Civil War Washington

CASE 903.—Private D. Ploss, Co. D, 112th New York, aged 25 Years, was wounded at Cold Harbor, June 1, 1864, transferred from a field hospital, and, on the on the 7th, was admitted to Mount Pleasant Hospital, Washington, where Assistant Surgeon C. A. McCall, U. S. A., noted a "gunshot wound of the pelvis, the ball passing through the rectum." He was furloughed August 15th, but did not return, and was reported as a deserter. He was subsequently admitted to hospital at Fort Porter, New York, whence he was discharged, on a certificate of disability, July 6, 1865. Examiner O. H. Simons reported, November 15, 1872: "Wound of both hips; the ball entered immediately above the external abdominal ring of the left side, and made its exit through the right natis, about four inches above the anus. The wound at the point of entrance has closed; that of exit still remains open, and gives passage to flatus and fæcal matter, though only at times." On September 4, 1873, the same examiner reports that "an artificial anus exists at point of entrance, through which fæcal matter passes, rendering him, at times, an object of disgust even to himself. Labor brings on attacks of diarrhœa. He is a feeble looking man and unfit for the performance of any manual labor; disability total." This pensioner was paid to September 4, 1873.