Civil War Washington

CASE 455.—Private Alvin Hubbard, Battery M, 5th Artillery, aged 20 years, was wounded at Spottsylvania​ Court House, May 12, 1864, by a solid shot or a large fragment of shell, which struck both knees, fracturing the patella and opening the joint of the right knee, and inflicting a large flesh wound on the inner side of the left knee. He was taken to the field hospital of the Artillery Brigade, Sixth Corps, and on the 14th sent to Fredericksburg. On May 24th, he was admitted into the Third Division Hospital, Alexandria, from which Surgeon E. Bentley, U. S. V., reports: "The right leg and knee were badly swollen, painful and œdematous, and the soft parts ecchymosed; there was an unhealthy discharge from the wound; the left knee was black and swollen, but the joint was not seriously injured. His constitutional condition was much disturbed, pulse quick and frequent, appetite poor. On the 25th, it was decided to amputate, and, after placing the patient under the influence of chloroform, Surgeon Bentley removed the right thigh just below the trochanter by the circular operation; free incisions were made in the integuments of the left knee. He rallied well from the operation, and the after treatment consisted of stimulants, opiates, and nourishing diet. On October 7th, he was transferred to the First Division Hospital, Alexandria; on February 25, 1865, to the hospital at Fairfax Seminary; and finally discharged at the Judiciary Square Hospital, Washington, May 19, 1865." Examining Surgeon E. H. Wood, of Hersey, Michigan, September 5, 1877, reports: "The stump of the amputated limb is sound. The wound on left knee healed, leaving a large scar, and the patella so dislocated upward that this leg can be only semi-flexed​." His pension was paid June 4, 1879.