CASE 653.—Private H. A.
Steward, Co. B, 8th Pennsylvania Reserves,
aged 23 years, received a fracture of the right leg by a fragment of a shell, at Gaines's Hill, June 27,
1862. He was conveyed to Washington, where he remained under treatment at the CliffburnCliffburne Hospital until November 20, 1862, when he was discharged and pensioned, Surgeon H. Bryant, U. S. V., certifying to "exsectionexcision of a large portion of the tibia in consequence of the
wound." Examiner George McCook, of Pittsburg, December 17, 1863, testified to the injury, and
that "exfoliation is going on in a slight degree. He can walk inconveniently," etc. The
pensioner subsequently entered the Good Samaritan Hospital, Cincinnati, where the injured limb was amputated on April 1, 1867, by Dr. Thomas H. Kearney, who certified as follows: "I amputated
the leg through the knee joint, the section of the bone being performed through the condyles of
the femur. The amputation was rendered necessary in consequence of inflammation of the tibia, leading to abscesses and general infiltration of the tissues. Removal
of the condyles was necessitated in consequence of the want of sufficient healthy integument to
cover them. The wound he had received involving the tibia, doubtless left it impaired in vitality and prone to attacks of inflammation, such as rendered
its removal ultimately necessary." The Quincy Examining
Board, in 1872, reported that "the flaps have sloughed from gangrene, leaving the bone
only covered with tender cicatricial tissue, which often gives away and becomes an open ulcer," etc. The pensioner was paid March 4, 1880