Accessible Archives Inc.

Today the U.S. Postal Service issued the second of an annual series of Forever stamps that pay tribute to one of the most searing, traumatic and consequential events in our nation’s history: the American Civil War. There are ten philatelic products available for this stamp issue.

The dedicated stamps, The Civil War: 1862, remember the Battle of New Orleans, the first significant achievement of the U.S. Navy in the war, and the Battle of Antietam, which marked the bloodiest day of the war.

The American Civil War engulfed the nation from 1861 to 1865 and profoundly changed the country, bringing an end to slavery and transforming the social life of the South and the economic life of the nation.

“These stamps help us pause to remember a period in our history that had a profound impact on our country for many years to come. A major achievement of the United States Navy during the war, the Battle of New Orleans placed the Confederacy’s most vital port in Union hands. As a result, Southern trade, finance, and shipbuilding were greatly disrupted. Five months later came the bloodiest single day of the Civil War — and in fact, the bloodiest one-day battle in American history — the Battle of Antietam”

–Dean Granholm, vice president, Delivery and Post Office Operations.

The first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony took place at the National WW II Museum in New Orleans.

Antietam Forever Stamp 1862

Also speaking at the unveiling were Congressman Cedric Richmond of Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District, U.S. House of Representatives; William M. Detweiler, consultant for military and veterans affairs; Timothy Pickles, military film producer and director; and Bruno Tristan, district manager, U.S. Postal Service.

Art director Phil Jordan created the stamps using images of Civil War battles. The Battle of New Orleans stamp is a reproduction of an 1862 colored lithograph by Currier & Ives titled “The Splendid Naval Triumph on the Mississippi, April 24th, 1862.” It depicts Admiral David G. Farragut’s fleet passing Fort Jackson and Fort St. Phillip on the way to New Orleans.

The Battle of Antietam stamp is a reproduction of an 1887 painting by Thure de Thulstrup. The painting was one of a series of popular prints commissioned in the 1880s by Boston publisher Louis Prang & Co. to commemorate the Civil War.

New Orleans Forever Stamp 1862

For the stamp pane’s background image, Jordan used a photograph of Union soldiers in the vicinity of Fair Oaks, VA, circa June 1862.

The stamp pane includes comments on the war by David G. Farragut, James C. Steele, Walt Whitman, and the New York Times. It also includes some of Charles Carroll Sawyer’s lyrics from the popular 1862 song “Weeping, Sad and Lonely,” or “When This Cruel War Is Over” (music composed by Henry Tucker).

Civil War Mail Service

Mail was a treasured link among Civil War camps, battlefields and home. Recognizing its importance to morale, both northern and southern armies assigned personnel to collect, distribute and deliver soldiers’ mail. Wagons and tents served as traveling Post Offices.

Download this news release (PDF) for additional information.

Postal Service Commitment to Veterans

While the Postal Service does not maintain records on the thousands of Civil War veterans who worked for the Post Office Department, today’s Postal Service stands proud as the nation’s largest civilian employer of veterans. More than one-fifth of the Postal Service’s half-million career employees are veterans.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue-Postmark

Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at a local Post Office, at The Postal Store website at usps.com/shop or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in larger envelopes addressed to:

The Civil War: 1862 Stamp
Postmaster
PO Box 50336
New Orleans, LA 70150-0036

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark. All orders must be postmarked by June 24, 2012.

How to Order First-Day Covers

The Postal Service also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items post­marked with the official first day of issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic Catalog, online at usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-782-6724.

Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-782-6724 or writing to:

U.S. Postal Service
Catalog Request
PO Box 219014
Kansas City, MO 64121-9014

Malvern, PA (October 18, 2011) — Accessible Archives, Inc.®, a publisher of electronic full-text searchable historical databases, has announced a further expansion of its collection, The Civil War, with the addition of Part VI: Northeast Regimental Histories. The new portion consists of books currently housed at the Godfrey Memorial Library, Middletown, Connecticut, a library dedicated to promoting the study of family history by making genealogical and historical resources available to all on both a national and international level.

Regimental histories are valuable research sources offering unique perspectives on the Civil War. They provide details on the organization and achievements of particular units, including such items as regimental rosters, transportation documents, honor rolls and casualty statistics, and promotion and court martial documents. The vast majority were written in the thirty-five years between the end of the war and the end of the Nineteenth Century. Most were written by unit veterans, and often by the regimental chaplains, primarily as a service chronicle for regiment members. The best include both a narrative of the regiment’s service and anecdotal material by the soldiers, and often are filled with photos of unit members, portraits, maps and additional illustrations. States with regimental histories represented in this collection are Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. (more…)

Content Expansion Will Bring New Material to Civil War Collection

Malvern, PA (June 16, 2010) - Accessible Archives, Inc., an electronic publisher of primary source full-text historical databases, has signed an agreement with the University of Iowa to preserve in digital format a number of primary source publications from the Civil War era. The major public research university located in Iowa City, counts among its holdings various Civil War memoirs, pamphlets, and regimental histories, which up to now have been available only for those with access to its Special Collections Department. Once the materials have been digitized and made fully searchable, they will become a new portion – an additional part – of The Civil War, a collection from Accessible Archives that has been well received by university and public libraries.

The University of Iowa is a member of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC). For 50 years, the CIC world-class research institutions have advanced their academic missions and served the common good by sharing expertise, leveraging campus resources, and collaborating on innovative programs. Last year, under the auspices of the CIC, The University of Iowa and other CIC members were able to supply missing issues of Godey’s Lady’s Book to Accessible Archives, resulting in a publishing partnership opportunity that has allowed other libraries around the world to gain access to these rare issues.

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Malvern, PA (October 9, 2009) — Accessible Archives, Inc. , a publisher of electronic full-text searchable historical databases, has announced the continuing expansion of its existing database, The Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective, with the addition of a fourth part. The enhanced database is being renamed simply The Civil War.

The new part consists of several newspapers supplied by Vincennes University, Vincennes, Indiana, a comprehensive two-year college located in Southwestern Indiana offering a diverse set of majors.

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Malvern, PA (September 23, 2009) — Accessible Archives, Inc. , a publisher of electronic full-text searchable historical databases, has announced the expansion of its existing database, The Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective, with the addition of two new parts, each of which may be acquired individually. The enhanced database will be renamed simply The Civil War.

The new parts consist of book titles supplied by the Godfrey Memorial Library, Middletown, Connecticut, a library dedicated to promoting the study of family history by making genealogical and historical resources available to all on both a national and international level. It is interesting to note that, depending on the author, the war might be referred to as the War Between the States, War of the Rebellion, War of Secession or Civil War.

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