The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1890-12-25


| in a wagon, when a shell burst a few feet from
him. lie jumped from the wagon with an
1 agility that would have reflected credit on the
soundest limbs aud started al a pace that few
ablcbodied men could have kept up with. The
cure was complete and Maze, with a musket on
! his shoulder thereafter took long marches with
! his regiment aud served credtably until killed
at the battle of Slaughter Mountain. A SINH
lar case is reported IN tho Philadelphia Medical
! Museum, Vol. ], lsl0-ll, by Dr. Benjamin Rush.
/ Prot. Rush also mentions an instance of a sol
/ der who was condemned 10 be shot, but upon
receiving his pardon, just before the order was
! given 10 fire. was unable 10 change the posture
IN which he had been placed 20 meet his doom,
and shortly afterwards died of paralysis"
Asst Surg. Gen. Greenleaf, u. S. A.. when
asked if he thought man could be scared 10
death, replied
4 I" never personally knew Of case.p
Did you ever hear Of one?"
Well believe il is possible, under certain
circumstances, for a man 20 be frightened 60
death. man having a sensitive nervous Or
ganization that was below par, or a man hav-
ing fatty heart, might be SO shocked by a
sense OF fear as TO cause his death. j never
saw such a case, but have read Of them, and
think there are some on record"
Surg Charles Smart, Ofthe Surgeon Generals
Office said: 81 have seen a good many men
very badly frightened but cannot say that
ever saw one frightened 90 death; although
can readily believe soldier could be, provided
he was suffering with what we call irritabilty
/ OF the heart Ii was common i'm the war when
soldiers were under extraordinary eEertion,
such as going az a doublc-quick under accouter-
mcuts and arms, i'm order TO gain a position be-
fore the enemy could get 10 10, that some Of
them would be utterly out Of breath, and
their hearts made 10 beat so RAPIDLY that they
would be totally exhausted. This started lis
If IL. IN. r.
during even slight eXertion or any mental
excitement tending 10 cause the heart TO beat
faster than usual Many Of them died in hos
ptals from palpitati0n, so that j can easily
suppose that an abn0rmally nervous man hear
ing the first shot on the slirmsh-l line, aud
knowing that his company were soon 10 be en-
gagged, might DO
SEIZED WITH PAIPITATIoN
and IN the rush 10 the front drop with heart
disease, frightened TO DEATH That would be
mental depression caused by fear Of what is
going to happen. His dread OF being killed
would set his heart 10 beating rapidly, and the
eGertion 10 keep mp with the command would
cause death. But j think that is the only
way il could occur"
Then, man 10 DO frightened to death must
have had some previous disability He must
have some weak point, upon which his emo
tiOns would act2"
Ehhhob lnlDk lnal man IN PERFECTLY
sound health, both mentally and physically,
could be frightened to death But with an in
dividual having the heart disease il is possible:
perfectly possible. i have seen many men not
actually frightened 10 death, but nearly ready
70 go that way. j have also seen a great many
cases where man was absolutely on the verge
OF syncope ready 10 faint from emotion"
" Did you ever know Of men who were cured
Of disease by fear?"
20 Il Lapa kunrUr rropufno coe.s Il ,I.s lgna
not only during the late war, but In the In
dian campaigns. Men suffering from chronic
rheumatism, utterly unable 10 walk OF do any
duty when in danger and obliged 20 retreat
have marched off readily. ] know Of a man
with paralyzed arm, who, while crossing a
thorOughfare, discovered a horse almost upon
him, and IN the intense eagerness TO save bis
life raised his paralyzed arm, and found him
self able TO do 80 Rfterward, although that
member had been useless for many months
previous"
Capt Purman, az present an Examiner in the
United States Patent Office who commanded a
company in Wisconsin regiment at the battle
OF Shiloh, relates that man of his command
named Pease was 80 frightened in the HOr-
nets Nest" that he was seized with Mysteries
or commissions, and being taken 10 a hospital
died two days alterward. He had no disease
and no wounds, but the attending physicians
reported II 10 be a case Of nervous prOstration
produced by fear.
Doctor Charles Mcmillan, who was Medical
Director Of the Army OF the Tennessee, saws
" If man were perfectly sound, If all his Or
gans were IN healthy, natural condition, and
operating functioually j should say that il
would he at least difIicult IL not i'm possible 70
scare him 10 death But if he should be az
nlcted with weak heart, or nervous derange-
menti he might be 50 impressed by fright as 10
cause death. have seen men parayzed by
fear. ] have seen them faint from such a
cause and frequently have known them 10 lose
control Of their faculties ] can readily un-
derstand that under unfavOrabe circumstances,
overcome by fatigue, hunger, or general debl-
ity, one might be so terrified as TO die. But ]
should insist that other causes, some organic
weakness, must be combined with fear 10 pro-
dUce death. An able-bodicd man may easily
become so frightened rs 70 lose control of his
muscles or bis mental faculties, or both, but I
should expect him 10 recover them when the
cause was removed"
" j don't think-I ever knew q case where
man was scared to death, said Gen. Schofeld.
j am quite sure never did. j have seen men
para!yzed so as 10 be absolutely unconscious of
what they were doing and yet not show any
DISPOSITION TO RUN AWAY.
They were dazed, and would load their guns
and fire them into the air; but man with any
trouble Of the heart have no doubt might be
killed very quickly by fear or any other in
tense excitement"
Assistant Adj't-Gen. Vincent, OF Gen. Scbo-
fields stah, said: I" j never knew soldier 20
be scared 10 death. ] never heard Of such
case, but ] can realize that one might occur.
know, from experience, that men, and women
particularly, under great excitement, or under
the conditions Of fear, frequently are affected
with palpitations which, when thrown upon a
diseased heart might result fatally"
Gen. Paul Van Der WORT, Past Commander
in-Chief Of the GAR, said: 81 cannot say that
j ever knew personally Of man being scared
10 death, but ] have heard the boys tell about
such cases again aud again. When thew have
been sitting around the campfres telling
stories and exchanging experiences many incl
dents Of the kind have been related, but /
never knew OF a case myself"
Gen. Daniel Il. Sicklcs said "I would
readily believe such thing TO be possible
although ] cannot say that ! ever knew Of a
case. have seen men 50 frightened that they
were irresponsible and lost all their senses.
being utterly paralyzed as you might say, when
/ IL would have required but avery little further
strain 10 XIII them; but such cases do not natur-
4 ally come under the observation Of the comman-
der Of large bodies men. Captains Of compani les
1 OF private soldiers would be better posted on
/ this subject than commanders Of regiments.
! brigsdes, or divisions, aud it so happened that
/ IN my military experience / always had large
bodies Of men under my command, and did not
come in contact with the private soldier 10 any
! great extent"
Gen. Joseph Wheeler, the famous Confederate
cavalry commander, said Il have never
4 known man To be frightened 10 death, but
very frequently during the war / have seen
IgFN4 NasHC An MN 81