(CIVIL WAR MARYLAND) William A Hammond Letter on death of B

Sale 2646 - Lot 108

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Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000

(CIVIL WAR--MARYLAND.) William A. Hammond. Letter on death of Baltimore riot soldier Sumner Needham. Autograph Letter Signed to Baltimore Mayor George William Brown. One page, 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches, on Baltimore Infirmary letterhead, plus integral blank; mailing folds, minimal foxing. Baltimore, MD, 27 April 1861

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A letter reporting on the death of Sumner Needham, one of the Massachusetts soldiers who was mortally wounded in the Baltimore Riot of 19 April 1861: "I regret to be obliged to inform you that S.H. Needham, a private of the 6th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, died in this institution this morning in consequence of wounds received in this city on the 19th inst."

The author, William Alexander Hammond (1828-1900), was a very distinguished physician who was then serving briefly at the infirmary; he would be appointed by Lincoln as Surgeon General of the Army in April 1862. The recipient, Baltimore's mayor George William Brown, was undoubtedly interested in Needham's death as he had played a direct personal role in attempting to quell the riot; he was later arrested for trying to impede the flow of further troops through the city.

Provenance: collection of Arthur G. "Gil" Barrett.