Need Help re: Records

seabrkllp · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:21 pm Post subject: Need Help re: Records

My ancestor was wounded at Seven Pines, losing 2 fingers on his left hand. Medical records use a Latin term I can't decipher -- looks like "Veal Sclop" -- though it obviously isn't.

You can see two examples at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mahaldo/2778780980/
Any help will be appreciated!

kevin · First Sergeant Joined: 19 May 2005 Posts: 31

It is "Vul Sclop", which is an abbreviation for "vulnus sclopeticum", which translates to "Gunshot Wound".

http://www.antiquusmorbus.com/International/Latin.htm

Hope this helps. It was apparently a generic, and antiquated, term used by doctors in the middle 1800's and did not provide any further information on the wound.

By the way, the battle was that of Oak Grove, the first day of the Seven Days Battle. Seven Pines was fought at the beginning of the month.

seabrkllp · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 4:09 pm Post subject:

Many thanks for the information!

We don't know if he was wounded at Seven Pines or at Oak Grove. Family tradition says it was at Seven Pines, but the date suggests it was at Oak Grove. I've always been curious about how he could survive without hospitalization for nearly 3 weeks if he was shot at Seven Pines (in fact, he couldn't, given the loss of two fingers and attendant infection, etc.) so my guess is that you are correct.