Lot
3098 
Confederacy, Building No. 4, Danville, Va., "Button Letter", actually two different letters written on small piece of scrap paper, folded and smuggled out of the prison inside a brass button, carefully folded so as to fit into button, letter written by Lt. Col. S.A. Moffett, 94th N.Y. Vols., obviously without postal markings, one to Col. A.R. Root, Commanding Post of Annapolis, other to his parents, Illustrated on page 73, "Prisoners' Mail From The American Civil War" by Galen Harrison.Estimate $1,500 - 2,000.
ONLY 3 "BUTTON LETTERS" ARE KNOWN TO EXIST - AN EXTREMELY DESIRABLE PIECE OF HISTORY.
Transcriptions of letters included on Exhibition page. Also included is 1903 original transmittal cover sending the "Button Letter" to family in Ridgeland, Miss. and with notation "Father's Prison Letter".
Mail was smuggled into and out of prison by a variety of methods. One ingenious method was the "Button Letter". Union uniform buttons were of two piece metal construction. On occasion when an officer was being exchanged, a uniform button or buttons would be taken apart and a note written on a tiny scrap of paper which was then inserted into the button thus avoiding censorship.
Realized: $2,300