Charles Sumner was an outspoken abolitionist and Republican United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1851 to 1874. In 1856, at the height of the national debate about slavery before the Civil War, Sumner was assaulted in the Senate chamber by a Democratic congressman from South Carolina. Preston Brooks attacked Sumner by striking him on the head and neck over 30 times using his walking cane as a weapon. After the attack, Sumner lost consciousness and was carried out of the Senate chamber. Though he recovered over the week following the attack, Sumner did not return full-time to his Senate seat until December 1859 due to the sequelae of his injuries. Historians have debated the cause of Sumner's prolonged disability, with several suggesting that he was experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. Although diagnosis cannot be made definitively, the details of Brooks’ assault and Sumner's subsequent medical history suggest that Sumner's documented symptoms during his three-year recovery were likely the result of a traumatic brain injury.
SumnerC. The Crime Against Kansas. The Apologies for the Crime. The True Remedy. Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, in the Senate of the United States, 19th and 20th May, 1856. Cleveland, OH: John P. Jewett & Company, 1856.
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Latest intelligence: The Republicans caucusing on Kansas affairs. The New York Daily Times, 23 May 1856, p. 1.
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News of the week. Foreign item. Total loss of the Steamship Indian. John Brown, Return of Mr Sumner, Death of Washington Irving. Circular, 1 December 1859.
Outrage in the United States Senate: Senator Sumner, of Massachusetts, Knocked Down and Beaten till Insensible by Mr. Brooks, of South Carolina. The Baltimore Sun, 23 May 1856, p. 1.
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PerryMS. Case of Hon. Charles Sumner. Atlanta Medical and Surgical Journal1857; 2: 372–374.
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Thirty-fourth Congress: First Session. The Baltimore Sun, 10 July 1856, p. 4.
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Plantation discipline in the Senate.: Mr. Sumner’s statement. The Independent 1856; 8: 1.
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Personal. Boston Evening Transcript, 26 June 1856, p. 2.
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WhiteLA. Was Charles Sumner shamming, 1856-1859?The New England Quarterly1960; 33: 291–324.
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Abettors of Brooks. The New York Daily Times, 25 June1856, p. 4.
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Trial of Preston S. Brooks for assault and battery.The National Era, 17 July1856, p. 21.
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Reception of Senator Sumner. The New England Farmer, 8 November 1856, p. 2.
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Health of Mr. Sumner.The Kennebec Journal, 12 December 1856, p. 2.
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DonaldD. Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1960, p. 312.
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Sudden visitation - Preston S. Brooks Dead! The Liberator, 30 January 1857, p. 19.
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New York City.: The disease Preston S. Brooks died of. The New York Daily Times, 30 January 1857, p. 6.
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ART. V.–Hon. Preston S. Brooks. Speeches of the Hon. Preston S. Brooks and proceedings of Congress on the occasion of his death. The Southern Quarterly Review1857; 2: 348.
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Editorials. Death of Preston S. Brooks. The New York Evangelist1857; 28: 1.
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Charles Sumner… in Washington. The Chicago Daily Tribune, 7 March 1857, p. 2.
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Hon. Charles Sumner. The Liberator, 17 April 1857, p. 63.
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Health of Charles Sumner. The Chicago Daily Tribune, 9 December 1857, p. 3.
Emanicipation. President Lincoln’s Proclamation. The New York Daily Times, 3 January 1863, p. 5.
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End of Impeachment. The Baltimore Sun, 27 May 1868, p. 1.
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Removal of Sumner as foreign relations. The Christian Union 1871; 3: 168.
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Obituary. Charles Sumner. American Historical Record1874; 3: 237.
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News and miscellany. Autopsy of Senator Sumner. The Medical and Surgical Reporter1874; 30: 299.
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MaharajMMPhanKMobbsR. Spontaneous regression of post-traumatic syringomyelia: a case report and literature review. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience2017; 44: 249–253.
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