Biography

[Anonymous]

Hello. I am searching for information, more exact, a Biography of an enlisted female in the Medical Corp in the US Army. Someone that has accomplished something above and beyond. I have had great difficulty in locating ANY information on an enlisted person. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Please email to lloyd.dubose@us.army.mil

Thank You.

[LTC William E. Bailey]

There are thousands of female enlisted soliders who have served honorably in the US Army Medical Corps, and their service will remain for the most part anonymous. Military history is written about battles. For the most part military history concerns itself with those who served in combat, received combat decorations, or risked their lives to save the lives of others, like US Army Nurses.

Here's someone you've never heard of who would make an interesting person to write about; Mary Ann Bickerdyke. Before the war, Mother Bickerdyke, as she was to become known, had received training in botanic and homeopathic medicine and had been engaged in private-duty nursing.

On a Sunday in June 1861, Bickerdyke, 45, listened as her pastor, Edward Beecher, brother of Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, told of the need for volunteer help in the military camps in nearby Cairo, Ill. When the congregation asked her to accompany a load of food, clothing and medical supplies to Cairo on behalf of the church, she was ready. Except for short visits, that was the last her two young sons saw of her until the end of the war.

When Bickerdyke saw the poor condition of the hospital in Cairo, she took a room in town and immediately began a determined cleanup effort that quickly spread to the other five military hospitals in the area. Although he granted her a grudging welcome at first, Dr. J.J. Woodward, a surgeon with the 22nd Illinois Infantry, later praised Bickerdyke as "strong as a man, muscles of iron, nerves of finest steel; sensitive, but self-reliant, kind and tender; seeking all for others, nothing for herself."

In the early period of her service, Bickerdyke held no authority other than semiofficial status granted occasionally by Union Army officers. Her manner, however, was so forthright and compelling that she was rarely questioned. When one surgeon dared to ask where she received permission to do what she was doing, Bickerdyke retorted she was given orders by "the Lord God Almighty. Have you anything that ranks higher than that?" Later, she was named a Sanitary Commission agent.

In spite of her brusque and aggressive behavior, Bickerdyke gained the friendship of a few high-ranking officers, among them Generals Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. Toward the end of the war, when someone complained about Bickerdyke to Sherman, he commented that she was the only person around who outranked him, and he suggested the complainer refer the matter to President Abraham Lincoln.

On one occasion, when she was besieging Sherman at an inopportune moment, the oft-prickly general asked whether she had ever heard of insubordination. Bickerdyke responded in an equally testy manner: "You bet I've heard of it....It's the only way I ever get anything done in this army."

Major General John "Black Jack" Logan also crossed paths with Bickerdyke, meeting her for the first time late one night after a battle. While lying in his tent, he observed a lone figure with a lamp crisscrossing the battlefield and sent an orderly to bring the person in for questioning. Bickerdyke explained that she could not rest until she was satisfied that no living man remained on the field. After that incident, Logan often confided in her, called on her to provide for his men, and ordered her to ride at his side at the Union's gala victory parade in Washington after the Confederate surrender.

[webadmin]

Hello. I am searching for information, more exact, a Biography of an enlisted female in the Medical Corp in the US Army. Someone that has accomplished something above and beyond. I have had great difficulty in locating ANY information on an enlisted person. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Please email to lloyd.dubose@us.army.mil

Thank You.

Your best source for this would be by going through the AMEDD Museum that is located at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. You can reach them by going through the Medical Academy's site at the following:

http://www.cs.amedd.army.mil/

This is a very large museum, but for some reason, I cannot find their site on line any more. There are many biographies of female medical personnel both officers and enlisted. I think you will find this museum a great resource for you.

[Anonymous]

http://www.awm.lee.army.mil/

This is a link to the Army Women's Museum at Ft. Lee in Virginia