Lew Powell's Frostbitten Feet

[MaddieM]

The anthropologist who discovered Lew's noggin stated that he suffered apparently from chronic sinusitis. We do know that he had an attack of measles when he enlisted and was sent to the Camp of Instruction (boot camp) at Jacksonville, FL at the beginning of the war. This childhood illness turned ultimately into pneumonia from which he almost died. This could have also weakened his constitution. We don't know....He apparently began recruitment for the SS in November 1864 and then left for Baltimore on January 1, 1865. For all his hearty appearance, he appears to have been a somewhat frail lad constitutionally.

I know someone who suffers from chronic sinusitis, and it's awful. Really painful. It also flares up when you're run down. I had measles when I was 16, and boy, was I ill! My weight dropped from 8 stone to 6 stone. I was ill for months.