The First Union Army Lady Doctor

Doctor Mary Edwards Walker a Union Army surgeon was awarded the Medal of Honor November 11^th 1865 under the recommendation of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman.

Mary Edwards Walker was born November 26^th 1832 in Oswego, New York the daughter of Alvah and Vesta Walker.  She worked on the family farm and took to wearing men’s clothing while working.  She was educated in the local school her mother taught.  After earning her own money to pay for it, Walker attended the Syracuse Medical College, graduating with a medical degree in 1855.  She married Albert Miller a fellow student and the two of them opened a practice in Rome, New York.

When the Civil War started Walker volunteered her service to the Union Army.  At first she was only allowed to operate as a nurse, as the Army didn’t have any other female surgeons.  She was at the First Battle of Bull Run.  Walker worked unpaid as a field surgeon on the front line at the battles of Fredericksburg and Chickamauga.  She was finally made a “Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian)" for the Union Army of the Cumberland in September 1863.  This made Walker the first female Union army surgeon.  She was captured April 10^th 1864, behind the lines helping a Confederate doctor with an amputation and was sent to prison in Richmond, Virginia until exchanged.  President Andrew Johnson had her awarded the Medal of Honor after she was recommended by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman and George Henry Thomas on November 11^th 1865.

Following the war Walker went on to write and lecturer about health care, temperance, and women’s rights.  She died February 21^st 1919.  At her funeral there was an American flag draped over her coffin.  She is buried in the Rural Cemetery in Oswego, New York.

In 1917 the United State Congress removed Walker’s name along with 910 other Medal of Honor recipients from the Roll of Honor.  None of the 911 was asked to return their medal and Walker wore her until her death.

If you’re interested in reading more Dr Mary E Walker  is a good web site to start with.

Before He Was The Stonewall

A part of the Manassas Campaign the Battle of Hoke’s Run or the Battle of Falling Waters as it is also known was fought July 2^nd 1861 in Berkeley County, Virginia by Confederate then Colonel Thomas J Jackson’s and Union General Robert Patterson’s forces.

Union General Robert Patterson’s division crossed the Potomac marching for Martinsburg, Virginia on July 2^nd 1861.  Two of his Brigades under the command of Colonel John Joseph Abercrombie and Colonel George Henry Thomas ran into some of Colonel Thomas J Jackson’s men near Hoke’s Run.  The Union troops slowly pushed Jackson’s men back.  Jackson’s orders were to delay any Union advances, which he accomplished in the face of Patterson’s much large force.

Patterson continued his move toward Martinsburg, occupying the city on July 3^rd 1861.  This small battle produced about 23 Union casualties and about 91 Confederate ones.

Another web site about this battle can be found at Falling Waters Battlefield Association

The First Union Win

General Felix Kirk Zollicoffer

Fought in Laurel County, Kentucky, the Battle of Camp Wildcat was one of the first Union victories on October 21^st 1861.

Confederates under Brigadier General Felix Kirk Zollicoffer moved from Tennessee into central Kentucky, hoping to gain control of the state.  The 5,400 Confederates took control of the Cumberland Gap, pushing out the home guard near Barbourville.  Union Brigadier General George Henry Thomas ordered Colonel Theophilus T Garrard to move troops forward to a ford on the Rockcastle River, in the heavily forested Wildcat Mountain area to block the Wilderness Road.  Garrard was out numbered 7 to 1, before Brigadier General Albin F Schoepf moved into the area bring the Union troops to about 7,000.

The two sides met in the late afternoon of October 20^th 1861 in a heated battle.  The morning of October 21^st 1861 opened with an intense ground fight.  From behind fortifications the Union soldiers held off repeated attacks by the Confederate forces.  The Confederates withdrew during the night and continued to the Cumberland Ford.  There were 4 Union dead and 18 wounded.  The Confederates lost 11, with 42 wounded or missing.

He Went With His State

Confederate Brigadier General Felix Kirk Zollicoffer was killed January 19th 1862 during the Battle of Mill Springs in Kentucky.

Felix Kirk Zollicoffer was born May 19th 1812 on the family plantation in Bigbyville, Maury, Tennessee, the son of John Jacob and Martha [Kirk] Zollicoffer. He attended local schools and spent one year at Jackson College in Columbia Tennessee. Zollicoffer had left school to apprentice as a printer by the time he was sixteen. He was the editor and part owner of the “Columbia Observer” by 1834, and the editor of the “Mercury” of Huntsville, Alabama. Zollicoffer volunteered for the army in 1836 during the Second Seminole War. When the war was over he returned to home and his newspapers. He took up politics serving as the Comptroller of the State Treasury, and United States Congress.

