Rank and organization:
Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian), U.
S. Army
Places and Dates:
Battle
of Bull Run, July
21, 1861
Patent Office Hospital, Washington,
D. C., October 1861
Chattanooga, Tennessee,
following Battle of Chickamauga, September 1863
Prisoner of War, April
10, 1864 – August 12, 1864,
Richmond, Virginia
Battle of Atlanta,
September 1864
Entered service at: Louisville,
Kentucky
Born: November 26, 1832, Oswego
County, New York.
Citation:
Whereas it appears from official reports that Dr. Mary E.
Walker, a graduate of medicine, “Has rendered valuable service to the Government, and her
efforts have been earnest and untiring in a variety of ways,” and that she was
assigned to duty and served as an assistant surgeon in charge of female prisoners
at Louisville, Kentucky, upon the recommendation of Major-Generals Sherman and
Thomas, and faithfully served as contract surgeon in the service of the United
States, and has devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and
wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own
health, and has also endured hardships as a prisoner of war four months in a
Southern prison while acting as contract surgeon; and Whereas by reason of her
not being a commissioned officer in the military service, a brevet or honorary
rank cannot, under existing laws, be conferred upon her, and Whereas in the
opinion of the President an honorable recognition of her services and
sufferings would be made:
It is ordered, that a testimonial thereof shall be hereby
made and given to the said Dr. Mary E. Walker, and that the usual Medal of
Honor for meritorious services be given her.
Given under my hand in the city of Washington,
D. C., this 11th day of November, A.D. 1865
Andrew Johnson, President
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Awarded
a commission as a "Contract Acting Assistant
Surgeon (Civilian)" by the Army of the Cumberland
in September 1863, becoming the first-ever female
U. S. Army Surgeon.