Wooden pipe carved with the name Albert A. Walker.
Cowan’s Auctions (cowanauctions.com)
When Albert A. Walker, a sergeant in the 16th Connecticut Infantry, was transferred out of the prison camp at Andersonville on November 30, 1864, he left with not only his life but also an impressive souvenir: a carved wooden pipe that had been made for him by a fellow captive. It’s unclear who the artist was, why he carved the pipe for Walker, or how he obtained the silver for the pipe’s mountings. Of his skill, however, there can be no doubt. The pipe, thought to be made from laurel root, bears the recipient’s name, along with an American shield with stars and stripes, on the front (shown here). The words “Andersonville” and “Sumter Prison” (the pen’s formal name was Camp Sumter) are on either side, along with several five-point stars and decorative etching. Collectors believe that the same anonymous prisoner carved several other, similarly impressive pipes while in captivity. Walker would survive the war and die in 1911 at age 82.
