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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>

How can a few words to an unproven entity ease a man’s mind and perhaps heal his body? Was the reason for McCarter’s survival supernatural or was it strictly science? Perhaps it was both. A conditioned belief in the power of supernatural intervention is responsible for the scientific explanation of supposed medical miracles. McCarter was far from alone as a miraculous survivor of the bloodiest of all American wars. Although Fredericksburg was a horrific battle, the one seven months hence caused even greater suffering; it occurred on a farm in an obscure Pennsylvania town.

== Private William Estee ==

The first three days of July, 1863 witnessed the greatest amount of American blood spilled in a single battle. Of the more than 165,000 men who engaged in battle during those three days, over 51,000 became casualties of war. Two men in particular deserve attention for the purposes of this discussion; Union Private William Estee and Confederate Brigadier General Lewis Armistead. At twenty-one years of age, Estee was little more than a boy when he was mustered into the 5th Massachusetts Light Artillery on December 3, 1861. Less than two years later he found himself hotly engaged in battle at Gettysburg.<ref>Fifth Massachusetts Battery (E), "Original Roster," http://www.fifthmass.org/originalroster.html</ref>

[[File:Picketts-Charge,-Battle-of-Gettysburg-in-1863-278439-large.jpg|thumbnail|300px|Prominently featured in this painting of Pickett's Charge is Gen. Armistead reaching for the gun with his hat high on his sword.]]

By all accounts, Armistead’s wound was not thought to be mortal. He was treated at a Union field hospital by Dr. Daniel Brinton. The doctor believed that although amputation was probable, Armistead had a very good chance of survival as "no arteries had been severed."<ref>Priest, 162.</ref> When Armistead was treated at the XI Corps hospital, Dr. Henry Hendrick reported that, “‘He had lost quite a deal of blood, but the wounds were not necessarily fatal. He never rallied, however, and died a little past noon on the Fourth of July’”<ref>Frey, 151.</ref>We are now presented with two men and two wounds. One was expected to live while the other was told he would die. Some science is needed to understand the surprising turn of events.

== Science ==

== Conclusion ==

“Altogether his case was thought to be hopeless, and I so informed him, as I thought peritonitis of an aggravated form had set in.” This was written by Dr. De Witt Peters in an article published in the “American Medical Times," January 1864.<ref>De Witt Peters, "Interesting Cases of Gunshot Wounds," ''American Medical Times'' 8 (January, 1864), 3. http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015006715380.</ref>Among the several cases pertaining to the Battle of Gettysburg on which Peters lectured, he always included the Estee case. Even today, untreated peritonitis is fatal. Treatment after waiting for a long period of time is lethal on more than nine out of ten occasions. When given the details of Estee’s case, several medical professionals that were interviewed agreed there was no known medical reason that he survived. When asked her opinion on why she thought he lived, one registered nurse simply responded, “Miracle.” This so-called miracle was derived from a conditioned belief held by Estee, which induced psychobiological responses that finally resulted in physiological change.

==References==

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