Title: Reeves, William
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), 353.
Civil War Washington ID: med.d1e18012
TEI/XML: med.d1e18012.xml
CASE.—Private William Reeves, Co. C, 76th New York Volunteers, aged 22 years, received, at the battle of the Wilderness, May 6th, 1864, a compound comminuted fracture of inferior maxilla by a conoidal ball, which entered the left cheek half an inch anterior to the angle of the jaw, and emerged at a point nearly opposite. He was conveyed to a field hospital, where a large number of splinters were removed through the mouth and aperture of exit. He was admitted to the Stanton Hospital, Washington, on May 11th, 1864. Aperture of entrance small; that of exit about three inches in its longest diameter. On May 12th, secondary hæmorrhage occurred. He lost about twenty-four ounces of blood, and was much exhausted. On the same day, at five o'clock P. M., the left common carotid artery was ligated by Assistant Surgeon George A. Mursick, U. S. V. No anæsthetic was used. Patient did not rally after the operation. He died on May 13th, 1864, at four o'clock A. M., from exhaustion. The autopsy showed the hæmorrhage to have occurred from the lingual and inferior dental arteries. The case is reported by the operator.
