--The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, part II, vol. II, p. 81 describes the case of Lieutenant John P. Breedlove of Company B, 4th Alabama, who was 23 [or 22?] at the time of his wounding at Gettysburg. He was reported as having been wounded in the right iliac region on July 3 [actually July 2], then sent to the Seminary Hospital [where he was afterwards captured] and on the 10th [July 1863] was moved to the 1st Division hospital at Camp Letterman. Dr. T. A. Means, a Confederate surgeon there, stated that the minie ball ... ranged downward and backward, and exited on the right side, causing an artificial anus ... gradual improvement, closure of opening on September 14, transferred to West Buildings, Baltimore on November 9, transferred to Fort McHenry on March 2, 1864 for exchange or parole. Incidentally, Dr. Thomas A. Means was a surgeon in the 11th Georgia regiment and was initially in charge of Hood's Division hospital at the J. Edward Plank farm. Dr. Means evidently continued his work at Camp Letterman (as a prisoner) once that hospital was established near Gettysburg.
--Confederate Military History, Extended Addition, vol. VIII (Alabama), pp. 488-489 says Breedlove rose from the rank of 3rd Lieutenant to Captain during the war. He was born in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1840 and joined Company B ("Alabama Zouaves") of Tuskegee. His wounding on July 2, 1863 was described as follows: shot through the body, ball entering abdomen and emerging through upper part of the hip bone near the spine ... in hospital for six weeks and then sent to Fort Delaware.
--Other sources note that Breedlove served as a clerk before the war, and that his father was a farmer. One source indicates Breedlove was felled by a skirmisher posted near Devil's Den, in which case it may have been the work of a Berdan Sharpshooter. After his horrific wounding at Gettysburg and months of slow recovery, Breedlove was subject to further indignity and danger when he was placed under fire as one of the "Immortal 600."