The invitations for proposals to carry the mail are an excellent source for information on post offices, the routes between offices, and mail schedules. Included are the route numbers and references to the former route number under the United States. These are in parenthesis after the Confederate route number. However, the 1862 invitations do not cover all routes and thus not all post offices within a state are included. Some routes were under longer term contracts and were not included in the invitations for proposals issued in December 1862. Mail routes supplied by railroads are one example.
The cover of the invitation for Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina states it includes Virginia. It did not. The invitation for Virginia was published separately.
