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“Surely the Almighty’s hand was in this.”<ref>William McCarter, ''My Life in the Irish Brigade: The Civil War Memoirs of Private William McCarter, 116th Pennsylvania Infantry,'' Kevin E. O'Brien, ed. (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 1996),200.</ref>This was the immediate thought of Private William McCarter after discovering that the blanket he had used to shield his head contained 47 musket balls. On December 13, 1862, McCarter survived the Battle of Fredericksburg lying prone and bleeding on the battlefield, armed with a blanket and a prayer. After being shot in the upper arm, the private deemed his situation to be hopeless. He proceeded to pray, which at the time was his only means of solace. After praying he “felt more composed in [his] mind and perfectly reconciled to [his] fate”<ref>McCarter, 180.</ref>

On July 2, 1863 Estee and the 5th Massachusetts Light Artillery was caught in the dreadful “battle of the wheat field.” As Estee raised his arms to load a cannon, a Confederate rifle ball “struck him in the abdomen.”<ref>Frank R. Freemon, ''Gangrene and Glory: Medical Care During the American Civil War''(Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2001), 109.</ref> He was able to hold pressure on his wound and make his way to the division hospital. The severity of his wound was not immediately apparent. It was not until he was prepared for evacuation to a general hospital in Baltimore that the gravity of his situation was understood. The attendants at the field hospital found Estee lying in the fetal position. When they attempted to lower his legs in order to move him onto the ambulance——which at the time consisted of either a two or four horse buggy——he maintained his rigid hold on his knees and moaned in pain. He had been “unable to eat and perspired profusely and continually.”<ref>Freemon, 112.</ref> The orderlies managed to load Estee onto the ambulance and subsequent rail car. He endured the trip from Gettysburg to Baltimore with his grossly distended abdomen bouncing on the wooden floor of a boxcar.

When he finally arrived at Jarvis General Hospital he was “feverish and almost delirious”<ref>Freemon, 114.</ref>The private had developed peritonitis as a result of his abdominal wound. As defined by the National Institute of Health, peritonitis is the inflammation of the peritoneum, the thin covering encompassing the abdominal cavity. Estee had what is known as secondary peritonitis resulting from a perforation of the bowel due to the gunshot wound. Without the advantage of modern technology, the attending physician diagnosed Estee by virtue of his classic peritonitis symptoms; abdominal pain and distention, loss of appetite, and fever. De Witt C. Peters, the surgeon in charge at Jarvis General, noted in his report that upon examination the “abdomen was tender and tympanic, the knees drawn up, the breathing difficult.” Peters also noted that fecal matter escaped from both the entrance and exit wounds. Upon the introduction of a catheter, he observed the output of “urine and fecal matter.”<ref>United States Army, Surgeon General's Office, ''The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865),''Surgical Volume, pt.2, Case 790 (Washington, D.C., 1885), 266-267.</ref> The doctor was convinced of severe peritonitis and informed Estee that “his wound was mortal and he would soon die.”<ref>Freemon, 114.</ref> Estee was wounded on July 2 and received only battlefield first aid before arriving at Jarvis general on July 13, 1863.

== Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead ==

Armistead received his wounds on the final day of battle at Gettysburg. The general’s brigade penetrated the Union lines further than any other during the doomed charge. General Pickett’s division contained three brigades totaling 5,820 men. Of this number, little more than half (3,180) returned safely to their lines<ref>Priest, 199.</ref> General Armistead represented a number in all of the statistical columns: killed in action, wounded in action, and captured in action. On the brink of Confederate immortality, Armistead, “hat on the hilt of his sword,” breached the Union's line.<ref>Donald J. Frey, ''Longstreet's Assault-Pickett's Charge: The Lost Record of Pickett's Wounded''(Shippensburg, PA: Burd Street Press, 2000),139</ref> As the general reached the second line of Federal guns, he placed his hand upon the barrel of a cannon and shouted to his men, “The day is ours. Turn these guns upon them, boys.”<ref>Frey, 143.</ref>Almost immediately after the triumphant words left his mouth, he fell at the hands of a Union rifle.

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== Philosophy ==

Like other animals, humans are also classically conditioned. So-called "sugar pills' are not the only form in which placebos present themselves. God can also act as a placebo, or rather, it is the ''conditioned belief'' in God that can generate the placebo effect. In essence, a conditioned belief comes from knowledge. The late physicist and philosopher, Ian Barbour asserted, "Science seems to provide the only reliable path to knowledge."<ref>Ian Barbour, ''Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues'' (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1997), 77.</ref> Barbour may be correct; however, if knowledge can be defined as answers gained through experience, whether real or imagined, science is not the only answer. Private Estee was not a man of medicine or any other scientific discipline.

== The Outcome of the Wounds ==

Lewis Armistead was wounded only yards from his long-time friend, General Winfield Scott Hancock. The two attended West Point together and served alongside one another at several military posts in the West. Hancock remained loyal to the Union while Armistead chose to honor his home in Virginia and was commissioned in the Confederate Army. Both men were wounded during Pickett’s charge on July 3, 1863. Physically, and following amputation, Armistead's prognosis was excellent. His psychological distress at the time of his injury may have greatly contributed to his demise.