U.S. Army Garrison Humphrey's is celebrating Women's History Month by honoring women of war. Deborah Sampson and Mary Edwards Walker are two women who aided the Revolutionary and Civil War in their time.
In all of United States History, there has only been one woman to receive the Medal of Honor. Mary Edwards Walker is that woman. As a surgeon, women’s rights advocate, abolitionist, and spy, Walker became the first female U.S. Army surgeon during the Civil War. When the Civil War began in 1861, Walker wanted to join the Union’s efforts. She went to Washington but was not allowed to serve as a medical officer because she was a woman. She decided to still serve as an unpaid volunteer surgeon at the U.S. Patent Office Hospital in Washington.
At the time, the army had no female surgeons, so Walker was only allowed to practice as a nurse in temporary hospitals set up around the capital. Not wasting her talent, Walker moved to Virginia In 1862 and started treating wounded Soldiers near the front lines at Fredericksburg, Va., and also Chattanooga Tn. In 1863, her request to practice as a surgeon was finally accepted. She became the first female U.S. Army surgeon with her commission as a "Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian)" by the Army of the Cumberland.
She was held as a prisoner of war for four months at the notorious Castle Thunder prison near Richmond, Va., the Confederate capital. Walker was released from prison in August of 1864 as part of a prisoner exchange with other medical doctors. In April of 1864, Walker was captured by Confederate troops as a spy. The remainder of the Civil War, Walker served at the Louisville Women's Prison Hospital and at an orphan asylum in Clarksville, Tenn. After the war's conclusion in 1865, Walker was awarded the Medal of Honor for meritorious service by President Andrew Johnson.
In 1916, the Medal of Honor was taken away from Walker and many others after the government reviewed their eligibility. However, this did not stop Walker from wearing her award until her death in 1919. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter legally restored the Medal Of Honor to Walker’s name. (U.S. Army graphic by Pfc. Ameria Kimble)
| Date Taken: | 03.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.07.2024 23:00 |
| Photo ID: | 8272322 |
| VIRIN: | 240301-A-EO356-1882 |
| Resolution: | 849x592 |
| Size: | 673.3 KB |
| Location: | CAMP HUMPHREYS, GYEONGGIDO [KYONGGI-DO], KR |
| Web Views: | 65 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Women's History Month [Image 4 of 4], by PFC Ameria Kimble, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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