Lot 1086

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Description:


BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WORK (1837 – 1898) Union soldier and famous quadruple amputee. Work had dropped his given name and assumed the patriot's after deserting following the Battle of Shiloh. He rejoined the army a few months later — as Ben Franklin — and went to battle with the 1st and 2nd Minnesota Cavalry staging punitive raids on Indian villages in the Dakota Territory. On a 30-day furlough to visit his wife, Franklin's stagecoach became stuck in the deep and blinding snow of a Minnesota blizzard near Ortonville. His four comrades died during an eight-day ordeal with no food in arctic temperatures. The frozen patient was barely alive when some Dakota Indians discovered him in a snowdrift and brought him to the military hospital on Christmas Eve, 1865. His four limbs became gangrenous and were removed. Franklin supported himself on meager income from the sale of his portrait. Scarce carte de visite photograph of Work in his sad state, a description of his ordeal on verso along with the 25-cent cost. Fine condition.

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October 29, 2020 10:00 AM EDT
Chesapeake City, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $499 $20
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 + $10,000