Hayes Lowe
Confederate postal service
Thu Jan 18 15:44:10 2001


While I know almost nothing about it, there was certainly a Confederate postal service as evidenced by the many Southern letters of the period with Confederate stamps on them. If private individuals were carrying all of the letters, then there would have been no need of a stamp.

President Jefferson Davis wanted to appoint William Wirt Adams, a Mississippi State Legislator, to the position of Postmaster General of the Confederate States. Adams refused the offer, instead offering to raise a regiment of cavalry, which was to be independent. He later became a Brigadier General. I'm not sure who ended up with the appointment.

I would assume that the Confederate postal service simply took over the post offices and routes of the United States Post Office. I would also assume that the stage coaches carried most of the mail. And, that it was basically the same people doing the job as did it pre-war under the United States.






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