Lot
3189 
Confederacy, Savannah, Ga. - "Immortal 600", Fort Pulaski. Prisoner's cover postmarked with "Charleston, S.C./Jan 7" (1865) cds & (Due) "10" handstamp rate addressed to "Mrs. G.W. Roughton, Sandersville, Georgia", endorsed at top right "Lt. G.W. Roughton, Prisoner of War" & "Per Flag of Truce, Via Savannah, Ga." at top left, magenta manuscript "Ex" censor's examined marking at upper right on cover, Very Fine and choice; with 2008 C.S.A. certificate. Estimate $1,500 - 2,000.
George Washington Roughton enlisted in Light Artillery, Brigade 2 Army, on March 10, 1862, during War between the States. He was wounded, Aug. 29, 1863. He recovered and returned to battle. He was promoted to become Lt. Roughton, and later as Captain Roughton.
He was injured at the Battle of the Wilderness, near Fredericksburg, Virginia, May 6, 1864, and became one of the Immortal 600. They were prisoners of war at Fort Delaware. These 600 men were sent south to be used as human shields. They were put in a stockade in front of the Union batteries at the siege of Charleston. The Union said Confederates held prisoners as human shields first, so they did the same. Later they were taken to a Union Army base at Hilton Head, SC. On October 21, after 45 days under fire, the weakened survivors were removed to For Pulaski, GA. On a "retaliation ration" of 10 ounces of moldy cornmeal and soured onion pickles, thirteen men died at Fort Pulaski, and five at Hilton Head. The remaining members of the Immortal Six Hundred were returned to Fort Delaware on March 12, 1865. Capt. Roughton was released from Ft. Delaware, June 16, 1865. He returned to the family farm west of Sandersville, where he lived until his death at age 60, in 1895.
Realized: $2,000