REPORT OF THE STATE OF THE WOUNDED, ON BOARD HIS MAJESTY'S SHIP LEANDER, IN THE ACTION BEFORE ALGIERS, EXTRACTED FROM A LETTER FROM D. QUARRIER, M.D. SURGEON TO THE LEANDER, TO THE COMMISSIONERS for TRANSPORTS. COMMUNICATED BY SIR GILBERT BLANE, BART. Read Nov. 12, 1816. GENTLEMEN, His Majesty's Ship Leander, HEREWITH I enclose a Report of the wounded on board this ship, by which you will perceive that the Leander has suffered most severely in this arduous conflict; many of the wounds were inflicted by large round, and double-headed or bar shot; others by grape, langrage, and musquetry, and some few by splinters; but we were in a great measure secured from the latter by our being almost in contact with the shore, and no accident whatever occurred on board, but by the direct fire of the enemy. All our amputations were performed immediately, without waiting for re-action; and it may be necessary to observe, that though many of the men were carried down with their limbs torn from them; others with the most severe lacerations and fractures; and one young officer in particular, with the spine of the ileum, and all the anterior abdominal muscles torn away, exposing the contents of the abdomen; yet in no instance could we perceive the dreadful perturbation and constitutional shock so frequently described by authors on gun-shot wounds, until some time after the injury had been received; and I have every reason to conceive, that amputation having so promptly followed the wound, was the only effectual means of saving many from its baneful influence, even under the very unfavourable circumstances in which we were placed. Indeed, gentlemen, no language can pourtray the horrors of the Leander's cock-pit for a period of thirteen hours. Sixty-five men were wounded and several killed by the first and second broadsides; two poor boys were most dreadfully burnt by a red-hot shot blowing up the cartridge, which one of them was carefully guarding. The small space occupied for their accommodation was instantly crowded to excess: without air; panting for breath; bathed in a most profuse perspiration, and unable to stand upright, these men were to be attended to; water! water! was the incessant cry; most fortunately an abundance had been provided, and the women supplied it liberally. I have al ready said, gentlemen, that no language can describe the horrors of this scene, but you may figure to yourselves the condition of the miserable sufferers in the black hole at Calcutta, and you will have a correct picture of our condition. Under these disadvantages and difficulties our operations were performed, and the poor patients were afterwards exposed to the double danger of being trampled on by those who were rushing forward for relief. We could not place them on the lower deck as many had been wounded there, and the shot were coming in very rapidly. To illustrate what I have observed respecting the non-appearance of that peculiar derangement of the sensorium, which is said always to attend wounds inflicted by large cannon shot, I shall proceed to give you the following examples. Captain Willson, of the Royal Marines, had both his limbs torn away by a double-headed shot; and David Barry, a seaman, had both his thighs torn off by a cannon ball. Amputation was immediately performed very high up. They lived some hours and were perfectly sensible, until within a few moments of their death. Timothy Sullivan, seaman, had his left thigh most cruelly lacerated, the bone having been fractured up to its head, the nerves and blood-vessels torn asunder. The crural artery was readily secured at the groin. His right arm was fractured, and he had a wound in the breast. Still he continued sensible, and made the most earnest supplications that I should operate on him. I declined it until Francis Coulthred, who had his right thigh shatter. ed and carried away by a cannon ball, made such an appeal for him, that he could be no longer resisted. No said this brave seaman, when he was going to be lifted, I am comparatively easy now, let me entreat you to render some assistance to that poor fellow who is suffering so much, he was a prisoner with me eight years. Amputation was consequently performed at the hip-joint, after the manner of M. Larrey; the vessels were readily secured and he did not lose four ounces of blood; but as I had anticipated, he expired almost immediately afterwards. Coulthred, who evinced so much humanity, friendship, and patience, had his thigh amputated, and is now doing well. Six were amputated above the knee, some very high up, where we found the tourniquet useless; but there was no difficulty in restraining the hæmorrhage by the thumb, until the artery was secured. Three were amputated above the elbow, and two in the forearm. All bore the operation with great fortitude, and no unfavourable symptom occurred, even although one of them was much injured by a man who was mortally wounded kicking his stump while in the agonies of death. Some of the amputated arms are cured; but I shall send them to the hospital to secure them from their numerous visitors, who under the idea of kindness induce them to become irre gular, and ruin their health and constitution. One of the boys, so dreadfully scorched, died on the 1st instant, the other is convalescent, but he will be rendered incapable of further service. John Williams died on the 8th; he had been rejected at Portsmouth, where he entered, in consequence of his being consumptive, but having produced an excellent character, and being captain of a gun, the commanding officer requested me to endeavour to cure him; his natural ardour took him on deck in the moment of danger, and his thigh was amputated in consequence of a wound by a cannon ball. His fine spirits supported him, until nature being exhausted under such an accumulation of disease, he sunk to rise no more. The wounds looked extremely well, and the men were in the highest spirits, until our arrival at Gibraltar, on the 10th instant; immediately after the battle an hospital was formed of the ward-room and after-part of the main deck, and before two o'clock of the succeeding day seventy of the wounded were snugly and comfortably slung in cots. There was a fine and most agreeable ventilation; the thermometer did not exceed 76°, and generally ranged from 70° to 74°; cleanliness was most particularly attended to, and spirits were used as a topical application. I have never seen wounds put on a more favourable appearance, or heal more rapidly. On the 13th, the pestilential easterly wind set in, by its sudden puffs obstructing the pores of |