American Civil War Medicine & Surgical Antiques

Surgical Set collection from 1860 to 1865 - Civilian and Military

Civil War:  Medicine, Surgeon Education & Medical Textbooks

 Dr. Michael Echols  &  Dr. Doug Arbittier

 

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List of U. S. Navy Medical Officer Exam Applicants 1863

See: An example of a handwritten exam for the Navy Examination Board

 

PART ONE

    File:USS Hartford painting.jpg   

 

As you progress through the various Union Navy Medical Department exams below, note how much the educational background varied between applicants.  Their education levels and immaturity are reflected in the thoroughness and content of the answers.  Remember, all of these applicants were born before 1850, were not necessarily well-off financially, and were very young by today's standards for graduate medical professionals. 

 

Many of these young men graduated into the medical profession while still in their early twenties with only two years of formal medical education and basically no surgical experience.  Unlike the medical world in which we live, these individuals were only capable of the most basic medical procedures when entering the Navy or taking this exam.  The answers by the seasoned Assistant Surgeon applicants in the group, show how a few years in the real medical world can enhance the level of practical medical knowledge, not to mention the ability to bone-up on subjects that would be on the next exam.  There are applicants who are fresh out of medical school, some with a few years experience, more than a few with service time in the Navy or Army, and some without a clue.  It's a window into the education and experience of a physician/surgeon who was fresh out of medical school and volunteering to go to war for his country.

 

A word about a bias factor for this group of 93 candidates below.  As you will notice, most of the applicants in this 1863 group were tested at the Charlestown Naval Yard and were from  Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding New England states.  This would account for the heavy presence of Harvard trained applicants.  The same bias prevailed in earlier years (1861) when most testing took place at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and many applicants attended  New York City medical schools, such as Physicians and Surgeons, University of New York Medical Department and Bellevue Hospital Medical School.  And, for the Philadelphia Navy Asylum (1861 - 1862), significant numbers were from Philadelphia or the surrounding areas and were graduates of schools such as University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jefferson Medical College.

tRegarding our sample size compared to that of the Officers of the Continental and US Navy during the Civil War... there were about 650 Navy medical officers (AAS, AS, PAS, Surg, Medical Inspectors and Medical Directors.  This project and study is in possession of 121 Navy surgeons exams.  Based on the data so far, we would tend to hypothesize that the candidates in 1864 & 65 were much the same caliber as the 1863 group (young, green and wet behind the ears).

See: An example of a handwritten exam for the Navy Examination Board

 

If you have additional information or images for any of these doctors, please contact us.

Click on the last names to go to the doctor's full application transcript

Additional information on each doctor in lower columns

 

PART ONE

 