Although Zollicoffer believed in states rights, he was not in favor of Tennessee seceding, and was a member of the Peace Convention of 1861. However when Tennessee seceded Zollicoffer joined the Confederate Army and was appointed Brigadier General in the District of East Tennessee. He and 4,000 new recruits were sent to Knoxville, Tennessee July 26th 1861 to suppress an East Tennessee resistance to the secession. Zollicoffer’s orders were to guard the Cumberland Gap, and he moved West into southeastern Kentucky, set up winter quarters at Mill Springs, Kentucky. On December 8th 1861 Zollicoffer was replaced by Confederate Major General George B Crittenden, who placed Zollicoffer in command of the First Brigade.

Union Brigadier General George Henry Thomas was ordered to break up Crittenden’s Army and on January 19th 1862 they attacked the Confederate force at Mill Springs. Zollicoffer had moved his troops to the north bank of river which proved to be indefensible, he could not however move the men do an insufficient number of boats. His men were routed. As the battle began to wined down Zollicoffer was shot by Union Colonel Speed S Fry, after wandering into a Union position thinking they were Confederate. He died January 19th 1862. Zollicoffer’s body was embalmed by a Union surgeon and returned to Tennessee where he was buried in the Old City Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.

Keep The Confederates Busy

The First Battle of Dalton began February 22nd 1864 in Georgia.

As part of General William Tecumseh Sherman’s march on Meridan Mississippi east from Vicksburg, General Ulysses S Grant ordered that the Confederates be keep busy. Union Major General George Henry Thomas; leading part of the Army of the Cumberland, decided to explore Confederate General Joseph E Johnston’s troop strength. On February 22nd 1864 Thomas’ troop began skirmishing with the Confederates to see if the loss of two divisions made them vulnerable. Beginning the First Battle of Dalton in the Whitfield County, Georgia area. After several days of off and on fighting the Union army withdrew, realizing that Johnston could hold off any assault.

Pushing Confederates Out Of Kentucky

The Battle of Mill Springs, near Nancy Kentucky was fought on January 19th 1862, it was the second largest battle fought in Kentucky.

Confederate Brigadier General Felix K Zollicoffer had advanced into Kentucky and set a strong defensive position at Mill Springs. He made this his winter camp, fortifying both sides of the Cumberland River. Union Brigadier General George Henry Thomas was ordered to push the Confederates out of the area. Knowing that the Union troops were in the area, the Confederates decided to go on the defencive and attack.

At dawn on January 19th 1862 the Confederates attacked Thomas’s Union soldiers at Logan’s Crossroads. However the Union force had received reinforcements, causing the Rebel troops to have to retreat. During the resistance Zollicoffer was killed. The Confederates tried again, but a counterattack by the Union troops on the left and right flanks of the Confederate soldiers brook them. The Confederates retreated to Murfreesboro Tennessee, ending their hold in Kentucky

Rock of Chickamauga

General George Henry Thomas was born on July 31st 1816.

George Henry Thomas was born July 31st 1816 in Southampton County Virginia. As a boy he warned neighbors about the slave revolute led by Nat Turner in 1831. He graduated from West Point in 1840, and saw military service in the Seminole Indian War, the Mexican War, and served as an instructor at West Point. In 1855, the US Secretary of War Jefferson Davis appointed Thomas as a Major to the Second Cavalry.

With the out break of the Civil War, he like many southerns debated staying in the Union army. Thomas remained with the US military, and quickly rose through the ranks. On January 19th 1862, while in command of a force in Kentucky he attacked General Felix Zollicoffer’s Confederates at Mill Springs, and won the first important western theater Union victory. Holding firm to the field during the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19th 1863, Thomas earned the name “The Rock of Chickamauga”. In the autumn of 1864 Thomas was given the task of dealing with John Bell Hood in Tennessee, while General William Tecumseh Sherman made his march to the sea. For his victory in outside of Nashville TN, December 16th 1864 over Hood he was promoted to Major General, and given the thanks of Congress.

After the Civil War ended Thomas led the military departments in Kentucky and Tennessee until 1869. He was ordered to the West coast where he became the division commander of the Pacific and was headquarter in San Francisco. Thomas died there March 28th 1870.