Battlefield:
Bristow Station, VA,
October 14, 1863
Date of death:
October 18, 1863
Age:
37
Skull. A slightly depressed fracture is evident adjacent to the fontanelle, associated with a small defect and a fracture line (FIG. 1) that runs anteriorly on the surface of the frontal bone.
A musket ball created the fracture at Bristow Station on October 14, 1863. The patient was admitted to the hospital the next day and retained full consciousness until sudden death on October 18.
Excerpt from The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion
Case: Colonel Thomas Ruffin