Last Name First Name Middle Name
Allen  George  O.[tis]  
Butler George  H.  
Belmana Francis  C.  
Bruce  W.[illiam]   Games 
Brigham  Franklin  W.[hiting]  
Brickett George  F.[ranklin]
Bigelow  Benjamin  Franklin 
Burbank  Charles  H.[enry]  
Bowen  Thomas   
Barbour James  E.  
Bates William  H.  
Blackmer John   
Culver  Josiah Howell 
Coles John  Woolston 
Colby  Edward  P.[orter]  
Cleborne  Christopher  J.[ames]   
Commons William   
Corbin Job   
Coan Titus  M.   
Conor William  J.   
Dean  A.[shael]   Sumner 
Darling  J.   Homer 
Draper  Lemuel  J.   
Drennan  Michael  Coyle
Donor  William  J.   
Dickson John  M.   
Emery  Alfred  E.[astman]  
Fowler  Archibald C.  
Fowler  Archibald C.  
Gavin Michael  Freebern 
Gilmartin Peter  P.[aul] 
Goodhue David  P.[utney]  
Gibson (second) John  J.   
Gibson (first) John J.
Gilfillan  Wiliam  James 
Goodwin R.[ichard]  J.[ames]  P.[lummer]  
Greene  R.[ichard]   H.[enry]  
Harris George  D.  
Hurley John  F.  
Hyde James  N.[evins]
Humphrey  Charles  E.  
Hamell  Benjamin  F.  
Jillson H.[arvey]   D.  
James  Hiram  H.[oward]   
Jones  William  H.[enry] 
Jones  Samuel  J.  
Jameson  R.[obert]  E.[dwin]  
Kennedy  S.[tephen]   D.[andridge]  
Kemp  William  Thomas 
Light  Abian H.  
Laubach Alfred  S.  
Mack, Jr David   
Morse  La Roy  F.[rederick]  
Mackenzie Alexander  [Sydney]
McLean  D.[aniel]  
McSherry H.[enry] F
Nelson  H.[enry] C.  
Nickerson Franklin   
Neilson, Jr William   
Osgood  George  Cowles
O'Callaghan Edward  J.  
Parsons John  E.[leazer]  
Parker Scollay  
Page Charles 
Plympton  Henry  S.[ylvanus]  
Parker Joseph  B.[enson]  
Pickering  David  B.  
Poole             Isaac   
Quimby  Samuel  F.[oster]  
Quinn   John  Paul
Robinson  Somerset   
Robinson J.[ohn] F.[rancis]  
Riglander J.   W.  
Rice  John  McD.[owell]
Robbins  Eugene  P.[atterson]  
Reber  William  McClellan 
Sturtevant Charles   
Sturtevant Charles   
Sawyer R.[ufus]  P.[ayne]
Smith  Henry  H.[alliard]  
Shively  Joseph  W.[arren]  
Smith Jacob  J.[ontz]  
Spear  John  C.[rawford]  
Smith Samuel  D.[eHaven]  
Stein Edw.[ard]  M.[aurice]
Scholl  Erastus R.[omig]  
Stimson William   
Tryon James  R.[ufus]  
Thorp Abner   
Vose Edwin  Howard 
Whidden  Philon C.  
Whitney  David  V.  
Willard  Robert   
Wentworth Walter  H.  

 

Go to a Second Spreadsheet (Part Two)

with additional information on each applicant

 

See: An example of a handwritten exam for the Navy Examination Board

 

Medical Antiques Index

American Civil War Medicine & Surgical Antiques Index

 

Topical Index for American Civil War Surgical Antiques 


 

Contact Dr. Arbittier with questions or if you have Civil War medical related items for sale

 

 

Civil War Medical Collections    Sitemap for entire website 

 

Direct links to all medical & Civil War collections on this site           

American Surgical Sets:

Pre-Civil War:  1 | 2  -   Post-Civil War:  3  -  Civil War 1861-1865:  4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8   INDEX

Medical Text-Books:

1 | 1a | 2 | 2a | 3 | 3a | 4 | 4a | 5 | 5a | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9a | 10 | 11 | 12    INDEX

Surgeon General's Office Library printed catalogues: 1840 | 1864 | 1865
Medical Lecture Cards: 1a | 1b 2 | 34 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21    INDEX

Medical Faculty and Authors:

INDEX

Navy Surgeon Exams:

1863 Navy Surgeon Applicant Exams with Biographies   INDEX ONE | INDEX TWO

Surgeon CDVs, Images

Surgeon's Medical Service Swords, and Pistols

Army: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8    INDEX    

M.S. Surgeon Swords and Pistols:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4  INDEX

Navy: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8   

Hosp Dep't Bottles, Tins, 

U.S. Army Pannier:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

American Civil War Medicine & Surgical Antiques

Please request permission before commercial use or publication of any content or photos on this site and credit any use with:  "American Civil War Surgical Antiques"   All content and all original photography on this Web Site is copyrighted since 1995 and may not be used on any other web site or in commercial print without the expressed e-mail permission from Dr. Arbittier:  Contact   All rights reserved. 

 

Students doing reports or projects are welcome to use the content of this site without permission, but credits would be appreciated.

 

Please note: information on this site may not be normally referenced as this is an active and long-term educational research project.  Personal notes may not be properly cited for publication.  Various articles are digitally reproduced under the 'fair-use act' of the copyright laws and are intended for educational purposes only.  Many citations are from Google digital 'books' and can be traced backwards via a search of a unique string in the citation.

 

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Last update: Tuesday, February 01, 2022