1995 32c Civil War: Stand Watie
# 2975l - 1995 32c Civil War: Stand Watie
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U.S. #2975l
1995 32¢ Stand Watie
Civil War
- Issued for the 130th anniversary of the Civil War
- From the second pane in the Classic Collections Series
- Declared the most popular stamps of 1995 by the USPS
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Civil War 130th Anniversary
Value: 32¢, rate for first-class mail
First Day of Issue: June 29, 1995
First Day City: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Quantity Issued: 15,000,000
Printed by: Stamp Venturers
Printing Method: Photogravure
Format: Panes of 20 in sheets of 120
Perforations: 10.1
Why the stamp was issued: To mark the 130th anniversary of the end of the Civil War.
About the stamp design: The Civil War stamps featured artwork by Mark Hess, who had previously produced the artwork for the Legends of the West sheet. The USPS explained that they liked his painting style because of its “folksy stiffness,” that “emulates people standing uncomfortably in front of daguerreotype cameras.”
The stand Watie portrait was based on two photographs taken later in his life. He’s depicted riding a horse away from a raid on a Union river vessel.
First Day City: The official first day ceremony was held at the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, the site of one of the war’s most famous battles. Because they received a large number of requests, the USPS made the stamps available for sale across the country the same day.
Unusual facts about the Civil War stamps: The Civil War sheet was available by mail order in uncut press sheets of six panes. Of these, 20,000 were signed by stamp artist Mark Hess. The USPS also produced a set of postcards featuring the same images as the stamps (US #UX200-19). Imperforate and partially imperforate error panes have also been found.
About the Civil War Stamps: The Civil War stamp sheet featured 16 individuals – eight from the Union and eight from the Confederacy. The four battles in the corners included one victory for each side and two that are considered draws.
This was the second sheet in the Classic Collections Series following the famed Legends of the West sheet. Stamps in this series follow a similar format – 20 stamps, a decorative header, and information about each stamp printed on its back under the gum.
Plans for the Civil War sheet began while the 1994 Legends of the West sheet was still in its planning stage. The USPS believed that the Civil War was a natural addition to the new series and would be informational for the public. Initially the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee rejected the idea, saying they should wait 20 years for the 50th anniversary of the war. But they were eventually swayed and the Civil War stamps were created. A group of historians were tasked with making a list of protentional subjects and Shelby Foote was hired to make the final selections. Foote was an expert in the Civil War, having written a three-volume history of the war and been featured in Ken Burns’ PBS documentary series on the war.
The USPS wanted the Civil War stamps to have more action to them – so only the two presidents were depicted in traditional portraits. The rest of the individuals were placed in the field or amidst an activity. After the Legends of the West mix-up, in which the Bill Pickett stamp mistakenly pictured his brother Ben, the USPS completely revamped their research process. The release of the 20 Civil War stamps marked the most extensive effort in the history of the USPS to review and verify the historical accuracy of stamp subjects. As Hess completed each version of his paintings, they were sent to a panel of experts who commented on the historical accuracy of everything from the weather to belt buckles.
Some of the people and battles featured in the Civil War sheet had appeared on US stamps before. This was also the second time the Civil War was honored – a set of five stamps (US #1178-82) was issued for the centennial in the 1960s. And from 2011-15, the USPS issued a series of stamps for the war’s 150th anniversary (US #4522/4981).
History the stamp represents: Stand Watie was born on December 12, 1806, in Oothcaloga, Cherokee Nation (present-day Calhoun, Georgia). Watie was the only Native American to achieve the rank of general during the Civil War and was the last Confederate general to surrender.
Watie was born to an influential, slave-owning Cherokee family in Georgia. After learning to read and write English at a mission school, Watie wrote articles for the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper. It was the first Native American newspaper, as well as the first to be published in both Cherokee and English.
Following the discovery of gold in Georgia, thousands of white settlers descended on Cherokee land and Congress passed the 1830 Indian Removal Act to relocate the Cherokees west of the Mississippi. Despite Federal laws protecting Native Americans from such action, the state of Georgia seized most of the Cherokee land within its borders.
The Cherokee eventually became divided amongst themselves. The nation became split between traditionalists and those who sought to integrate with whites. About 20 percent, including the Watie and Ridge families, adapted especially well, becoming affluent planters. However, tensions continued to rise and in 1836, Watie signed the Treaty of New Echota, surrendering the Cherokee homeland for land in Oklahoma. The Watie-Ridge faction relocated successfully, but most traditionalists had neither the money nor the inclination to move west.
