Very (very) rarely, I come across isolated incidents in which the close passage of a cannonball (solid shot) to a man's head or torso results in severe trauma/injury or death. The former tends to involve land-based (ie smaller calibre) projectiles, whilst the latter centres around larger calibre weapons; an example of the former would be the trooper of the Garde cavalry (Grenadiers a Cheval, if I remember correctly), whom Larrey noted as having been struck dumb after an enemy ball had whistled past his face; the man never recovered, as Larrey kept in touch with him for the rest of his life, and of the latter was a Royal Navy officer who had a large-calibre ball (probably the French equivalent of a 24- or 32-pounder) pass by right next to his abdomen and who died 2 or 3 days later. In all cases there is no external indication of any actual physical contact between the round and the person. Has anyone come across any learned medical papers - either modern or contemporary - discussing this phenomenon, and if not, what is the Forum's view on the actual cause of death?
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Thanks for the replies (and the article - I don't think I'd seen that one before). The naval officer died with a day or two, having been previously noted as uninjured; from memory there seemed to be some gut problems at the end. I had always suspected some sort of concussion or pressure related internal injury caused by the proximity of the passing ball - hence the larger naval calibres being more likely to kill. The Garde cavalryman could just be a case of shock producing a catastrophic response. Given that "PTSD" now seems to cover pretty much everything that could conceivably happen after such an occurrence, I suppose its application here is not very surprising.
Did an autopsy happen, if not - all is speculation - he might have ddied of a natural cause by coincidence.