Civil War Washington

CASE 776.—Private O. M. Armstrong, Co. B, 120th New York, aged 33 years, was wounded at Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864. Surgeon F. F. Burmeister, 69th Pennsylvania, reported his admission to the Second Corps Hospital, at White House, with "shot wound of left ankle joint, for which amputation was performed by Dr. Henry McLean, of Troy, N. Y., on June 10th." Two days afterwards the patient entered Armory Square Hospital, Washington, where a subsequent operation was performed by Surgeon D. W. Bliss, U. S. V., who described the case as follows: "The man was admitted with amputation of the leg at the lower third. The stump was very painful and symptoms of necrosis were exhibited. Simple dressings were used, and stimulants and nourishing diet were prescribed. On October 11th, the patient was placed upon the operating table and put under the influence of chloroform, when the stump was opened and a ring of necrosed bone, which encircled the tibia, was taken away by means of a pair of dressing forceps. The patient did well after the operation, and was transferred to hospital at Rochester in February following." The removed fragment, consisting of a tubular sequestrum four inches long, was contributed to the Museum by the operator (Cat. Surg. Sect., 1866, p. 404, Spec. 3284), and is represented on PLATE LXXI, FIGURE 3, opposite page 428, ante. The patient was discharged from service May 31, 1865, and pensioned, having been previously supplied with an artificial limb by Dr. D. Bly, who described the amputation as having been performed by the flap method. The pensioner died October 22, 1870. The cause of his death is reported to have been softening of the brain.