COLUMBUS, Ga. handstamped PAID 5 provisional 19XU1 with Columbus black DEC 31 (1861) circular datestamp. To J. H. Gant, Esq, Cleveland, Tennessee. Back flap opening tear, mounting marks, and light pencil doodling, all on the back only. Overall very fine on the front. SCV $900. $500.

J. H. Gant, Esq. was an attorney. In the early years of the conflict, Cleveland was under Confederate occupation to protect the vital East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad. After the Union captured Cleveland in late 1863, Unionists heavily controlled the area. Gant remained a prominent local figure through the Reconstruction era, appearing alongside major pro-Union Tennessee political heavyweights like Governor William "Parson" Brownlow and George W. Bridges in post-war government petition records.