When the American Civil War began, the Confederacy implied it would formally recognize the Cherokee Nation if it became independent itself. Watie was commissioned as a Confederate colonel and raised the First Regiment of Cherokee Mounted Volunteers. Watie’s guerilla tactics were legend, and his men would “follow him into the very jaws of death.” His rough-hewn horse soldiers blazed a reputation as fearless fighters. He led them into eighteen battles, where the Indian Rebel Yell struck terror in the hearts of their opponents.
Their accomplishments at Wilson’s Creek in Missouri and Pea Ridge in Arkansas were exceptional. The Indian troopers, mounted on horses but greatly outnumbered, charged directly at the Union cannons, captured them, and turned the weapons on the fleeing Federal Army.
Some of Watie’s most famous exploits came in 1864. On one occasion, he slipped behind Union lines and captured a steamboat on the Arkansas River with $150,000 in cargo. In another, Watie led his men to victory in the Second Battle of Cabin Creek and captured a huge Union wagon train carrying a million dollars’ worth of goods. The supplies clothed and fed his entire regiment and their dependents for more than a month. But his men’s massacre of black hay cutters – members of the 4th Kansas Colored Cavalry and 4th Kansas Infantry – was widely condemned.
These raids were so effective they forced the Union generals to commit hundreds of men in the West at a time when they were sorely needed in the East. But the tide had turned in the Union’s favor by 1865. Lee surrendered in April and Jefferson Davis was captured in May. On June 23 – 75 days after Appomattox – Watie signed a cease-fire agreement. He was the last Confederate general to surrender. He then returned to his wife in Texas, joining her to mourn the loss of their 15-year-old son.
Like most of the South, the Indian Territory lay in ruin after the war. Once a rich man, Watie had lost everything. He worked to establish a Southern Cherokee Nation, which would be under his leadership. He traveled to Washington, but the federal government refused to recognize his group, instead declaring John Ross, who had led the pro-Union Cherokee faction, as principal chief of the Cherokee. Ross died a year later, leaving a successor who was mostly successful in reuniting the tribe. Watie avoided politics for the remainder of his life, passing away on September 9, 1871.
U.S. #2975l
1995 32¢ Stand Watie
Civil War
- Issued for the 130th anniversary of the Civil War
- From the second pane in the Classic Collections Series
- Declared the most popular stamps of 1995 by the USPS
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Civil War 130th Anniversary
Value: 32¢, rate for first-class mail
First Day of Issue: June 29, 1995
First Day City: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Quantity Issued: 15,000,000
Printed by: Stamp Venturers
Printing Method: Photogravure
Format: Panes of 20 in sheets of 120
Perforations: 10.1
Why the stamp was issued: To mark the 130th anniversary of the end of the Civil War.
About the stamp design: The Civil War stamps featured artwork by Mark Hess, who had previously produced the artwork for the Legends of the West sheet. The USPS explained that they liked his painting style because of its “folksy stiffness,” that “emulates people standing uncomfortably in front of daguerreotype cameras.”
The stand Watie portrait was based on two photographs taken later in his life. He’s depicted riding a horse away from a raid on a Union river vessel.
First Day City: The official first day ceremony was held at the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, the site of one of the war’s most famous battles. Because they received a large number of requests, the USPS made the stamps available for sale across the country the same day.
Unusual facts about the Civil War stamps: The Civil War sheet was available by mail order in uncut press sheets of six panes. Of these, 20,000 were signed by stamp artist Mark Hess. The USPS also produced a set of postcards featuring the same images as the stamps (US #UX200-19). Imperforate and partially imperforate error panes have also been found.
About the Civil War Stamps: The Civil War stamp sheet featured 16 individuals – eight from the Union and eight from the Confederacy. The four battles in the corners included one victory for each side and two that are considered draws.
This was the second sheet in the Classic Collections Series following the famed Legends of the West sheet. Stamps in this series follow a similar format – 20 stamps, a decorative header, and information about each stamp printed on its back under the gum.
Plans for the Civil War sheet began while the 1994 Legends of the West sheet was still in its planning stage. The USPS believed that the Civil War was a natural addition to the new series and would be informational for the public. Initially the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee rejected the idea, saying they should wait 20 years for the 50th anniversary of the war. But they were eventually swayed and the Civil War stamps were created. A group of historians were tasked with making a list of protentional subjects and Shelby Foote was hired to make the final selections. Foote was an expert in the Civil War, having written a three-volume history of the war and been featured in Ken Burns’ PBS documentary series on the war.
