuzu. Thats what I get for posting at 1 in the morning.

Corinth was a major railroad junction Kimo, which made it an attractive target for the Union army.

I was able to reinforce and isolate the cancel. I still haven't found any reference to this cancel in the philatelic literature available to me.

I am still looking for more information about this transit marking going for $75

Found another example on ebay today. It is not nearly as distinct an impression.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/Iowa-Wester...ht_232wt_810

Edit: Found yet another one. $200



http://www.ebay.com/itm/Civil-War-1...ht_232wt_783

Cairo was a major transit point for mail service to the Union armies and Union-held territories in the south. I imagine that there is a Chronicle article on the marking but haven't gone looking.

The Chronicle is a fabulous resource especially now that it is online and searchable. I did search the Chronicle regarding this marking when I first discovered it, and did not find anything at that time.