Civil War Washington

CASE 38.—Sergeant H. M. Lambert, Co. D, 12th Illinois Cavalry, aged 29 years, sustained a contusion of the right leg by the falling of​ his horse during a charge on the enemy near Germanna Ford, October 10, 1863. Three days after the accident he was admitted to Emory Hospital, Washington, whence Surgeon N. R. Moseley, U. S. V., contributed the specimen (FIG. 7), with the following report: "Slightly comminuted fracture of both bones of right leg at middle third, followed by copious discharge of sanious pus. The patient having become weak and debilitated, tonics and stimulants were resorted to with the desired effect. On October 25th, double-flap amputation at the upper third of the leg was performed by Acting Assistant Surgeon W. H. Ensign. Simple dressings and adhesive straps were used. The patient did well, and the stump had almost entirely healed, when, on November 8th, hæmorrhage supervened. Graduated compresses were resorted to without avail, and on November 10th the limb was reamputated at the lower third of the thigh by the double-flap method. The stump was again well-nigh healed, when, on November 26th, hæmorrhage again set in, and Dr. Mott's tourniquet was applied with perfect success. On December 10th the tourniquet was removed, and no return of the hæmorrhage followed. By January 18, 1864, the patient was up and about the ward, and doing well. The specimen, a conical ball enclosed in a sac, was removed from the amputated leg at the second operation. The patient had received this ball in a skirmish with the enemy in Kentucky, in October, 1861, and the missile had remained in the popliteal space beneath the outer hamstring tendons, without inconvenience, for two years and one month." The amputated tibia and fibula, showing no attempt at union, were contributed by the operator (See Cat. Surg. Sect., 1866, p. 511), and constitute specimen 1744 of the Surgical Section of the Army Medical Museum. The patient was subsequently transferred to Judiciary Square Hospital, and discharged from service July 30, 1864. He is a pensioner, and was paid June 4, 1876.