Military Medicine Part I Preview

Tour Overview

This tour contains three types of stops: HONOR stops mark the gravesites of specific individuals. REMEMBER stops commemorate events, ideas, or groups of people. EXPLORE stops invite you to discover what this history means to you.

Introduction

The history of military medicine, and medicine, generally, is a history of eras. In each era, nurses, doctors, and scientists built on the knowledge and research of those who came before them, all united in their goal to prepare and protect service members — whether on or off the battlefield.

Brigadier General William A. Hammond

As Surgeon General during the Civil war, Hammond made the U.S. Army hospital system safer and more efficient. He established the Army Medical Museum, known today as the National Museum of Health and Medicine.

Civil War Nurses

Section 1 is the final resting ground for 24 Civil War nurses, including the first woman buried at Arlington National Cemetery for her own military service, rather than her husband’s or her father’s service. These women, with their decision and advocacy for burial here, forever changed the landscape of Arlington National Cemetery, expanding our nation’s understanding of who deserves to be honored and remembered.

Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Thomas Augusta

In March 1865, Augusta was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel, making him the highest ranking African American officer of the Civil War. Augusta was a founding professor of Howard University's College of Medicine.

Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee

McGee was appointed as the Acting Assistant Surgeon of the U.S. Army which made her the only woman permitted to wear an officer’s uniform during the Spanish-American War. She drafted the legislation to establish the Army Nurse Corps and later helped the Navy establish the Navy Nurse Corps. McGee advocated for nurses’ rights and recognition, and defied social norms and paved the way for future female doctors and nurses.

Nursing in the Spanish-American War

Nurses in the Spanish-American War worked 14-hour shifts with 20-minute lunch breaks. They provided their own uniforms, which they also had to launder and maintain. Duties included giving ice baths, dressing wounds, preparing food, feeding soldiers, administering medicine, and attempting to maintain sanitary conditions for medical care in tents, fields, and overcrowded buildings. Many locations experienced nurse shortages that put more stress on the nurses they had. Some nurses worked until they were too ill to do so. The pay was railroad fare to the assigned location, $30 a month, meals, and lodging (sometimes).

Corporal James Tanner

As a Civil War veteran and amputee, Tanner dedicated himself to the mission of preserving veterans' rights. Tanner was the stenographer who recorded Lincoln's eyewitness testimony of his assassination in 1865.

Surgeon General George Sternburg

Sternberg was one of the first bacteriologists in the United States: He studies how disease worked, specifically bacterial diesases like yellow fever and typhoid. His research into disease helped eliminate yellow fever.

Major General William Crawford Gorgas

Prevented the spread of tropical diseases like yellow fever and malaria during the Spanish-American War through his work improving sanitation. Served as chief sanitation officer in Panama from 1904-1914, keeping service members and workers alive while the United States constructed the Panama Canal.

Conclusion