Title: Bowman, Noah
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), 577.
Civil War Washington ID: med.d1e20178
TEI/XML: med.d1e20178.xml
CASE 16.—Captain Noah Bowman, Co. D, 142d Pennsylvania Volunteers, aged 28 years, was wounded at Petersburg, Virginia, April 1st, 1865, by a conoidal ball, which entered one-fourth of an inch to the left of the ensiform cartilage, passed beneath the ribs, through the right lung, and emerged at eighth rib, below axillary space. Hæmoptysis followed, which lasted for several hours. He was treated in the field hospital of the Fifth Corps until April 29th, when he was transferred to Armory Square Hospital, Washington. When admitted, the patient suffered greatly from dyspnœa; characteristic sputa of pneumonia; lower lobe of right lung collapsed; considerable febrile movement; great emaciation. May 6th: Upon a careful examination, the succussion sound was distinctly heard; the line noting the height at which the fluid stood, while the patient was in an upright position, was about two inches above the right nipple. As both wounds were closed, an incision, of a valvular nature, was made near the wound at eighth rib, and a No. 7 gum-elastic catheter introduced about four inches into the cavity, pointing downward, when, by means of a Davidson's syringe, sixty-eight ounces of pus and serum, having an exceedingly offensive odor, was withdrawn. The catheter was then removed and the integument held firmly over the opening by the atmospheric pressure, thereby preventing any ingress of air from without. Very little pain attended the operation, and the patient expressed himself as feeling greatly relieved. He improved rapidly in health, and, on May 26th, left for his home with good use of right lung and in an apparent condition for a complete and speedy recovery. He was discharged from service on June 1st, 1865. Pension Examiner Henry Brubaker reports, November 10th, 1865, that there is constant and free discharge of pus from the opening in the right side of the chest. The right lung is almost completely consolidated. He is entirely unable to leave his room. Greatly emaciated and debilitated. Still on the Pension List in 1872,—no improvement reported.
