Help deciphering abbreviation

[Pete315]

I've been staring at this for a long time and need some fresh eyes ...

This is a portion of a carded medical file for a soldier who I'm researching. I can't decipher what's written under complaint. I see Cat. Ep. and possibly Cat. Exs. The balance of the card is blank.

Anyone seen this abbreviation before?

This is one of two cards in his medical file. The first has him sick with tonsilitis starting Jan. 1, 1862, then returning to duty Jan. 4, 1862. So this may be a complication from that?

I appreciate any help.

 

[lelliott19]

Possibly Catarrh Episodic or Episode? Maybe @kyle.dalton has some better ideas.

Catarrh refers to excess mucus in the airway sometimes making it difficult to breathe. If the abbreviation is for "Catarrh Episodic" then it could be asthma. Maybe even bad seasonal allergies if they were serious enough to impact the soldier's ability to perform duty. Or the diagnosis might indicate a serious anaphylactic reaction -- they didn't really know what anaphylaxis was back then. It could also indicate an illness like whooping cough, bronchitis, influenza, or pneumonia. Anything that results in an excess of mucus.

Since Sergeant Bates required 6 weeks of hospitalization at the 61st NY Infantry Regimental Hospital before being returned to duty, I don't think it was something as simple as allergies or a common cold.

I also don't think the "Ep." part has anything to do with epilepsy since the name "epilepsy" wasn't used until well after the ACW.
EDIT TO ADD: I just saw the part about him having tonsillitis. My bet is that the tonsils became infected, resulting in excess mucus and perhaps even drainage of pus down the throat ---- thus the diagnosis Catarrh Episode.

 

[Pete315]

Thank you for such a detailed response, @lelliot19. It is much appreciated, very helpful and makes a lot of sense.

Bates, who voluntarily gave up being SGT and returned to ranks, went on to serve in the regimental hospital from March through December, when he received a disability discharge. While his compiled service record includes him being accused of stealing a Virginia resident's horse in November 1862 (and no note of that outcome), the regiment's assistant surgeon, HC Tompkins, sent him home for a brain injury related to an issue with his skull late that month. I can't make out all his writing on the discharge paper below -- I see: ... a tendency to "something" "something" from an injury to his brain caused by "something" of the skull. I'm not sure if this is related to the previous issues, or if it was congenital or a new injury. It's my understanding that soldiers were detailed to the regimental hospital because they were too sick/injured to fight but not sick/hurt enough to be sent home. He was unfit for duty for half of the previous 60 days, according to this, so maybe the other issues lingered? But whatever these issues, they eventually weren't seen as too much -- by himself or the surgeons -- or they cleared up, because he relisted in the 22nd NY Cavalry in January 1864. And that brought on his death one year later, almost to the day. It was ruled a result of starvation and consumption, which he endured and caught while at Andersonville.

 

[lelliott19]

"a tendency to insanity resulting from an injury to the brain caused by depression of the skull"

That backward "p" in depression --- it's called a hard 's' and in handwriting, was still in use back then to replace double "s"

 

[Pete315]

Thank you once again! It's amazing how it appears so clearly once someone figures it out.

When I got these records, I wanted to see if I could prove he was in the fight at Antietam, especially with his regiment playing such a role at Bloody Lane. Now I've opened a whole new can of worms, learning about the regimental hospital. But that's the fun of this research. You never know where it will take you. I'm sure I am preaching to the choir on that.