Lot 54
Cochran, John (1730-1807) Chief Physician and Surgeon of the Revolutionary Army. Autograph Letter Signed, as president of the Medical Society of New Jersey, New Brunswick, December 14, 1773, 2 pp folio, to Col. Philip Schuyler, his brother-in-law and comrade-in-arms during the French and Indian War. Cochran ponders where he could practice his profession and support his family, and mentions land he owns in Saratoga (N.Y.), a debt owed him and one he owes. He refutes the notion that he might be "going to live at the manor of Livingston….I had thought of removing to the southward, where I might stand a chance of making something considerable by my profession, but could not pitch on a plan to my mind. I am very well settled in a good house and in a good neighbourhood, and can from my Business make to live tolerably decent….All this is by no means adequate to my services yet I do not think, I shall mend the matter by removing to the manor where I can have none but country practice…." Normal age toning; one partial fold split to letter, else Fine; address leaf has a straight-line, black "NEW-YORK" postal marking, soiling, and paper loss from opening, affecting nothing.
In late 1776, Cochran offered his services as a volunteer in the hospital department of the Revolutionary army. On April 11, 1777, on the recommendation of Washington, he was appointed Physician and Surgeon-General of the Middle Department. He was at the Whitemarsh encampment in 1777 and gave smallpox inoculations at Valley Forge. On October 6, 1780, he became Chief Physician and Surgeon of the Army, and on January 17, 1781, Congress appointed him Director General of Hospitals, in which capacity he served until the end of the war.
Estimated Value $1,200 - 1,500.
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