Items for Sale - Miscellaneous - Section Two

Item# 19365

Price: $700

CSA 11, 10¢ blue tied by a partial RICHMOND / Va. // OCT 15 CDS, bit of paper clip rust at the top and light file fold affects stamp. CSS Palmetto State, Ironclad Ram cover addressed to Mr. A.T. Smythe, C. S. St[eamer] P. State, Charleston, So Ca. WONDERFUL CONFEDERATE NAVY ADDRESS. Listed in both Misc-2 and CSA 11-3 sections. $700.

Augustine Thomas Smythe (1842-1914) was a Signal Officer from a prominent Charleston family. He was an attorney and S.C. state senator. Smythe was present at the firing on Fort Sumter and other important battles in the area. Palmetto State was a Richmond Class ironclad Ram built in Charleston in 1862. They had a complement of 180 and were slow and difficult to steer. Her most notable action was the ramming of the Mercedita, which was sunk to prevent capture September 27, 1864. The Confederate Signal Corps played a vital role in the defense of Charleston and its environs, and Smythe's letters, perhaps more than any other first-person account, detail the daily life and service experiences of signalmen in and around the city during the war.

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