This is a classic Civil War contract military-issued set, with double front-sliding latch brass closures rather than a single key closure (a key could easily become lost while on active duty!) Many of the instruments in this set are marked with Kolbe’s imprint, but some have no marking. The variety of instruments that are present (or should be present) – bullet forceps, amputation saw and knives, tools for trephination, scalpels, bistouries, tenaculum, catheters, etc. would have been used to tackle virtually any medical emergency encountered close to the wartime “front”. These field sets were not as large or comprehensive as the so-called capital surgical sets, which were used at the rear of the action or in a hospital.
Up through the early Civil War years, Philadelphia surgical instrument manufacturers were the best in the country. Many, such as Dietrich W. Kolbe had learned the cutlery trade in their native Europe. Kolbe’s craftsmanship had few peers in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia, and he became a major supplier of surgical sets to the Army during the Civil War.