Nov 6
Lincoln elected
Dec 20
South Carolina secedes
1861
Jan 9
Mississippi secedes
Jan 10
Florida secedes
Jan 11
Alabama secedes
Jan 19
Georgia secedes
Jan 26
Louisiana secedes
Feb 4
Provisional Confederate Congress convenes
Feb 8
Provisional Constitution approved
Feb 9
Jefferson Davis elected provisional President
Feb 18
Jefferson Davis inuagurated
Feb 21
CSA Post Office instituted
Feb 23
Texas voters approve secession
Mar 4
Lincoln inaugurated
Mar 6
John Reagan appointed Postmaster General
Mar 9
First Issue of CSA Notes authorized
Apr 12
Bombardment of Fort Sumter begins
Apr 15
Lincoln declares an insurrection exists
Apr 17
Virginia secedes
May 6
Arkansas secedes
May 13
Proclamation Creating the Confederate Post Office issued
May 14
England recognizes Confederate belligerency
May 16
Second Issue of notes authorized
May 20
North Carolina secedes
May 24
CSA Congress votes to move capital to Richmond
June 1
North-South mail ceases
Mints officially close
June 8
Tennessee voters approve secession
July 16
CSA Capital moves to Richmond
July 21
Battle of First Bull Run
August 3
CSA Congress authorizes additional $1,000,000 in notes
August 10
Battle of Wilson's Creek
August 19
Third issue of CSA notes authorized
August 27-28
Forts Clark and Hatteras, North Carolina taken by Union forces
Confederate Stamps
1861 1862 1863 1864
Initially, the United States Post Office Department continued to operate within the seceded states, and US postage stamps were in use. Indeed, in his Inauguration Address, Lincoln promised:
"...The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union."
Covers bearing date of usage between the date a state seceded and the date of its admission to the Confederacy are termed "Independent State Usage".
USA Star Die cancelled at Friars Point, Miss CDS January 22 (1861) -- Independent State Usage for Mississippi. Note that while Mississippi had already seceeded, Louisiana had not.
Covers dated after the date of admission through May 31, 1861 are referred to as "Confederate State Usage".
USA #25 cancelled at Columbia, SC CDS April 7 (1861)
Confederate State Usage
The Confederate Post Office was instituted on February 21, 1861, and assumed reponsibility for postal service in the seceded states on June 1, 1861. In all, 8,535 of the 28,586 post offices in the United States were to come under Confederate control.
John Henninger Reagan of Texas was appointed Postmaster General on March 6, 1861.
John H. Reagan (1818-1905)
Postmaster General of the Confederate States of America
John H. Reagan was a lawyer, a farmer, a judge, and served in the Texas State House of Representatives prior to the Civil War.
On May 13, 1861 John Reagan issued a proclamation creating the Post Office Department of the Confederate States of America:
The Confederacy also established new postal rates to replace the 3 cent standard postage rate used in the United States:
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5 cents per 1/2 oz under 500 miles 10 cents per 1/2 oz over 500 miles 2 cents drop letters and circulars |
"Drop Letters" were letters that were "dropped" at a post office for the addressee to pick up at the same post office. "Circulars" were printed business documents or newspapers sent with either a wrapper or in an unsealed envelope.
Postmaster General John H. Reagan and sought assistance from southern-sympathizers in the U.S. Post Office Department, trying not just to bring employees from the Federal system into his, but also all that they could bring in the way of maps, reports, forms and plans that would build and strengthen the new service.
On June 1, 1861, postal service between the warring North and South was suspended. Since Confederate stamps were not yet available, postmasters had three alternatives:
- Manuscript markings to indicate paid postage
- Handstamps to indicate date and paid rate
- Local provisional stamps or pre-paid envelopes.
 New Orleans provisional 2 cents red |
 New Orleans provisional 2 cents blue |
 New Orleans provisional 5 cents brown |
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| The New Orleans provisionals were engraved on wood and printed by John V. Childs of New Orleans, on the order of Postmaster John L. Riddell. The first appeared in June 1861. | |||
Handstamp PAID 5 Petersburg, Virginia July 13, 1861 |
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