Postal Cover Gettysburg, July, 1863….Why no Postal Date??

BilyYank

Cadet
Joined
Jan 16, 2019
Good day. This postal cover is accompanied by an 11th Corps soldier’s letter dated June 28, 1863, written from Middletown, MD. Postmark is Gettysburg, his corps having arrived in the town the morning of July 1, 3 days after the letter was written. I’m certain the letter matches the envelope because of other factors. My question: why no postal date in the Gettysburg postmark for early July, 1863? Any help is much obliged.
 

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I'd guess that a date in the cancellation would require a new stamp/seal every day given the way these items were produced at the time......hence no date.
 
Good day. This postal cover is accompanied by an 11th Corps soldier’s letter dated June 28, 1863, written from Middletown, MD. Postmark is Gettysburg, his corps having arrived in the town the morning of July 1, 3 days after the letter was written. I’m certain the letter matches the envelope because of other factors. My question: why no postal date in the Gettysburg postmark for early July, 1863? Any help is much obliged.


That's a great relic, thank you for sharing! And yes, have a feeling those post office stamps were used for years in a row. Does it matter, as long as the letter is by a soldier there at the time of the battle? Feel free to share the letter, too. :angel:
 
I don't know if this is relevant to your query, but here's a soldier account: "At Middletown, Maryland two young women came among the soldiers and announced that if any had letters they desired to be sent, they should give the letters to them and they would be stamped and mailed. They gathered a large supply of letters, nearly all of which were unstamped, and so far as is known, every letter was mailed to its destination." (Memoirs of Simon Hubler, I/143 PA)

Would the absence of the local postmaster have anything to do with it? I've not heard much about civilian postmasters, but surmise that some of them in northern towns along the invasion path closed their offices and removed the mail and express items (including money) to a more secure location.
 
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