Civil War Washington

CASE 170.—Private S. Irwin, Co. C, 10th Massachusetts, aged 25 years, was wounded at the Po River, May 12, 1864. Surgeon S. F. Chapin, 139th Pennsylvania, noted his admission to the field hospital of the 2d division, Sixth Corps, with "gunshot wound of left thigh." On May 24th the wounded man was admitted to Prince Street Hospital, Alexandria, whence Acting Assistant Surgeon J. Cass contributed the specimen (Cat. Surg. Sect., 1866, p. 234, Spec. 2374) and the following report: "The patient suffered considerable pain, had chills, was very uneasy and anxious, had no appetite, hiccough, and great prostration, and died May 28, 1864. At the autopsy the left groin was found considerably discolored, and, on examination, it was discovered that the wound commenced just below the middle of Poupart's ligament, extending downward and inward, and terminating at the ischium, which was fractured. The ball was found near that bone, between it and the head of the femur, which was also fractured. The ligaments of the hip joint, the soft parts in the groin, and the upper part of the thigh were gangrenous." The specimen (FIG. 37) consists of a portion of the left ischium and the upper extremity of the femur. There is a partial fracture of the head of the femur at its articular border and of the ischium by a battered round ball, which is attached.