Postal Service in the Civil War

Historic Food for Thought

How did they deliver mail to all of the soldiers during the Civil War?

How could a nation as new as the Confederate States have a working mail system?

On this week’s Historic Food for Thought, we are diving into the postal service during the Civil War.

All sorts of questions can come up about the postal service during this time, and we will try to give a little more info about that today!

When the Civil War began, the nation’s communications were quite literally split in two. Because these two nations were at war, mail between the two armies was forbidden except in highly monitored and rare situations. In fact, all mail that was to be sent to the southern states was taken to what was called a dead letter office where they would be returned to sender.

Transportation of letters was nothing new for the postal service. When they were founded in 1775, infrastructure was even worse than it was during the Civil War, and mail would be delivered by horse and wagon. This same technique would be used during the war as excited soldiers would crowd the wagon in hopes to get letters from loved ones at home.

The Confederate States had a large task at hand when it came to a solution for continuing a postal service in the south. The responsibility would be given to John H. Reagan of Texas, and he would immediately place 8,535 postal offices under the control of the Confederacy. Business would be conducted with US money until the Confederates created their own money and stamps for mail. Postal offices pretty much ran very similar just under a new government in charge.

During the Civil War, and really any war, a letter from home can bring up a soldiers morale and remind them of the people they love and the home they are fighting for. Having a working and efficient postal service was a very important aspect of the war.