Civil War Washington

CASE 575.—Private W. J. D. Parks, Co. H, 132d Pennsylvania, was wounded at Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862, and entered the Harewood Hospital, Washington, on December 18th. Surgeon T. Antisell, U. S. V., recorded as follows: "Gunshot wound in right knee, opening the joint. Ball entered on the inner side of the patella on a level with it, and emerged at the popliteal space. Patient in general poor health and anæmic. Cold-water dressings were used. December 22d; irritative fever; tongue dry; pulse 100. He continued to decline, there being no time at which he could bear an operation. He died on December 28, 1862. Post-mortem: Inner condyle of femur fractured. Ball passed directly into the joint, cutting a part of the crucial ligament and emerging from below into the popliteal space. Suppuration and burrowing of pus existed on outer side of thigh, extending four inches above the joint." The bones of the injured knee are shown in the annexed cut (FIG. 235). The specimen was contributed by Acting Assistant Surgeon W. A. Harvey, and shows that, besides the injury to the inner condyle of the femur, the head of the tibia was fractured posteriorly.