Writing letters home.

[Robert Gray]

Union soldiers writing letters home from Camp Essex, Maryland, in 1861. On average, it took about two weeks for a soldier to receive a letter sent from home. Soldiers who didn't have postage could put their name, rank, and unit on the envelope and the postage due would be collected from the recipient.

Civil War Times Magazine
Photo: Library of Congress

 

[Cavalry Charger]

Union soldiers writing letters home from Camp Essex, Maryland, in 1861. On average, it took about two weeks for a soldier to receive a letter sent from home. Soldiers who didn't have postage could put their name, rank, and unit on the envelope and the postage due would be collected from the recipient.

Civil War Times Magazine
Photo: Library of Congress

View attachment 166868

Yes. I've got one my Union Captain sent to his sweetheart asking her to pay the 2 cents postage because neither he, nor any of his comrades, had the money to pay for the postage stamp. I should have added, that was in May/June 1864.