Letter of the Day: February 1

Lewis Darling, Jr., M.D.
Lawrenceville, Tioga Co., Pa., Feb 1st, 1884

To the Surgeon General of the US Army

Dear Sir.

Yesterday I amputated an Arm for Mathias L. Holbert, late a private in the 124th N. York Vol.- He received a gun shot would of the right Elbow Joint, in the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 3 1863. He was taken to Carver US. Genl Hospital in Washington, the under Charge of Surg. O.A. Judson US. Vol. The Elbow Joint was Re-Sected + the soldier carried the limb in a sling for 3 years before it entirely healed up. He has never seen the time since he was wounded that the limb did not give him Trouble. Several times his life has been endangered from the high degree of inflammatory action excited. For the past two months he has suffered greatly with it, + two weeks ago I opened into the artificial joint + evacuated more than a pint of filthy pus, blood + serum. It became imperative to remove the arm in the interest of life, as well as comfort.

The history of his case is among the records probably on file in your office- And I thought you would direct that the bones of the arm showing the result of the process of repair after resection, be sent to the Army Medical Museum for preservation.


If you disired [sic] me to prepared [?] the Specimen and forward to your office at government expense, please notify me at once and I will do so-

Yours Very Respectfully
L. Darling, Jr., M.D.

P.S.
Mr. Holbert is a poor man and he disires [sic] me to enquire of you if the government he served faithfully, and for which he has suffered so long, would not pay the expense of his sickness and surgical bills. It seems to me it would be only Justice to him, as he was only one of many victims of Conservative [?] Surgery, that is its results has proven so unsatisfactory.