Civil War Washington

CASE.—Private Lewis O. Ritch, Co. C, 106th Pennsylvania Volunteers, aged 20 years, was accidentally wounded at Fairfax Court-house, September 20th, 1862, by a round musket ball and two buckshot. The ball entered below the thyroid cartilage, passing through the trachea, and lodged in the pharynx, from which it was subsequently extracted. One buckshot fractured the right side of the lower jaw, and destroyed five teeth, and another entered the left side of the neck, a few inches above the clavicle, and lodged, and is still in the neck. He was, on October 6th, admitted to Armory Square Hospital, Washington. Cold water dressings, lotions of lead and opium, and warm fomentations were applied to the wounds, and tonics and stimulants administered. There was much inflammation about the throat, and food could be swallowed only with difficulty; air passed through the wound in respiration. On October 16th, the wound discharged slightly, but healthy; on the 15th, discharged freely; patient exhausted, laboring under anorexia. On October 23d, inflammation, erysipelatous in character, was increasing, and, on the 26th, extended over the entire head and face. November 2d, the patient was improving, and, on the 6th, the wounds were healing. He was discharged the service on December 15th, 1862. The case is reported by Surgeon D. W. Bliss, U. S. V. Pension Examiner H. E. Goodman reports, September 1st, 1869, that there is a large depression over the cervical bone, loss of voice, difficulty of breathing, with constant cough. The lungs and heart are normal; the digestion is bad, and constant care is necessary to prevent inflammation.