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The Petersburg Campaign stamp. Image courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service.

New postage stamp depicts Civil War Siege at Petersburg

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf

The Petersburg Campaign stamp. Image courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service.
The Petersburg Campaign stamp. Image courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service.
PETERSBURG, Va. (AP) – The U.S. Postal Service is issuing a Civil War stamp depicting the 1864 Siege at Petersburg.

A dedication ceremony was conducted Wednesday at the Petersburg National Battlefield for the new stamp.

The ceremony was held near the site of an underground explosion that took place 150 years ago and created a huge depression in the earth. That led to the battle being named “Battle of the Crater.”

The stamp depicts the 22nd United States Colored Troops engaged in the June 15-18, 1864, assault on Petersburg. The Petersburg Campaign stamp is a reproduction of an 1892 painting by J. Andre Castaigne.

The stamp is part of the Postal Service’s commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, which claimed the lives of more than 620,000 soldiers.

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AP-WF-07-30-14 0632GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

The Petersburg Campaign stamp. Image courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service.
The Petersburg Campaign stamp. Image courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service.