Civil War Washington

CASE 1780.—Brigadier-General​ Max Weber, U. S. V., aged 38 years, received a shot perforation of the right elbow at Antietam, September 17, 1862. Excision of the joint was practised on the field by Assistant Surgeon Charles Heiland, 20th New York, the regiment of which General Weber was formerly colonel. The patient was treated at a Sixth Corps hospital until December 20th, when he was transferred to Washington. Surgeon Thomas Antisell, U. S. V., attending volunteer officers, reported that there was necrosis of the sawn extremities of the bones. The patient was furloughed for sixty days. After some small exfoliations the wound healed, and this officer resigned May 13, 1865, and was pensioned. Examiner James Neill, of New York, reported, September 6, 1865, that: "A bullet wound through the right elbow has resulted in complete anchylosis of the joint at an angle of 45°. The limb is paralyzed, and the hand cold and useless." Examiner T. Franklin Smith reported, November 26, 1873: "Ball entered at the right outer condyle of the humerus, and emerged at the inner surface of the forearm, about midway, carrying away about three inches of the radius. There is complete anchylosis of the elbow joint at a right angle, rendering the patient incapable of feeding himself." Dr. Heiland contributed to the Museum a photograph of the fragment of the radius removed, as represented in the wood-cat (FIG. 602).