The USPS wanted the Civil War stamps to have more action to them – so only the two presidents were depicted in traditional portraits. The rest of the individuals were placed in the field or amidst an activity. After the Legends of the West mix-up, in which the Bill Pickett stamp mistakenly pictured his brother Ben, the USPS completely revamped their research process. The release of the 20 Civil War stamps marked the most extensive effort in the history of the USPS to review and verify the historical accuracy of stamp subjects. As Hess completed each version of his paintings, they were sent to a panel of experts who commented on the historical accuracy of everything from the weather to belt buckles.
Some of the people and battles featured in the Civil War sheet had appeared on US stamps before. This was also the second time the Civil War was honored – a set of five stamps (US #1178-82) was issued for the centennial in the 1960s. And from 2011-15, the USPS issued a series of stamps for the war’s 150th anniversary (US #4522/4981).
History the stamp represents: Stand Watie was born on December 12, 1806, in Oothcaloga, Cherokee Nation (present-day Calhoun, Georgia). Watie was the only Native American to achieve the rank of general during the Civil War and was the last Confederate general to surrender.
Watie was born to an influential, slave-owning Cherokee family in Georgia. After learning to read and write English at a mission school, Watie wrote articles for the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper. It was the first Native American newspaper, as well as the first to be published in both Cherokee and English.
Following the discovery of gold in Georgia, thousands of white settlers descended on Cherokee land and Congress passed the 1830 Indian Removal Act to relocate the Cherokees west of the Mississippi. Despite Federal laws protecting Native Americans from such action, the state of Georgia seized most of the Cherokee land within its borders.
The Cherokee eventually became divided amongst themselves. The nation became split between traditionalists and those who sought to integrate with whites. About 20 percent, including the Watie and Ridge families, adapted especially well, becoming affluent planters. However, tensions continued to rise and in 1836, Watie signed the Treaty of New Echota, surrendering the Cherokee homeland for land in Oklahoma. The Watie-Ridge faction relocated successfully, but most traditionalists had neither the money nor the inclination to move west.
When the American Civil War began, the Confederacy implied it would formally recognize the Cherokee Nation if it became independent itself. Watie was commissioned as a Confederate colonel and raised the First Regiment of Cherokee Mounted Volunteers. Watie’s guerilla tactics were legend, and his men would “follow him into the very jaws of death.” His rough-hewn horse soldiers blazed a reputation as fearless fighters. He led them into eighteen battles, where the Indian Rebel Yell struck terror in the hearts of their opponents.
Their accomplishments at Wilson’s Creek in Missouri and Pea Ridge in Arkansas were exceptional. The Indian troopers, mounted on horses but greatly outnumbered, charged directly at the Union cannons, captured them, and turned the weapons on the fleeing Federal Army.
Some of Watie’s most famous exploits came in 1864. On one occasion, he slipped behind Union lines and captured a steamboat on the Arkansas River with $150,000 in cargo. In another, Watie led his men to victory in the Second Battle of Cabin Creek and captured a huge Union wagon train carrying a million dollars’ worth of goods. The supplies clothed and fed his entire regiment and their dependents for more than a month. But his men’s massacre of black hay cutters – members of the 4th Kansas Colored Cavalry and 4th Kansas Infantry – was widely condemned.
These raids were so effective they forced the Union generals to commit hundreds of men in the West at a time when they were sorely needed in the East. But the tide had turned in the Union’s favor by 1865. Lee surrendered in April and Jefferson Davis was captured in May. On June 23 – 75 days after Appomattox – Watie signed a cease-fire agreement. He was the last Confederate general to surrender. He then returned to his wife in Texas, joining her to mourn the loss of their 15-year-old son.
Like most of the South, the Indian Territory lay in ruin after the war. Once a rich man, Watie had lost everything. He worked to establish a Southern Cherokee Nation, which would be under his leadership. He traveled to Washington, but the federal government refused to recognize his group, instead declaring John Ross, who had led the pro-Union Cherokee faction, as principal chief of the Cherokee. Ross died a year later, leaving a successor who was mostly successful in reuniting the tribe. Watie avoided politics for the remainder of his life, passing away on September 9, 1871.