Title: Booker, John H.

Source text: Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes, United States Army, The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. (1861–65.), Part 1, Volume 2 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1870), 188.

Keywords:on special wounds and injuries of the headwounds and injuries of the headgunshot woundsgunshot fractures of the cranial bonesdepressed gunshot fracture of cranial bonesexfoliations after depressed gunshot fractures of the skullnecrosis of portions of outer table or of both tables of cranium, frequent results of gunshot fracturemissile struck skull at junction of coronal and sagittal sutures, lacerated scalp, and fractured and depressed outer tableœdema of hands and feet, face puffy, abdomen swollen, and little urine passedgunshot wound of thigh and flesh wound of backgangrene of thigh woundchest and peritoneum distended with serum, both kidneys completely degeneratedautopsy performed

Civil War Washington ID: med.d1e13515

TEI/XML: med.d1e13515.xml


CASE.—Private John H. Booker, Co. L, 1st Maine Heavy Artillery, aged 23 years, was wounded in the engagement at City Point, Virginia, June 18th, 1864. The missile struck the skull at the junction of the coronal and sagittal sutures, lacerating the scalp, and fracturing and depressing the outer table nearly one-half inch each way. At the same time the patient received gunshot wounds of the back and thigh. He was admitted to the hospital of the 3d division, Second Army Corps, and on July 2d was sent to the 3d division hospital at Alexandria, Virginia. The injuries healed kindly until July 18th, when the wound of the thigh became gangrenous, the disease extending over a surface of three inches. Lotions of chloride of zinc and afterward of creosote were applied, and tonics and anodynes given. On August 10th, a piece of exfoliated bone half an inch in diameter was removed from the wound of head, and, on August 25th, two more pieces of the same size were taken away. The slough had separated on August 1st, and the wound had again assumed a healthy appearance, and continued to improve during the months of September and October, when, about the middle of November, the hands and feet became œdematous, the face grew puffy, and finally the abdomen commenced to swell. By the middle of December the girth of the body at the umbilicus was thirty-eight inches. But little urine was passed, yet no symptoms of cerebral disturbance were noticed. The patient died January 9th, 1865. At the autopsy, the cavities of the chest and peritoneum were found much distended with serum, and the kidneys were completely degenerated. The case is reported by Surgeon E. Bentley, U. S. V.