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New Hampshire Design - to a Forgotten Manhattan Barracks.

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:45.00 USD Estimated At:90.00 - 120.00 USD
New Hampshire Design - to a Forgotten Manhattan Barracks.
Pictorial patriotic cornercard, "7th N.H. Regiment," with unusually detailed woodcut scene of soldier on sentry, leaning on rifle, peering at tapestry showing a ship - probably a Union transport - draped over a cannon and flag. Dark pink on sulphur yellow. Scott #65, judged rose pink, neatly affixed at right of design, tied with four-ring concentric. Black Plaistow, N.H., "Feb 10 '1862]," postmarked twice at speed, the second, more distinct impression rotated. Arriving close to the addressee's Feb. 13 sailing for one of the more forbidding outposts of the Civil War -- Fort Jefferson, Florida. Addressed in midnight blue, "Capt. Jesse E. George, 7th Reg. N.H. Volunt(eers), Co. C, No. 77 White St., New York City," this an obscure barracks in an alleyway, unlike the more conspicuous soldiers home on nearby Howard St. The first cover or document we have seen with this address, unmentioned in the new Civil War Lover's Guide to New York City by Morgan; the current building was apparently built in 1888. (Now in ultra-trendy Tribeca, the area remained a sleepy backwater in lower Manhattan through the 1970s.) Though his regiment was a three-year unit, George served only five months, resigning in Apr. 1862. He may have been among the unit's 153 men contracting a virulent form of smallpox in Florida. "The recruitment and organization of the 7th Regt. was somewhat different from that of any other force raised in the State during the War of the Rebellion...Although the regiment was credited to New Hampshire, the authority to accept and provide for recruits, and the privilege to make all official appointments, was by direction of the War Dept. at Washington...The first experience of the 7th was as different from that of other regiments as the manner of its organization. It had already spent a month in camp at Manchester since its completion, engaged in drill, and upon its arrival in N.Y., the morning after its departure, it was ordered into quarters at White St. barracks, where it passed another month of comparative inactivity, relieved only by an occasional dress parade or drill in one of the city squares. Feb. 13 orders were received to embark for Fort Jefferson, Fla..."--Regimental history, by Lt. Henry F.W. Little. Old collectors' markings on verso, including "Laurence 1346" and "...'Scott] 1929." Two diagonal creases, not affecting stamp, edge and postal wear, but good plus, and colorful for display.