Civil War Washington

CASE 132.—Major-General J. Hooker, U. S. V., was wounded at the battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862. The injury was reported by Assistant Surgeon B. Howard, U. S. A., as follows: "He was wounded in the right foot by a minié ball while leading his command, being on horseback at the time, and standing in the stirrups with his weight thrown on his right foot, which was turned outward. The ball struck the inner side of the foot inferiorly to the middle of the scaphoid bone, passing between the first and second layers of the plantar muscles, almost transversely across the plantar portion of the foot, and emerging inferiorly to the anterior border of the cuboid bone. The bones of the foot were uninjured. On the morning of September 18th, I was sent by the Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac to attend General Hooker, * * then lying in a farmhouse near the battle-field. Warm-water dressings had been applied previous to my visit. There was no constitutional disturbance, but the foot was hot and inflamed. By means of a syringe I thoroughly washed out the wound with warm water, and finding it most agreeable to the patient, substituted cold- for warm-water dressings. The next day I found the patient very comfortable; the appearance of the foot had greatly improved and the inflammatory symptoms had disappeared. I then ordered a lotion of plumbi instead of cold-water dressings as being more likely to allay any irritation that might arise in the parts. Before the General left that evening, for Washington, I advised him to resume the use of tepid water as soon as all tendency to active inflammation should cease. On October 25th, I heard that tetanic symptoms had manifested themselves, but received a letter from the General a few days afterwards stating to the contrary. On November 25th the General, who had returned to duty in the field, requested me to look at his wound, which still troubled him somewhat. I found the newly formed cicatrices somewhat tumefied; they were painful on pressure, and the General was still unable to mount his horse unaided, though he persisted in being on active duty. On November 30th, I found there had been a steady improvement, and, although the step had not its former elasticity, the wound had left no serious inconvenience behind." General Hooker remained in active service until the close of the war, and was ultimately retired October 15, 1868.