Civil War Washington

CASE 882.—Private J. H. Short, Co. F, 140th Pennsylvania, aged 19 years, was wounded at Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864. Surgeon J. E. Pomfret, 7th New York Artillery, reported his admission to the field hospital of the 1st division, Second Corps, with "shot wound of left foot." Several days after receiving the injury the wounded man was sent to Washington, where he entered Harewood Hospital and suffered amputation of the foot. Surgeon R. B. Bontecou, U. S. V., who performed the operation, made the following report: "The wound was caused by a ball entering in front of the ankle joint, opening the same, and lodging against the astragalus​. On his admission to Harewood Hospital the patient was suffering from irritative fever and the parts above the joint were considerably swollen. Syme's operation was performed on May 25th with favorable result, the patient improving rapidly and making a good recovery. Sulphuric ether constituted the anæsthetic used in the case. Simple dressings were used, and the treatment was supporting." The patient was subsequently transferred to hospital at Philadelphia and later to Pittsburgh, whence he was discharged from service November 4, 1864, and pensioned. His photograph, taken at Harewood Hospital and contributed by the operator, is copied in FIGURE 3 of PLATE LXXV, opposite page 596. In his applications for commutation the pensioner continues to describe the condition of the stump as "very good and sound." He was paid September 4, 1880.