Suffered a rupture while building breastworks?

[lupaglupa]

A distant relative who served with the 28th Alabama filed for a Confederate pension due to disability. He described his injury ".. was ruptured while at work on a breastworks by a fall on a spade handle and has suffered therefrom ever since." Another application says "..taken sick and ruptured while working on breastworks." Yet another says ".. disabled by a fall on a spade..." I could understand a hernia from working on the breastworks but he clearly links his injury to the fall, not the work. Is there some 19th century meaning to rupture that I am missing?

 

[dlofting]

The term "rupture" on it's own in medicine today usually refers to a hernia, but you can rupture other parts of the anatomy. In this case a fall onto a shovel handle might result in a ruptured spleen, for example. I'm not sure if you can survive a ruptured spleen without surgery but it may be possible.