Civil War Washington

CASE 620.—Private W. A. Harkness, Co. K, 7th Rhode Island, aged 35 years, was wounded at Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864. At the regimental hospital the injury was recorded as a "wound of the bowels." On the 7th, he was transferred to Carver Hospital, Washington, whence Surgeon O. A. Judson reported the case as a "flesh wound of the abdomen." On September 26th, he was admitted into Lovell Hospital, Portsmouth Grove, and discharged the service January 26, 1865. Surgeon Charles O'Leary, U. S. V., notes upon the monthly report as follows: "Gunshot wound of the abdomen; the ball passed beneath the umbilicus, injuring the bone by escaping through the ilium. A painful tumor marks the track of the ball." He was pensioned, and Examining Surgeon Robert Millar, of Providence reported, January 21, 1870, that the "ball entered the abdomen at the median line, about two inches above the pubes, passed outward toward the left side, fracturing the left ilium at the anterior superior spinous process, and emerged about two inches beyond. The irritation seems to have extended to the bladder, and if he stands he has a constant desire to urinate; any heavy lifting produces pain and fulness​ in this region. He also has pain at the seat of the fracture, which has recently increased, probably owing to some necrosed spiculæ of bone. He says that he can perform no hard labor which requires standing or lifting." He was last paid on December 4, 1872.