Raynor HCA 2014-04
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/1/2014
Antebellum autograph letter signed "L. B. Northrop," 4pp. including integral address panel, 4to, Fort Gibson (Indian Territory/Oklahoma), March 16, 1840, to Jefferson Davis, Warrenton, Mississippi. It reads, in part: "…a pistol that was in my pocket went off, how, I know not, the ball entered my leg 4 or 5 inches above the knee, split the lower edge of the cap and concealed itself somewhere about the joint. I rode home and next morning took up my abode in the hospital…I could scarcely keep from yelling, the agony was dreadful…diarrhea reduced me to a skeleton…the lancet… at length reached the pus…I am now getting well and walking about the room on crutches…Jeff Davis (Northrop's horse) ate some sour corn & when I saw him in the morning, he was frantic & soon died…I have really grieved at his loss…" Lucius B. Northrop, a West Point graduate and personal friend to Jefferson Davis, went on to become Commissary General of the Confederate Army. His gross neglect of Union prisoners generated considerable protest and brought about his complete removal in February 1865. A typed note accompanying the letter claims that men of the 7th Rhode Island Volunteers took it as a war trophy on July 10, 1863 as they passed through Jackson, Mississippi in pursuit of Joe Johnston. Very good condition with one small marginal area of loss.
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