Civil War Washington

CASE 298.—Private Cyrus Stanley, Co. C, 39th Indiana, is alleged to have been wounded at Stone River​, December 31, 1862. His name does not appear upon the list of casualties, and he is supposed to have been made a prisoner. At all events, he was admitted into Armory Square Hospital, Washington, March 20, 1863; on May 5th, was transferred to Convalescent Hospital at Fort Wood, New York Harbor, and, on May 12th, to DeCamp Hospital. Here Acting Assistant Surgeon James W. Dickie has noted upon the descriptive list that "the ball entered half an inch below the last rib and four inches to the right of the vertebra, penetrated the abdominal cavity, and lodged. The patient voided the ball at stool ten days after the reception of the injury. When admitted, the wound had healed and the general health of the patient was good. He suffered, however, from partial paralysis of the right side, and œdema, and loss of motion in the right foot. Bandages were applied over the wound and counter-irritation made to the abdomen; full diet ordered." Stanley was discharged from service June 3, 1863, and pensioned. Pension Examiner Manuel Reed, of Portland, Indiana, reported, March 28, 1869: "The missile entered the right loin, passed through the upper part of the right kidney, and lodged in the bowels, where it remained for ten days, at the end of which time it (an ounce musket ball) was discharged. From the effects of the said wound he is permanently disabled. There is incomplete paralysis of the right side. He is affected, in laboring, by not having complete control over the leg and arm, and not having power of endurance. The muscles are wasting away, shrunken, and flabby. He also has constant pain in the back of the neck and in the spinal column, often so severely that he is confined to his bed for days. His entire system is very much debilitated. Disability total, of the second grade, and permanent." This pensioner was last paid September 4, 1872.