Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War; Washington,
Govt. Printing Office, 1863. pp. 477-78
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, April 16, 1862. LEWIS FRANCIS, being
sworn, testified that he resides in Hamilton street, near Park avenue, in the
city of Brooklyn; was at the battle of Bull Run as a private in the 14th
regiment New York volunteers. As I was loading my musket I was attacked by two
rebel soldiers and wounded in the right knee joint with a bayonet, when I fell.
As I lay on the ground they kept bayonetting me until I received fourteen
wounds; one of them then left, the other remaining over me, when a Union soldier
coming up shot him in the breast, and he fell dead. I lay on the ground until
about 10 o’clock the next day. I was then removed in a wagon to a building
used as a temporary hospital. My wounds were then examined and partially
dressed. On the Saturday following we were removed to the Manassas depot, and
from there we were removed to the general hospital at Richmond. In October, my
leg having partially mortified, I consented that it should be amputated, which
operation was performed by a young man. I insisted that they should allow Dr.
Swalm to be present. I wanted one Union man to be present if I died under the
operation. The stiches and the band slipped from neglect, and the bone
protruded, and about two weeks after another operation had to be performed, at
which time another piece of the thigh bone was sawed off. About six weeks after
the amputation, and before it healed, I was removed from the general hospital to
the tobacco factory. On my removal from the prison to Fortress Monroe another
operation was performed, when five pieces of bone were removed. I remained five
weeks at this hospital, when I was removed to Washington and spent a week in the
hospital at that place, when I was removed to Brooklyn, where an operation was
performed by Dr. Lewis Bauer, who removed two splinters of bone and sawed off
another piece of the thigh bone. Whilst at Manassas I received for food but a
small amount of boiled rice and hard bread. At Richmond, whilst in the general
hospital, I was well fed; at the tobacco factory I had a small amount of sour
bread and tough fresh beef. I should have perished for want, but a lady named Van Lew sent her slave
every other day with food, and supplied me with clothing until January, when the
officer in charge of the prison prevented her from sending me any more
provisions. After they had removed me from the general hospital to the tobacco
factory, they returned and removed the bed from under me, and removed all the
pillows and bed clothing, and laid me on a blanket on a cot, with another
blanket to cover me. At this time I was covered with bed sores, having lain in
bed from July up to this time, December.
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