Civil War Patriotic addressed cover, N. E. Buck, Esq, Co. D, 4th Regiment, 1st Division, Fort Monroe, VA, Care Captain H. Niles

1861-1865 Patriotic cover addressed to N. E. Buck, Esq, Co. D, 4th Regiment, 1st Division, Fort Monroe, VA, Care Captain H. Niles.  No postal markings.

Fort Monroe was the only federal military installation in the Upper South to remain under United States control throughout the American Civil War. Early in the war, Union commanders used it to house refugee slaves. The fort also headquartered the Union Department of Virginia and North Carolina. Several significant military campaigns and combined operations were launched from the fort. Most notably, it served as the staging area for Union major general George B. McClellan‘s ill-fated Peninsula Campaign of 1862. Following his capture in May 1865, until his bail bond was accepted two years later, Confederate president Jefferson Davis was imprisoned at Fort Monroe.