Lot
4542 
Confederacy, Immortal "Confederate 600" - Morris Island (Charleston, S.C.), orange cover with endorsement by "Capt. H.C. Dickinson/Co. A, 2nd Va. Cavalry" as a prisoner held at Morris Island, postmarked with "Charleston, S.C./Sep. 1, 1864" cds and bold due "10" rating handstamp to Mrs. Sally J. Dickinson in Liberty Va., endorsed "pr flag of truce", unsealed for censoring; Extremely Fine. Estimate $2,000 - 3,000.
A RARE MORRIS ISLAND PRISONER OF WAR USAGE.
The "Immortal 600" was a group of 600 prisoners, all Confederate officers, moved from Fort Delaware to be sent to Morris Island in Charleston harbor in August 1864 and held in open barracks exposed to mortar fire from Confederate batteries.
This extraordinarily inhumane act was the Federal response to an equally repulsive act on the part of Confederates in Charleston, who exposed Union prisoners to bombardment from Federal forces within range of the city. This sorry chapter of the war ended in a stalemate in October 1864. Covers from Confederate prisoners imprisoned on Morris Island are very rare.