- DO MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS HAVE TO WEAR THE MEDAL OF HONOR FULL
- DO MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS HAVE TO WEAR THE MEDAL OF HONOR FREE
Suspected of being a spy because of her non-traditional clothing, she was imprisoned at Castle Thunder, a notoriously harsh Confederate prison within a converted tobacco warehouse in Richmond, Virginia. She was behind enemy lines in April 1864 when she was captured by Confederate troops. Not restricting care to men in field hospitals, Mary frequently crossed battle lines to care for civilians. She was held in high esteem by all her patients, and it was said that “ they would ‘rather see her than any other lady, because she knew so much.” Within the Army of the Cumberland, Mary was assigned to the 52 nd Ohio Infantry. Nevertheless, she persisted in petitioning the Army for a commission as a surgeon, and her tenacity was finally rewarded in 1863 when she was employed as a “Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian)” by the Army of the Cumberland, for the Union Army was collectively made up of multiple armies assigned to different fighting areas, such as the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Georgia. When bureaucratic procedure wouldn’t let her work, she left Washington in 1862 and moved to Virginia to work at various field hospitals-again all unpaid-caring for wounded soldiers returning from the disastrous and ferocious Battle of Fredericksburg.
DO MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS HAVE TO WEAR THE MEDAL OF HONOR FREE
Often times, these women had nowhere to stay once they arrived in Washington, and so Mary began providing them what assistance she could, eventually establishing a home that provided them free food and lodging.Īll while Mary worked in Washington, she continued petitioning the War Department to grant her a commission as a surgeon. As these injured men arrived in the city, so too did their wives, mothers, and sisters, all searching for loved ones. Mary did not limit her work in Washington to only caring for the wounded warriors being transported in from the battlefield. Patent Office was converted into a hospital, receiving a commendation from the head surgeon for being “ an intelligent and judicious physician.” Denied because of her sex, she stayed in the capitol working as an unpaid volunteer, first as a nurse and later as an assistant surgeon when the U.S. With war officially declared between the states, Mary left her home and medical practice in Rome, NY and made the journey to Washington, D.C., where she applied to join the Union Army as a surgeon. That same year, she married fellow medical student Albert Miller, but did not take his name their subsequent medical practice, like their marriage, was short-lived, with the couple separating in 1859.įort Sumter fell to secessionists on Apand America fractured into the civil war it had been staving off fitfully for decades. In 1855, Mary graduated as a medical doctor from Syracuse Medical College, the only woman in her class. She continued to incorporate more pieces of men’s clothing into her everyday wardrobe until it completely supplanted dresses and corsets, a preference that would subject her to much ridicule for the rest of her life. They also encouraged their daughters to dress however they saw fit, and young Mary adopted a hybrid wardrobe of men’s and women’s clothing.Īdulthood did not dampen Mary’s non-conformity.
DO MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS HAVE TO WEAR THE MEDAL OF HONOR FULL
Abolitionists and advocates of women’s suffrage, the Walkers wanted their female children to have a full education equal to the one afforded to men, a radical idea for a time when women could not vote, and after marriage could not buy or sell their own property, keep their wages, sue, or gain legal custody of their own children. Her parents were in many ways years ahead of their time. In 1832, on the shores of Lake Ontario in Oswego, NY, Mary Edwards Walker was born.
Join us during Women’s History Month, and just a week ahead of National Medal of Honor Day, as we explore history’s memory of this controversial figure.ĭo you subscribe to the following databases? We’ll be using them throughout this post: Today, the greatest number of Medal of Honor recipients are from the American Civil War-including the only woman to date to receive the honor, Dr. The criteria and design of the Medal has changed since 1863, and today three variants of the Medal exist: one for the Department of the Army (awarded to soldiers), one for the Department of the Navy (awarded to sailors, marines, and coast guardsmen), and one for the Department of the Air Force (awarded to airmen and Space Force guardians). First presented in 1863 to the surviving Andrews Raiders, Union soldiers who volunteered to commandeer the Confederate train The General, the Medal of Honor has since been awarded more than 3,500 times.
The Medal of Honor is America’s highest military honor, awarded by the President in the name of Congress for extraordinary acts of valor.