Description:

Custer George 1839 - 1876 Framed Display! Incorporating "Genl Custer" in the address, General George Armstrong Custer writes to his wife from the battlefield. Envelope addressed by Custer to his wife incorporating his signature "Mrs Genl Custer / 339 Penn Avenue / Washington D C,"4.5" x 3"(visible.) 3΢ George Washington postage stamp in upper right postmarked Washington, D.C. Postal marking "Due 6" in pencil. Neatly cut open at left edge. Accompanied by an image of Custer in uniform and eight bronze buttons retrieved from the battlefield, all beautifully matted and framed to 11.75" x 17.75". Very Fine condition.


General Custer addressed this envelope on the battlefield, possibly during the Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-7, 1864, the first battle of Union Lieutenant General U.S. Grant's Virginia Overland Campaign against Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, fought about 60 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. The letter would be sent by courier, ostensibly with other soldiers' mail, to the Washington, D.C., post office to be postmarked and delivered. Elizabeth Bacon and George A. Custer were married on February 9, 1864. In "The Boy General: Story of the Life of Major-General George A. Custer" as told by Elizabeth B. Custer (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1901), Mrs. Custer wrote that after they married, "when the regular spring campaign began, I returned to Washington, where I remained until the surrender and the close of the war."

Includes a certificate of authenticity from The Philatelic Foundation Expert Committee, embossed and signed, 5.5" x 8.5", stating that the "single, circle of edges cancel, with Washington DC pmk" is "a genuine usage."

Provenance: The Harrisburg Collection/Linda D. Thompson, Mayor.

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November 10, 2016 10:30 AM EST
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University Archives

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