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The only woman to receive the Medal of Honor is getting her own quarter
[We Are The Mighty] In 2024, the U.S. Mint will issue quarters featuring five prominent American women. This run, the third year of the American Women Quarters Program, includes Dr. Mary Edwards Walker. She was an abolitionist, surgeon, prisoner of war and the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor.-- snip -- When the Civil War broke out, Walker volunteered to serve as a surgeon in the Union Army. Despite her years of experience in private practice, Walker was rejected for being a woman. She was offered a military position as a nurse which she declined. Insisting on serving, Walker volunteered as a civilian surgeon. With no female surgeons, military or civilian, the army initially restricted her to nurse duties. At the beginning of the war, Walker served as a nurse at the First Battle of Bull Run and a hospital in Washington, D.C. She later served as the Union Army’s first female surgeon, albeit unpaid, near the front line including the Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of Chickamauga. Walker wore men’s clothing, citing that it was easier to perform her duties compared to traditional women’s clothing at the time. In September 1862, Walker volunteered her services as a Union spy. While her offer was declined, the following year, Walker was employed as a civilian "Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon" for the Army of the Cumberland. This made her the first female surgeon employed by the U.S. Army Surgeon. Later in the war, Walker was appointed assistant surgeon of the 52nd Ohio Infantry Regiment. On April 10, 1864, after assisting a Confederate doctor in performing an amputation, Walker was captured by Confederate troops. She was arrested as a spy and held at the Castle Thunder prison in Richmond, Virginia. During her time as a prisoner, Walker refused to wear the female clothes provided to her. On August 12, 1864, she was released in exchange for a Confederate surgeon. Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-08-08 |
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