Lot
3091 
Confederacy, Belle Isle Prison, Richmond, Va., cover with original enclosure datelined "Belle Island, Va. Nov. 18th '63", cover addressed to Harrisville, Wisc., franked with 1861, 3¢ rose rose (65, trivial flaw) with segmented cork cancel and postmarked "Old Point Comfort Va. Nov 26" double circle alongside, Very Fine, Illustrated on page 84, "Prisoners' Mail From The American Civil War" by Galen Harrison.Estimate $1,000 - 1,500.
A POIGNANT ITEM FROM THIS VERY RARE CONFEDERATE PRISON.
Cover & letter sent by Cpl. Charles W. Fuller, 7th Wisconsin Cav., letter reads, "Dear Mother, I write these few lines to inform you that I am a prisoner and that my health is good. I am on Belle Island near Richmond. I hope you will not be curious about me. I expect we shall be paroled before long. I hope these few lines will find you well, as they have me. Write soon except my love, from your son Charles. P.S. Direct to C.W. Fuller, Co. E 7th Reg. W.V., Prisoner of War, Belle Island via Richmond, Va. Please send envelope and half sheet of paper."
Cpl. Charles W. Fuller, died at Andersonville Prison. Enclosed with the cover was a small scrap paper most probably written by his mother and preserved with his last letter home, "The past is the past is gone from us forever / Regrets and tears we find a like our vain / what fate decrees no mortal power can serve / the treasure lost can neer be ours again."
Belle Isle, a prison for enlisted men was established on this fifty-acre island located in the middle of the James River. The island was accessed by the old Richmond and Petersburg Railroad bridge from the Manchester side. Prisoners referred to the bridge as the "Bridge of Sighs". The prison was a six-acre enclosure surrounded by a four-foot high mound of dirt with a ditch on each side. The prison camp was situated on the lowest portion of the island. Cannon were placed on the high ground so as to overlook the enclosure. Tents were the only shelter, and at times as many as 10,000 were confined here.
Realized: $675