Title: Freshwater, William

Source text: The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. (1861-65.), Part 2, Volume 2 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1876), 158.

Keywords:injuries of the abdomenpenetrating wounds of the abdomenwounds of the pancreaswounds of abdomen, forearm, and neckball entered outside nipple on level with seventh rib, lodged under skin near spinous process of last dorsal vertebraperitonitisball pierced diaphragm without touching lungperitoneal inflammation without perforation of intestinespancreas protruded at woundconveyed in army wagon

Civil War Washington ID: med.d2e31556

TEI/XML: med.d2e31556.xml


CASE 504.—Private William Freshwater, Co. F, 66th Ohio, received wounds of the abdomen, left forearm, and neck, at Port Republic, June 9, 1862. He was conveyed in an army wagon to Front Royal, arriving on the 13th, and on the 14th was sent by rail to Washington, and admitted, on the 15th, to Judiciary Square Hospital. He was placed in a ward under the charge of Acting Assistant Surgeon David W. Cheever, who states that "a ball had entered one and a half inches outside the left nipple, on a level with the seventh rib, and could be felt under the skin near the spinous process of the last dorsal vertebra. Some viscus, thought to be the lower tip of the lung, protruded at the wound. He died in two days (June 17th), with symptoms of peritonitis. Post mortem: The ball pierced the diaphragm without touching the lower lobe of the lung; there was no perforation of the intestines, but they were glued together by peritoneal inflammation. The pancreas protruded at the wound."