Order to evacuate CSA Post Office records
On April 2, 1865, acting auditor Anson Morse signed this handwritten order to remove the records of the Confederate States of America Post Office Department from the capital, Richmond, Virginia. Mr. C. G. Addison received the evacuation directive that states, "You are hereby ordered to accompany the books, records & c of this office to Charlotte, N.C. and remain there until further orders." Major L. H. Wood acknowledged the document with a handstamp bearing his signature in the center of the phrase, “Transportation Furnished, In Kind Home. Richmond, Va. Major _. _.,” and thus ordering Addison to accompany the records during transit (Kaufmann).
Early that day, Confederate troops, who were under attack, prepared to leave Petersburg, Virginia. Upon learning that the town twenty-five miles north of the capital was about to fall to the Union, CSA President Jefferson Davis ordered the evacuation of the government from Richmond, Virginia. Seven days later, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
Reference:
Patricia Kaufmann, e-mail message to Tim Scofield, March 30, 2006.
