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"General Hancock And Dr. Read" by Joseph T. Riemer, M.D., BULLETIN OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA, Spring 1972 |
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On the third day of Gettysburg, July 3, 1863, at the "copse of trees" which was in the thick of the battle that turned the tide of the Confederate advance into the North, General Winfield Scott Hancock, of Norristown, took a bullet in his thigh near the groin. He fell from his saddle into the arms of alert staff members. Surgeon A. R. Dougherty, Medical Director of the II Corps, Hancock's own command, was summoned and directed the General's withdrawal behind the rise of Cemetery Ridge where with his finger he probed the wound. He withdrew a piece of wood and a ten-penny nail. From this it was surmised, at first, that the Confederates were throwing canister containing nails and scrap. Later, however, it was determined that the wood and nail came from the pommel of Hancock's saddle. Hancock was then evacuated to Baltimore, and thence to Philadelphia, where at the La Pierre house he was visited by his father on July 6th. Later in July, he was transported by rail to Norristown, where he was met at the station by a military escor and brass band and was taken to his father's house which still stands, now a beauty salon, under the Philadelphia & Western RR Station, on Swede Street between Main and Lafayette. He had been attended by army surgeons in Baltimore and Philadelphia, who dressed his wound and probed for foreign bodies. In Norristown, the wound continued to drain and would not heal. It was suspected, of course, that additional foreign material was present. He was attended by Norristown physicians during this period. Dr. Louis Wernwag Read, an army surgeon, in charge of McKim United States Hospital in Baltimore, was home on leave in Norristown in December of 1863. He paid a courtesy visit to General Hancock, and the latter suggested that he attempt to locate the foreign body in his wound. Dr. Read was well aware that many had tried and failed before him. With some ingenuity, he had General Hancock straddle a chair perched on top of the dining room table (this account from Dr. Edgar Buyers) and with the other local physicians in attendance, he sighted, from across the room, the probable trajectory of the bullet as it struck the pommel of Hancock's saddle and drove or carried the wood and nail into the flesh. He then probed the wound entrance along a line thus projected, and found the hard object which, when extracted, proved to be a minnie ball. The ball was located posterior to the femur. Other details of the wound would not have been recorded, or if so, have not come to this author's attention. In any event, General Hancock recovered and was able to resume temporary command of the II Corps from December 29th to January 8, 1864 and full command in March 1864. He played a very important role for the remainder of the war. An interesting sequel to this story is the following: Hancock, on recruiting duty in Auburn, New York, met a former soldier of his command, who was on crutches and suffering from a wound similar to that of his own. His name was W. E. Webster. Hancock told Webster of his recent experience with Dr. Read, and encouraged Webster to go to Baltimore to see if Reed could successfully treat him. The account of this episode tells of Read meeting Webster in the waiting room of McKim Hospital, probing the wound and extacting the bullet quite promptly and unceremoniously. Hancock, needless to say, was pleased with the results. Except for military service, Louis Wernwag Read spent his entire life in and around Norristown. His father, Thomas, came from Delaware County. His mother, Sarah Corson, was a sister of Drs. Hiram and William Corson of Plymouth Township and Norristown. The Corson family both then and now has contributed many men to the medical profession. Louis was born in Hickorytown on July 5, 1828. His father kept a store across the Germantown Pike from the Hickorytown Hotel. The house is probably not identifiable, but Hickorytown is on the Germantown Pike where Plymouth Mall now is. Some of the old houses are still standing. Young Read was named after a German bridge engineer who was buiding the Pawlings bridge over the Schuylkill when Thomas and Sarah lived in that vicinity prior to their moving to Hickorytown. Thomas Read befriended and admired Luis Wernwag during the construction period. In 1831, when Louis was little over two and a half years old, the family moved to Upper Merion Township where the father operated a mill, subsequely known as Read's Mill, near Port Kennedy. This mill and associated buildings, recently torn down, belonged to Robert Morris during the American Revolution and afterward Morris is known to have entertained Washington on weekend fishing expeditions at this site. Young Read grew up in this area. Of his elementary educion, it is known that he attended the then well known Treemont Seminary, on Airy Street near DeKalb. In 1845, at the age of seventeen he "read" medicine with this maternal uncle, Dr. William Corson, of Norristown. Four years later, in 1849, at the age of twenty-one he recved his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. For the next few years he probably practiced with his uncle, William Corson, on Main Street, Norristown. He became a member of the Montgomery County Medical Society, then only two years old, in April 1849 and in January of 1855 was elected its treasurer. In 1853, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia alarmed Europe by occupying Turkish territories North of the Danube, on the Black Sea. This was part of a Russian westward expansion plan. Immediately England and France joined forces to check this threat. Although Nicholas retracted his armies and released the territories, the Allies felt duty-bound to teach him a lesson. The resulting conflict is known as the Crimean War. Young Dr. Read, at the age of 27, offered his services to the tsar, and in 1855 found himself confined in Sebastopol, which was besieged on all sides by the Allies. The misery and sufferings of the Siege of Sebastopol are recorded in history as among the worst. The siege lasted from October of '54 to September of '55 when the city fell. Two letters send by Read to Dr. William Corson from the besieged city are in the Historical Society of Montgomery County. One, dated September 11th after the fall of the city, notes that Read had been appointed as an "operator" in one of the hospitals, and that the "great Russian Surgeon" Perizoff had visited him and accompanied him on his rounds, offering compliments. In his letter he queried rather philosophically, what had the Allies gained by their victory? The second letter, written in October, announced the deaths from cholera of two other American physicians: Binninger