Civil War Surgeons Memorial

There are few memorials to the surgeons of the Civil War. Believing that these men and a few women deserve to be honored as are the officers and the fighting men, we erect here a memorial website. It is not carved from stone or cast in bronze, but formed from the stuff of 21st century communications — hyperlinks and URLs.

Few of these surgeons had ever experienced trauma on as vast a scale as they encountered in the early years of the War. Many of them faltered under the primitive conditions in which they labored while many excelled in their ability to overcome the challenges of practicing medicine under fire. From this war emerged a new system of triage and evacuation, surgical techniques and medical disciplines. Disease, the War’s greatest killer was diminished but not conquered.

In this Memorial, we will document the names of regimental surgeons and assistant surgeons who served in the Union and Confederate regiments by state, surgeons who were assigned to brigades, army and corps, regular Army surgeons, hospital based surgeons and contract surgeons. Individual histories of these men and the few women physicians will be offered.

Submissions to this site from professional and amateur historians, historical societies, and state and medical school archivists are very welcome. All submissions will be edited and peer reviewed and signed. All photos and biographies must comply with current copyright standards.

New Jersey Civil War Monument Vandalized
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About the Author Of This Website

Valerie Josephson with Lollie

Valerie Josephson is a retired medical editor with a long term interest in the Civil War. Her great grandfather fought with the 20^th Maine and sustained a serious wound at the Battle of Gettysburg. Valerie began researching how he survived and what the state of medicine was in 1861. Finding that there were only four memorials to Civil War surgeons, she established this website to honor them and began researching the surgeons of New Jersey’s first units in the field.

Valerie has published Who Would Not Be a Soldier, the Boys of the 20th Maine (see links) and is working on her second book about New Jersey's First Civil War surgeons