Auction Date:2010 Jan 13 @ 10:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
Appointed a Brigadier General when the Civil War broke out, Thomas Jackson (1824–1863) organized a brigade of Virginians that fought at the first Battle of Bull Run. It was there that the unit was described as standing its ground like a “stone wall,” and the name forever became attached to Jackson. Scarce ALS signed “T. J. Jackson, Bvt. Maj. Infty,” one lightly lined page, 8 x 9.75, July 31, 1851. Jackson, then on vacation in upstate New York, writes to General R. Jones. In full: “I have in compliance with the wish of the Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute postponed my visit to Europe. As he informed me that the Department has authorised him to say to me, that I could use my leave of absence as I might prefer. I shall be in Washington by the 10th of next month.” In fine, clean condition, with horizontal mailing fold passing through rank beneath signature, some wrinkling along the upper horizontal fold, and a tiny chip to left edge affecting nothing.
Jackson was in upstate New York at the time seeking treatment for a chronic stomach ailment by a physician whom he had recently met. The physician, Lowery Barney, changed his diet and placed him on an exercise regimen. Barney also introduced Jackson to hydropathy, which used only cold water as a medical treatment. It was while undergoing a six-week treatment that Jackson wrote this letter.
Although he was considered by some to be a hypochondriac, Jackson apparently received great relief from Barney’s treatment. From this period through the beginning of the Civil War, in fact, Jackson used every vacation to visit either a springs or a water clear. Such treatments may have been little more than a placebo, however, as other historians maintain that Jackson’s digestive problems were misdiagnosed and were the result of an ulcer. A perforated or bleeding peptic ulcer may have contributed to Jackson’s death from pleuropneumonia following wounds he suffered at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Incidentally, as referenced in this letter, Jackson did eventually join VMI as a member of its faculty, where he was an unpopular teacher whose methods were said to lack originality.
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5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
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