of Reading and Jones of Maryland. Various newspaper accounts of Read's service under the tsar indicate that he was instrumental in introducing new techniques of wound treatment in the Russian Army hospitals, and that these were adopted by Army surgeons of other countries. What these techniques were was not noted. Read's itinerary in Europe is not known, but he did not return home until 1856 when his attendance was recorded at the July meeting of the Montgomery County Medical Society. It is known that he spent six months in Paris hospitals studying wounds and their complicating diseases. Returning to Norristown in 1856, he settled down to the practice of medicine. He was now twenty-eight years old. Two years later he married Georgine Hurst (June 3, 1858) who bore him two children, a daughter, Nina, and a son, Alfred, who later practiced medicine with him. For the next several years prior to the outbreak of the Civil War his regular attendance at medical meetings was recorded. He reported his experiences with various cases such as the successful operation on a strangulated hernia after three days' treatment with ice; the report of a case of acephalic twins; treatment of scarlet fever with ice water compresses externally and silver nitrate to the pharynx. In 1860, as Recording Secretary of the Society, he noted in the minutes that the Montgomery County Medical Society did not support the influential Philadelphia County Society's resolution forbidding medical doctors from associating professionally with graduates of Female Medical Colleges. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Read soon found himself in military service again. He was appointed Surgeon of the First Pennsylvania Reserves in May 1861; and in June, Surgeon of the United States Volunteers, assigned to the 13th Pennsylvania Infantry with rank of Major. He was evidently active on the field of battle, for he was captured at Bull Run, along with several volunteer nurses, while caring for the wounded. The details of his exchange are not known to this author, but he was returned to the North, and in 1863 became medical director of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps. In November of '64 he was placed in charge of McKim U.S. Hospital in Baltimore, which post he held until March of '66 when the hospital was demobilized. This administrative position, however, did not prevent him from seeking front line duty. For conspicuous gallantry and bravery at the capture of the Weldon Railroad, below Petersburg, Va., August 18, 19, and 21, 1864, he received a commendation and recommendation for promotion to Brevet Colonel. At this engagement, the citation noted that he not only tended the wounded but carried messages along the front for Gen. S. W. Crawford, 3rd Div. Commander. The citation also states that Read served conspicuously from the Wilderness to Petersburg, that is to near the end of hostilities. The correlation of these dual capacities as head of a hospital in Baltimore and administering to the wounded on the field remains an enigma. During all this period, the Norristown papers carried letters of thanks from Read, addressed to various women's groups and church organizations, for supplies, bandages, preserves, etc. which they sent to his command. Finally, in January, 1866 he was mustered out of the Army with the rank of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel of United States Volunteers. Finally, in January, 1866 he was mustered out of the Army with the rank of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel of United States Volunteers. Returning to Norristown in 1866, he purchased property on Main Street below Green (#207 E. Main Street) which was to be his home and office for the rest of his life. This property, incidentally, belonged to one of Norristown's first practitioners, Dr. Samuel Gartley, who received his diploma in 1801 and started practice in 1803. Read's office was in the basement. The same office was used by his doctor son, Alfred H. Read, until his death in 1926. After the war, the name of Louis W. Read does not appear in the attendance records of the County Society meetings as it did earlier. He was busily engaged in the practice of medicine, and according to his obituaries was a knowledgeable and kindly physician. The military again enlisted his services during the Spanish American War in 1898, when he was assigned to duty at Camp Meade, Maryland. Other honors were to accrue him. In May 1874, he was appointed the first surgeon general of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by Governor John F. Hartranft, another Norristownian. This post he held for twenty-five years under successive administrations. In May 1895, he was elected president of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, an office of one year's duration. He was appointed by the Governor to the commission to select a site and draw up plans for the Norristown Hospital for the Insane. He was one of four consulting physicians on the medical board of Charity Hospital of Montgomery County, now Montgomery Hospital, when it first opened its doors for patients in January, 1891. Politically a Republican, he belonged to the Union League, the Loyal Legion, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the Association of the Sons of the Revolution. He was born into the Society of Friends, but apparently attended his wife's church, All Saint's Episcopal, although his real religious interst is nowhere recorded. On April 11, 1900, Dr. Read and his hired man were traveling up DeKalb Street. At Wood Street their carriage passed over the trolley tracks and was struck from behind by one of the Traction Company cars. A wheel was torn off, the carriage upset and Dr. Read was thrown into the street. He was seventy-one years old at the time. The extent of his injuries was not noted but apparently he never recovered, dying on October 31, 1900. Newspaper accounts report that his pulse rate during the final week was from 25 to 40. His funeral was attended by such Norristown notables as Judge H.K. Weand, General John W. Schall, Captain Wm. Rennyson, Dr. J.K. Weaver, Dr. John C. Spear, USN, Dr. H.H. Drake, Dr. C.H. Mann, Dr. P.Y. Eisenberg, Col. D.M. Yost, Joseph Fornance, Charles Burns and Alfred Pearce. He was buried by the rectors of All Saints and St. John's. His wife had predeceased him in 1885. This intrepid Norristown physician will be remembered principally for his successful removal of Hancock's bullet, a feat accomplished not in an operating theater, surrounded by military and medical personnel, but in a dining room on Swede Street with the patient unceremoniously seated on a chair atop a table. Eclipsed by this dramatic event were his services to other wounded on the field of battle and to the citizens of his home town whom he served for over thirty years. |
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