WOOD & HUGHES SILVER EWER PRESENTED TO CIVIL WAR SURGEON J.C. MCKEE, DATED FEBRUARY 1865

WOOD & HUGHES SILVER EWER PRESENTED TO CIVIL WAR SURGEON J.C. MCKEE, DATED FEBRUARY 1865 the underside marked with 900/1000 to underside with a "W3H" for Wood & Hughes of New York, with beaded handle and classical motifs and Greek key design to neck, the inscription reading, "A token of respect/ from the/ Ward Masters and Patients/ of/ Lincoln U.S. General Hospital/ J.C. McKee Surg. USA/ in Charge/ Feb. 22nd 1865, h: 14 in., 37.1 ozt

Catalogue Essay:
Dr. James Cooper McKee (1830-1897) was taken as a prisoner of war by the Texas militia under General Baylor at the surrender of Ft. Fillmore. He wrote about this experience in "Narrative of the Surrender of a Command of U.S. Forces at Fort Fillmore, New Mexico." He was paroled and then released by exchange. Subsequently, he was assistant medical director at the Second Battle of Bull Run and was the assistant medical purveyor of the Army at the Battle of Antietam. In 1863, he was placed in charge of Lincoln General Hospital in Washington, D.C., where he performed some of the earliest plastic surgery procedures on wounded soldiers. At the close of the war he was promoted to the rank of major and sent to New Mexico as chief medical officer. After an accident, he was sent to Fort Wadsworth, in New York harbor and remained there for four years. After a visit to Europe he became medical director of the department of Arizona, afterward serving in the same capacity at Vancouver Barracks, Washington Territory, department of Columbia. His last duty was at Philadelphia, where he retired in 1891 with the rank of lieutenant colonel for disabilities received in the line of duty. h:14 in.