Ruddy, Johna machine readable transcriptionSusan C. LawrenceKenneth M. PriceKenneth J. Winkle2011med.d2e30205Civil War WashingtonUniversity of Nebraska–LincolnCenter for Digital Research in the Humanities319 Love LibraryUniversity of Nebraska–LincolnLincoln, NE 68588-4100cdrh@unlnotes.unl.edu2011
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Kenneth WinkleAJ HowellMatthew BosleyElizabeth LorangThe Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion.
(1861-65.)Washington, DCGovernment Printing OfficePart 2Volume 21876575Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellionwounds and injuries of the upper extremitieswounds of the shoulder jointexcisions at the shoulderexcisions of the head and portions of the shaft of the humerusintermediary excisions of the upper extremity of the humerus for shot injurysuccessful operationsgunshot wound of shoulder and backball entered at head of humerus, exited near anterior scapula, fractured head of humerus
and acromion processshoulder joint resected with portion of humerusball passed through upper lobe of lung, resulting in wasting of system, was sole cause of
deathgeneral anesthesia, etherelbow joint cannot be bent fully, practically useless to him, disability totalblessedcorrected value of @url on graphicadded figure encodingadditional proofing of transcription and encoding, identified
keyword termschecked OCR; added minimal mark-up for personal names, place
names, and dates
CASE 1558.—Private J.
Ruddy, Co. A, 63d New York, aged 32 years,
was wounded at Petersburg, April 2, 1865. Surgeon F. M.
Hammond, U. S. V., at the First Division
Hospital of the Second Corps, and Acting Staff Surgeon J.
Aiken, report simply that the patient had a shot wound of the left shoulder, and was
sent on to Washington, where he was received into
Harewood Hospital on April 4th. Surgeon R. B.
Bontecou, U. S. V., reported: "Gunshot
wound of the left shoulder and back, the ball entering at the head of the humerus and making its
exit near the anterior portion of the scapula, fracturing the head of the humerus and the
acromion process. On April 22d, the wound being
in a suppurating condition, the patient was placed under the influence of ether, and the head
and about four inches of the shaft of the humerus were removed. The after-treatment was
supporting, with simple dressings, and the result was favorable." The photograph represented
in the cut (FIG. 451) was taken while the patient was at Harewood
Hospital, and was contributed to the Museum by the
operator, Dr. Bontecou. This soldier was discharged from
service July 12, 1865, and pensioned.
Examiner J. S. Delevan, of Albany, reported, September 8, 1866:
"Ball entered the left shoulder. The shoulder joint was resected, with a portion of the
humerus. The limb cannot he used at all, excepting that the hand can be opened and shut, but he
cannot carry anything in it. The elbow joint cannot be bent fully, and for all practical
purposes it is useless to him, and in my opinion permanently so; disability total." Dr. P. F. L. Reynolds, of Albany,
certified as follows: "Said John Ruddy died at Albany, June 3, 1868, from the
effects of a gunshot wound; the ball which occasioned it having passed through the upper lobe of
the left lung and out of the left shoulder, resulting in the wasting away of his system, and was
the sole cause of his death."