*USA, Civil War, Amputation Post Mortem Medical Field Set, Marked Sawyer, For Surgeon Luther G. Thomas of 26th New Jersey Volunteers, Plus War Department Court Martial General Orders No 54 , Dated March 6 1863, “Drunk on Duty”*
Box 23.5cm
Hinges marked “PM & Co Patent”. The hinge manufacturer is believed to be the Birmingham company Paul Moore & Co who operated from circa 1820s until 1862.
Field instruments, surgeons set marked ‘Sawyer’, all housed in a fitted velvet lined, brass bound mahogany case with working lock and original key, inlaid brass plaque to centre inscribed “Luther Thomas”. From the indent we can see a pair of scissors or forceps are missing. The removable handle has a press release button with “6” and “23” marked on either side, the saw and two knives are correspondingly marked on either side to guide an easy fit to the handle. These and the three wooden handled scalpels are all marked Sawyer.
Typically Official Union Civil War medical Kits would be engraved and marked as U.S.A. Hosp. Dept or Medical Dept. However medical kits purchased by the state volunteer militias were mostly independently purchased and made by regional independent makers such as Sawyer.
The field kit comes with an accompanying typed note titled “General Orders No 54, from the War Department, Adjutant General’s Office”, Dated March 6, 1863, detailing the Court Martial of Jan 12th 1863, at which Surgeon Luther Thomas, 26th New Jersey Volunteers, was tried on two counts: “Drunk on Duty” and “Conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline“. He was found guilty on both charges.
“I don’t give a damn for the sick anyway“
26th New Jersey Volunteers
Luther G Thomas served with the 26th New Jersey Volunteers from Sept 26 1862 – June 27 1863. The 26th NJV was one of the nine-month regiments that the State of New Jersey assembled at Camp Frelinghuysen in Newark in late summer of 1862 to answer the Federal Government’s call for a draft of militiamen. By 18th September, 1862, 998 men comprised the regiment. It moved to Capitol Hill, Washington, September 26, 1862, assigned to the Second Army Corps. On the 1st of October, it proceeded to Hagerstown, Md., where it was assigned to the Sixth Army Corps, and with it proceeded to the front and joined the Army of the Potomac. It remained in active service until June 27, 1863. The Regiment took part in the following engagements: Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13 and 14, ’62; Fredericksburg, Va., May 3, ’63; Salem Heights, Va., May 3 and 4, ’63; Franklin’s Crossing, Va., June 5, ’63. The regiment lost during service 1 Officer and 14 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 21 enlisted men by disease, total 36.
The General Orders No 54 States: “Surgeon Luther Thomas while in charge of the Hospital of the 2n Division, 6th Army Corps, at White Oak Church Virginia, was drunk. This on or about the 13th day of December 1862“. Between the ill-fated campaigns of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the Union Army of the Potomac spent the winter of 1862-1863 encamped throughout Stafford County, Virginia. Numerous landmarks from this period are noted in soldiers’ diaries, memories, and letters, with one of the most prominent being the White Oak Primitive Baptist Church (ref photograph taken in 1863 attached, not included in sale). Founded in October 1789 and located just off State Route 218 in eastern Stafford County, the church had “Primitive” removed from its name in the 1830s when some congregants broke away from traditional Baptist doctrines. Many African-American members of the church were or had been slaves at the nearby Chatham Plantation. The Sixth Corps camped in the area surrounding the church, which was situated in a grove of white oak trees, making drilling difficult for the Union soldiers. Daniel Holt, a Surgeon in the 121st New York Infantry wrote: “We are in the vicinity of this venerable church if such a name can be with propriety be applied to an edifice not so good looking as my barn and wood shed. The structure is a large one story frame without steeple, spire or anything to mark its being a house of worship. Indeed it looks like a great barn, with too few windows to afford light even for that; with an exterior which never knew a painter’s brush-not even white washing; at best it never had even a passable appearance, and now that troops are quartered in it and horses occupy one end…with clapboards off as high as a man can reach, it presents anything but a neat or decent appearance”.
The Civil War (12 April 1861 – 9 April 1865) was particularly infamous for the huge amount of amputations performed, believed to be between 30,000 and 60,000. About three quarters of all operations performed during the war, were amputations. Although seemingly drastic, the operation was intended to prevent deadly complications such as gangrene. Sometimes undertaken without anesthesia, and in some cases leaving the patient with painful sensations in the severed nerves, the removal of a limb was widely feared by soldiers. “The limbs of soldiers are in as much danger from the ardor of young surgeons as from the missiles of the enemy.” Surgeon Julian John Chisholm, 1864.
*Condition*
These field kits are very rare to find and given its age and service it is in good used condition. Please see photographs as part of the condition report.
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