She Who Dared | Brave Women Through History | Dr. Mary E. Walker: First Female Surgeon in the U.S. Army

Dr. Mary E. Walker grew up in a progressive household that encouraged independence and equality. She earned her medical degree from Syracuse Medical College in 1855. Despite facing gender resistance, Dr. Walker volunteered as a surgeon during the Civil War. She served at the First Battle of Bull Run and the Patent Office Hospital in Washington, D.C. Her other notable services included the Battle of Fredericksburg and Chattanooga following the Battle of Chickamauga. After being refused as a Union spy, the U.S. Army of the Cumberland employed her as a civilian surgeon in 1863.

Walker’s arrest was noted in the April 22, 1864, issue of the Richmond Sentinel. The article was more concerned about her “improper” male attire—a short dress over trousers—than her being a spy. Her “ugliness, thinness, and apparent age (over thirty)” equally offended the writer. The writer failed to see how a hoop skirt might hinder being able to amputate limbs on a blood-soaked battlefield. Given the attitude she faced as a female surgeon, it was not surprising that in 1878, she published a medical book entitled “Unmasked, or The Science of Immorality: to Gentlemen,” which covered topics such as sexual ethics, health, and a manual explaining female anatomy.

Officials of Castle Thunder Prison in Richmond, VA, held Dr. Mary E. Walker as a suspected spy from April to August 1864. Inhuman treatment, such as being served only tiny portions of bread and cornmeal, led to malnutrition, dysentery, and smallpox. Punishment was extreme. Officials administered fifty to one hundred lashes to Confederate deserters and used a large, mean dog to terrorize prisoners.

A prisoner swap freed Walker after four months, but her health deteriorated significantly. She now weighed sixty pounds and had other lasting effects, such as muscular atrophy. Despite these challenges, she continued her work as a surgeon and advocate for social reform.

In November 1865, the Congressional Medal of Honor for Meritorious Service was first and only awarded to Dr. Mary E. Walker.