Civil War Washington

CASE 965.—Fracture of ilium from a fall under a horse.—Major W. E. Bryan, 3d New Jersey, aged 41 years, was injured in the right hip by his horse falling upon him, near Brandy Station, February 22, 1864. Two days after the accident he was conveyed to Washington, where he entered Armory Square Hospital and afterwards Georgetown Seminary. Surgeon D. W. Bliss, U. S. V., in charge of the former, and Surgeon H. W. Ducachet, U. S. V., in charge of the latter, both described the injury as a "fracture of the right ilium." Subsequently the patient was treated for a time in private quarters, and on June 23, 1864, he was discharged from service, since when he has become a pensioner. The Philadelphia Examining Board, consisting of Drs. J. Collins, T. S. Harper, J. H. Sherwood, and E. A. Smith, certified, February 7, 1872: "The pensioner sustained a fracture of the crest of the right ilium. He complains of constant pain and inability to follow any occupation, looks delicate, and carries the right hip somewhat higher than the left." Subsequent examining boards reported, in 1875 and 1877, that "the hip is flattened and the leg slightly shorter than its fellow. He alleges pain and fatigue in the hip, and has oblique inguinal hernia of right side, well supported by a truss." The pensioner was paid June 4, 1881.