Lot
2562 
Confederacy, 15-Star Confederate Flag on Staff, hand-drawn patriotic design on orange cover to Panna Maria, Texas, "Columbus Texas Jun 19" cds with matching "Paid 10" rating, original enclosure datelined "C.S. General Hospital, May the 16th 1863"; some staining, bottom corners mended, no flap, Fine, ex-Bleuler. Estimate $5,000 - 7,500.
A UNIQUE TEXAS HAND-DRAWN 15-STAR PATRIOTIC COVER.
This cover was hand-drawn by Confederate soldier E.D. Hastings who was attached to the Confederate Hospital in Columbus, Texas. This letter is one of two known letters written to Miss Mann in Panna Maria, Texas, a small town southeast of San Antonio, Texas. The 15-star flag design expressed sentiment at the time the C.S.A. was hopeful the border states of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware would join the Confederacy. The date of this June 19th 1863 letter precedes the Battle of Gettysburg Pa. July 2-4, 1863, which is considered the high water mark of Confederate military aspirations. The design is identical to the star arrangement of the 15-Star flag that was shown on Antiques Roadshow in Hartford Ct. Aug. 2008.
This was the subject of Jim Doolin's article in the Texas Postal History Society Journal May 2006 proof. 5-6 and also the CSA Philatelist Oct-Dec 2006. The.