Civil War Washington

CASE 893.—Shot fractures of scaphoid and cuneiform bones.—Lieutenant J. Miller, Co. A, 5th Ohio, aged 26 years, was wounded in the left foot, at Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862. Acting Assistant Surgeon J. A. Murphy, in charge of Third Street Hospital, Cincinnati, reported: "The ball entered between the scaphoid and internal cuneiform bones and passed out one inch below the external malleolus. The patient was sent to Cliffburn Hospital, at Washington, where Assistant Surgeon J. S. Billings, U. S. A., on August 14th enlarged the wound of exit and removed several pieces of bone. The patient remained in said hospital for three months, when he obtained a leave of absence and came to his home (in Cincinnati). He applied for treatment in this hospital in December, 1862, when there was still considerable inflammation in the foot. Poultices and cold-water dressings were ordered until the wounds healed. Five small pieces of bone were removed from both the wound of entrance and exit. He is now (April, 1863) able to flex the foot on the leg and walks with a slight halt." Lieutenant Miller was discharged from service June 11, 1863, and pensioned. The Cincinnati Examining Surgeons have certified to the injury from time to time. In 1877 they added that "the cicatrix is small, healthy, and adherent. There is some flattening of the plantar arch; middle tarsal joint very much impaired; motion of ankle good but limited in range." The pensioner was paid March 4, 1881.