Civil War Washington

CASE 35.—Lieutenant L. Soistman, Co. H, 98th Pennsylvania, aged 23 years, was wounded at Salem Heights, May 3, 1863. Three days afterwards he entered the Campbell Hospital, Washington, where he obtained a leave of absence on May 19th. On July 8th, he was admitted to the Officers' Hospital, Philadelphia, where Acting Assistant Surgeon W. Cammac recorded the following history: "A piece of shell entered the right thigh at the most depending inner part of the middle of the upper third, went under the deep fascia, and upward under the femoral artery and buried itself. The missile appears not to have been noticed at first, as the wound was sewed up. After going to his home in Philadelphia he was attended by a private physician, but the missile remained still undiscovered. On July 8th, Acting Assistant Surgeon W. Hunt was called in, who was struck by the peculiar feel, and on introducing a probe immediately found the foreign body, and ordered the patient to the hospital to have it removed. On July 9th, Dr. Hunt enlarged the wound, and, after considerable trouble from the proximity of the large vessels, removed, with the assistance of the forceps, a piece of shell weighing nine ounces, which had lodged in the thigh sixty-six days. Its presence had given rise to no great disorganization, but he complained, he says, of a weight in the part during the whole time. After recovery from the effects of the ether, a half grain of sulphate of morphia was given. Cerate dressings and light pressure were applied, and the wound drawn together with adhesive straps. The patient's general health was excellent. He did remarkably well and felt greatly relieved by the operation. On July 13th, cataplasms were ordered, the wound looking well and suppurating moderately, and the patient having better appetite than any time since wounded. On September 5th he was attacked with intermittent fever, which was checked after several days by quinine. By October 1st the wound had nearly healed, but the leg was still weak from extensive disorganization of the great muscles of the thigh. On November 9, 1863, he was returned to duty." This officer was again wounded, at the battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 1864, in the right side, for which injury he was treated in hospitals at Philadelphia and Annapolis. On August 2, 1864, he was again returned to duty, and on October 13, 1864, he was mustered out of service. The Philadelphia Examining Board certified, October 19, 1870: * * "A deep flesh wound, which, in healing, caused a cicatrix about five inches long and four inches wide, with loss of portion of muscular tissue, causing partial loss of power in the limb upon making much exertion," etc. The pensioner was paid March 4, 1876.