Civil War Washington

CASE 49.—Sergeant I. Murdick, Co. I, 134th Pennsylvania, aged 23 years, wounded at Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862. He was admitted to Stone Hospital, Washington, December 20th, with "gunshot wound of left thigh." Assistant Surgeon C. A. McCall, U. S. A., reported that the man was discharged from Mount Pleasant Hospital, April 16, 1863, because of "gunshot wound over left trochanter, passing in the direction of the hip joint; ball undiscovered and interfering with the free use of the joint." Examiner G. McCook, of Pittsburg, June 22, 1864, certified: * * "Inflammation and suppuration have ensued and have progressed until the round and capsular ligaments of the left hip joint have been destroyed and the femur drawn at least two inches above the acetabulum. The left leg is thrown across the right at least two inches or more above the right knee, resembling the position of a dislocated femur. The heel is elevated, and it is with extreme difficulty that he can walk with the aid of crutches. The toes of the left foot rest on the dorsum of the right." On November 22, 1867, the pensioner was furnished with an apparatus for dislocated hip joint, by Dr. E. D. Hudson, of New York City. Examiner J. K. Reinholdt, February 7, 1871, certified: "The downward momentum caused the ball to imbed itself securely in the hip joint. * * Parts swollen and tender; wound discharging; more or less injury to great sciatic nerve; limb deficient in temperature; more or less constant pain; confined to bed months at a time," etc. This pensioner died May 7, 1874, of convulsions superinduced by the results of his wound, his attending physician and others stating that the serious attacks of inflammation, resulting in the formation of abscesses, proved a severe tax upon his vitality and prepared the way for his sudden demise.