Civil War Washington

CASE 738.—Brigadier General G. W. Taylor, U. S. V., was wounded in the left leg, at Bull Run, August 27, 1862. The character of the injury and its result was reported by Assistant Surgeon J. B. Brinton​, U. S. A.​, as follows: "A ball entered at the inner edge of the tibia, about six inches above the internal malleolus, passed directly through and comminuted the bone very badly for about six inches above and below, making two openings of exit on the anterior and outer aspect of the leg about five inches above the external malleolus. The patient was admitted into the Mansion House Hospital, Alexandria, thirteen hours after the reception of the injury, where Surgeon J. H. Brinton, U. S. V., amputated the limb by the double flap method at the middle third. The operation was performed twenty-six hours after the reception of the injury, the patient losing considerable blood and all the vessels requiring ligation. He had been with the army through the Peninsular campaign and his blood appeared to be very much vitiated by morbific influence of malaria. After the amputation it was discovered, what was previously suspected, that the fibula was not broken by the force of the ball, but by the weight of the patient coining upon it suddenly when the support from the tibia was destroyed by its fracture. The patient's arterial system did not fully react; his pulse, which was feeble, tremulous, and very irregular at times, evidently denoted a depraved condition of the system. He refused to take stimulants except sparingly. This condition continued until September 1, 1862, when he died at 4 o'clock A. M. He was under the influence of chloroform during the operation." The amputated parts of the tibia and fibula (Spec. 313, Surg. Sect., A. M. M.), represented in the wood-cut (FIG. 289), were contributed to the Museum by the operator.