The
following is a dictated translation of the hand-written application to
the U. S. Navy Examination Board during the Civil War by a civilian
physician/surgeon for a position as a medical officer in the Federal
Navy or for promotion to Assistant Surgeon by an Acting Assistant
Surgeon. The actual
applications are in the possession of the author and presented to
enlighten the general public and other researchers as to the education
process before and during the Civil War, the personal history of the
applicants, as well as to show their personal level of medical knowledge
in answering the questions asked by the Navy Board of Examiners.
(Some applicants failed to pass and did not serve or served in the Union
Army.)
This written presentation was first of a part of a two-part exam consisting of a written
exam and an oral exam.
Many of these applications are rich
with highly detailed medical content offering an interesting perspective
on the medical knowledge and practices of the period.
A broad sampling of these exams is presented to
give you a 'picture' of the type of applicant being examined and
admitted to or rejected by the Federal Navy in 1863. Much more detail
on the individuals and their personal and naval history will be
presented in a forth-coming book by Dr. Herman.
(The actual written exam photos are available, but not presented on
these pages due to the size of the files. An
example
of a hand-written exam is on the
'List of all Applicants' page)
If you have additional information or images for any of these
doctors, please
contact us.
A list with links to
all applicants in this survey of U.S. Navy Applicants for 1863
Example of a handwritten exam given by the Navy Examination Board
Applicant: Robert Edwin Jameson
I was born in Lynn, Massachusetts,
September 18th 1873, am consequently 25 years 5 months old.
My advantages for the pursuit of
classical and scientific knoledge [sic, correction marks in pencil] were
very meagre [sic], and my attainments in these branches of study are very
limited in extent.
I finished my preliminary education
and Warren Academy Woburn Massachusetts. I have studied medicine and
surgery 2 years. I commenced my studies with Lewis Miller M.D. Kinston,
North Carolina, continued with him till the commencement of the present
rebellion, when I came home and entered the Army.
I have not yet received my Diploma.
My opportunities for acquiring a knowledge [sic, “w” inserted in pencil]
of pharmacy, the physical properties of drugs, and for witnessing the
practice of Medicine and Surgery have been such as were afforded in the
office of my Tutor in the Massachusetts General Hospital and during
sixteen months service in the Army as Hospital Steward.
I am not acquainted with any language
but my own.
R. E. Jameson
Naval Asylum
March 6th 1863