Express from Richmond to Louisville posted to New York cover

August 8, 1861

All express company instructions for northbound letters were basically the same. All northbound mail was collected by one of three express companies at Nashville, Tennessee. Letters properly addressed but without any postage affixed were to be enclosed in a plain envelope with the appropriate express fee. The outer envelope was then addressed to one the northern express offices, in this case Adams Express in Louisville, Kentucky. The Confederate postage was required to be paid from the place of mailing to Nashville. Adams Express then carried the letter across the lines to their offices in Louisville where the correct US postage was applied prior to being places in the US mails.