Hayes Lowe
Personal mail.
Sat Jan 20 18:20:33 2001


From what I have seen, and read in letters of the period, it would seem that *most* personal letters were carried by a buddy. However, I have seen many examples of Confederate covers that were personal mail, relative to relative or boyfriend to girlfriend. How it was sent most likely depended on primarily on one factor: whether a buddy was likely to be going or coming soon. Otherwise it would cost the price of a stamp, and most soldiers went unpaid for months at a time. It would also seem that letters to the front were rare, whether sent by buddy or by post. Reading letters home of the period, this is found to be a common complaint. I'm not sure of the reason, but I'm sure that it was not because the soldier was forgotten (as the soldiers often assumed). This was a real morale buster.