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CIVIL WAR FIELD DESK OF SURGEON J. L. PICKARD,

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:400.00 USD Estimated At:800.00 - 1,200.00 USD
CIVIL WAR FIELD DESK OF SURGEON J. L. PICKARD,

115TH US COLORED INFANTRY. 24 x 19 x 14”. Fold down front, key lock. This style of desk was made for military field use. There are many examples found in institutional collections identified to various officers. Often these desks have their cubbyholes filled w/ bureaucratic documents. This example has several effects of Dr. Isaiah L Pickard (1831-1865). Isaiah would enlist July 3, 1863 as assistant surgeon w/ the 1st Massachusetts. He would see service through Virginia, mustering out May 28, 1864 & commissioned Major & Surgeon w/ the 115th US Colored infantry, Sept. 1, 1864. The 115th would occupy Richmond after surrender till being sent to Texas in May 1865 to guard the Rio Grande Valley. Many soldiers of the 115th would die from disease the first few months in Texas; Dr. Pickard would be among the casualties, died at age 34, July 19, 1865.
This desk contains just a handful of Dr. Pickard’s belongings including mismatched pair of military brass spurs complete w/ their leather straps; several handwritten notebooks containing medical notes taken at Bowdoin College including one that may have been very useful wherein he wrote August 30, 1861: “gunshot wounds-great shock & collapse. Speak encouragingly & the patient will sooner rally. Attend to the local injury, probe all foreign substances w/ a probe & w/ the fingers thoroughly…. not amputate to near the wound-immediate amputation if doubt amputate on field of battle before reaction where blood is being lost…”. There is a small “Army and Navy Pocket Dictionary” w/ Pickard’s name & a Bowdoin college program.
CONDITION: desk good & solid, numerous scuffs, scratches & stains from long field use. Warpage on back board, interior complete w/ partitions & 2 functional drawers. Contents all good, pocket dictionary covers are attached, spine chipped. Desk is closed & opened w/ its functional key. PROVENANCE: ex-John Ockerbloom collection. (02-15478/JS). $800-1,200.