Civil War Washington

CASE 1060.—Private A. Wilson, Co. L, 1st Minnesota, aged 30 years, was wounded at Antietam, September 17, 1862. He was treated in Carver Hospital, Washington, and on December 12th was admitted into Satterlee Hospital, Philadelphia. Surgeon I. I. Hayes, U. S. V., reported: "The ball, the precise character of which is unknown, struck at the outer side of the lower part of the left arm; part of it passed through the member and came out at the posterior surface. Next day a portion of the ball, about the size of a dime, was cut out from the front part of the arm toward the inner side. On his admission into this hospital his arm seemed nearly well, but a small ulcer, scabbed over, marked the point of entrance of the ball, and a probe passed into this discovered a sinus extending several inches upward, a piece of metal being discovered and clearly felt at its upper extremity. His general condition was perfectly good. January 3d, having administered chloroform, I laid open the sinus before mentioned for about three inches and readily extracted a piece of ball. Its concave surface was closely applied to the outer edge of the lower flat portion of the humerus; the bone beneath was roughened and apparently bare of periosteum. On several subsequent occasions I convinced myself that the bone was dead and looked for a tedious process of exfoliation; but on January 15, 1863, thinking to pass a probe, I found the wound firmly united, and the healing process has gone on most favorably. There is no swelling, no tenderness, no orifice through which the smallest probe could be inserted, and the wound has the aspect of a healthy and rapidly healing ulcer." Wilson was returned to duty April 22, 1863, and discharged from service November 24, 1865, and pensioned. The Williamsport Examining Board reported, July 6, 1881: "The projectile penetrated the left arm at the insertion of the triceps and passed inward and upward. Fragments were extracted from two places in the belly of the biceps. Some fragments of bone were removed. The arm has every motion free except tensile strength." His pension was paid December 4, 1881.