CIVIL WAR
Scrapbook containing a group of materials pertaining to the career of a surgeon in the Confederate Army. At the beginning of the album is the letter of induction of Dr. William D. Tucker into the Provisional Army of the Confederate States as a surgeon, signed by James A. Seddon as Secretary of War. In succeeding pockets of the album are lists of mortality and morbidity, arranged by company (which regiment involved is unclear). Many appear to be casualties of the Battle of Corinth. There are about fifty such sheets in all, ranging from rough scraps of paper to carefully written lists. Also included are two printed General Orders, one a Roll of Honor (General Order 131, October 3, 1863); an account of the Battle of Corinth in a soldier's letter describing that battle; three examples of Confederate currency (worn); a draft of a letter to General Polk; several items of printed ephemera and, poignantly, Tucker's 1865 Certificate of Parole. The scrapbook is of fairly modern vintage, the paper brittle. Pasted elsewhere into the album are a quantity of unrelated newspaper clippings of later vintage.
A rare first-hand look at the "butcher's bill" of battle, from the perspective of a Confederate surgeon.