page_title: Postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate States
section_title: Blockade mail
hierarchical_section_title: Postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate States / Covers / Blockade mail
caption_attribution_description: English: Confederate blockade-run cover This cover is from one of the Hincks brothers to his father. The letter was probably placed aboard a blockade runner and handed over in Nassau to a ship bound for New Orleans. Upon arrival in New Orleans on January 8, 1865, the letter was treated as an unpaid incoming ship letter and marked with ten cents due.
context_page_description: The postage stamps and postal system of the Confederate States of America carried the mail of the Confederacy for a brief period in American history. Early in 1861 when South Carolina no longer considered itself part of the Union and demanded that the U.S. Army abandon Fort Sumter, plans for a Confederate postal system were already underway. Indeed, the Confederate Post office was established on February 21, 1861; and it was not until April 12 that the American Civil War officially began, when the Confederate Army fired upon US soldiers who had refused to abandon the fort. However, the United States Post Office Department continued to handle the mail of the seceded states as usual during the first weeks of the war. It was not until June 1 that the Confederate Post office took over collection and delivery, now faced with the task of providing postage stamps and mail services for its citizens.
  The CSA Constitution had provided for a national postal service to be established, then required it to be self-financing beginning March 1, 1863.
context_section_description: At the onset of the American Civil War it was imperative for the Confederacy to get crucial correspondence to suppliers and other mail into and out of the country. On April 19, 1861, President Lincoln proclaimed a blockade along the entire coastline of the Confederacy to prevent it from obtaining supplies and to prevent it from communicating with the rest of the world by means of mail. Twelve major ports and approximately 3,500 miles (5,600 km) of coastline along the Confederate States were patrolled by some 500 ships that were commissioned by the US Navy; however, some accounts vary considerably and place the number of commissioned ships for blockade patrol at about 200, taking into account the high numbers of Union ships that were withdrawn from blockade duty for repairs. The blockade played a major role in the Union's victory over the Confederate states. By the end of the Civil War, the Union Navy had captured more than 1,100 blockade runners and had destroyed or run aground another 355 vessels. The Union blockade reduced a vital source of revenue for the south, cotton exports, to a fraction of what they were prior to the war, as well as preventing much of its mail from being sent or received. (See also: Anaconda Plan) In response to the blockade various specially-built steamers were built and put to use by British investors who were heavily invested in the cotton and tobacco trade.  These vessels were typically smaller and lighter in weight, often giving them an advantage of maneuverability and record speeds of up to 17 knots, which enabled them to evade or outrun Union ships on patrol. Their cargoes were usually small, light-weight and often included mail.
caption: Blockade covers with 'Steamship' and
  'New Orleans' postmarks.
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