Civil War cover from Memphis to St. Louis to the assistant QM of the Union Army

Capt. Charles Parsons was an Assistant Quartermaster (A.Q.M.) for the Union Army during the American Civil War. Born in Homer, New York, in 1824, he was a successful banker in Keokuk, Iowa, before the outbreak of the war.During the Civil War, he was stationed at the crucial hub of St. Louis, Missouri, where he was placed in charge of the post's Union rail and river transportation service.

St. Louis served as the primary logistical launching pad for Union campaigns in the Western Theater, including the Vicksburg Campaign. Capt. Parsons was responsible for chartering, impressing, and organizing steamboats and railcars to move troops, ordnance, and vital army supplies down the Mississippi River.

Docketing left side - "From McKonough - $335.36 - Stmr. W. L. Ewing - May Rpt. - May 30/63 - No 225" The steamer W. L. Ewing was a prominent Western Theater transport steamboat named after William Lane Ewing, a famous St. Louis businessman and politician. During this period, the W.L. Ewen operated as a transport for passengers and cargo between St. Louis, Missouri and St. Paul, Minnesota.