Title: Sergeant G. Northard

Source text: The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. (1861-65.), Part 3, Volume 2 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1883), 393.

Keywords:wounds and injuries of the lower extremitieswounds and injuries of the knee jointexcisions at the knee joint for shot injuryintermediary excisions at the knee jointfatal instances of intermediary excision at the knee jointsevere shot wound of kneeball entered above patella, fractured patella into six fragments, fractured external condyles of femurfractured patella and fragment of external condyle of femur removedsuppuration profusegeneral anesthesia, ether

Civil War Washington ID: med.d2e16591

TEI/XML: med.d2e16591.xml


CASE 624.—Sergeant G. Northard, Co. G, 2d Ohio Cavalry,³ aged 23 years, was wounded at Five Forks, April 1, 1865. Surgeon W. W. Bowlby, 3d New Jersey Cavalry, reported his admission to the field hospital of the 3d division, Cavalry Corps, with "severe shot wound of right knee." Surgeon R. B. Bontecou, U. S. V., in charge of Harewood Hospital, Washington, subsequently operated on the injured limb, of which he contributed a photograph (Contr. Photo's, S. G. O., Vol. I, No. 41), with the following history: "The patient was admitted April 5th. He had been wounded by a ball entering just above the patella, through which it passed and which it fractured into six fragments. Ranging downward and outward the missile fractured the external condyles of the femur and escaped. On April 8th, the patient was etherized, when the fractured patella and a fragment of the external condyle of the femur were removed. The constitutional state of the patient at the time of the operation was very good. After the operation the limb was placed in a box containing bran and the patient was put on low diet. Subsequently the limb was placed upon a light open splint, extending from the tuberosity of the ischium to a point near the heel, and suspended by a cord. The patient was put on nutritious diet, with wine and porter. On April 13th, he was transferred to a tent ward. Up to this time he had suffered considerable pain in the joint and was very restless and irritable. His appetite now became poor, and hiccough and vomiting set in. Suppuration was profuse. The patient died April 22, 1865, from exhaustion."


³ CULBERTSON (H.), Excision of the Larger Joints of the Extremities. Prize Essay, in Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., Philadelphia, 1876. Supplement to Vol. XXVII, p. 186, Case 29.