The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865

CPT Robert Stolpe of the 29th New York Volunteers was wounded by a musket ball on May 2, 1863, at Chancellorsville, Va. The shot pierced his thoracic cavity, fracturing the ninth rib, and without injuring the pulmonary parenchyma passed through the diaphragm and entered an unknown portion of his alimentary canal. The captain walked 1½ miles to a field hospital, where surgeons unsuccessfully attempted to reduce a herniated lung. The next day, CPT Stolpe walked half a mile farther to the rear, where he was finally placed in a horse-drawn ambulance and brought to a base hospital. Seemingly in good health, the patient passed the musket ball in his stool on May 7th. Three days later the protruding portion of the lung was "carnified" and granulations began to appear as seen in this chromolithograph. After a 2-month furlough, the wound was found to contain a slight hernia of the lung, but the patient was pronounced healed. A 4-year follow-up showed that the hernia had increased considerably in dimension and contained not only the lung but also portions of the alimentary tract, including the stomach. By 1872, the hernia had stabilized in size, measuring 4½ in in its longest diameter. CPT Stolpe "could take food often, but not much at a time," and continued to "enjoy good health."