: in search of women of african descent who served in the civil war union navy

Three men were commissioned officers while the remaining nine served as acting assistant surgeons (contract physicians). At least twelve of these physicians served with the Union Army. By the end of the Civil War at least 22 African Americans had obtained degrees and were practicing medicine. In 1847 David James Peck was the first to receive a medical degree in the United States. James McCune Smith was the first African American to obtain a medical degree when, in 1837, he was graduated from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Up to that time most practitioners had learned medicine by apprenticeship but this began to change in the early Nineteenth Century. The involvement of African Americans in medicine in the Civil War era is an untold chapter in our history. What follows is an introduction to these medical professionals based on his research.

Slawson who is now with the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Maryland, wrote Prologue to Change: African Americans in Medicine in the Civil War Era to introduce those men and women to the public. Less well known is the role of a dedicated group of black doctors and nurses in uniform who worked diligently to save lives and fight disease. Most Americans are now familiar with the contribution of nearly 300,000 black soldiers and sailors to the Union cause during the U.S.

: in search of women of african descent who served in the civil war union navy