Dr. Mary Walker: The Only Woman Awarded The Medal Of Honor

The Medal Of Honor (which is commonly referred to as The Congressional Medal Of Honor) is our nation’s highest award for courage in battle. There is a fascinating, inspiring story behind every one of the almost 3,500 men who have received the Medal Of Honor. And there is also an amazing story behind the one and  only woman to be awarded the Medal Of Honor! Read on for the story of Dr. Mary Walker: The Only Woman Awarded The Medal Of Honor!

Dr. Mary Walker: The Only Woman Awarded The Medal Of Honor

Mary Walker’s life story is certainly unique! She was the daughter of very progressive parents who raised their children to be Christians, but “free thinkers.” While most Christians of the era merely accepted whatever their church teachings stated, the “free thinkers” were encouraged to question and evaluate the regulations and requirements of their denomination. Mr. and Mrs. Walker even opened their own school to promote gender equality and modern thinking. Mary became accustomed to wearing masculine clothes, as the tight corsets of the time made doing farm work uncomfortable!

After graduating from a progressive academy, Mary Walker worked as a schoolteacher to save enough money to attend Syracuse Medical College. She was the only woman in her class and graduated with honors! She married but kept her maiden name and often drew criticism wearing masculine clothes. She considered the traditional women’s clothing of the day unhygienic and overly restrictive. She ultimately settled on a unique mode of dress: she wore trousers under a dress!

After a brief stint in private practice, Dr. Walker went to Washington at the outbreak of the Civil War. She applied to be appointed as an Army surgeon. Her rejection was swift, rude and definitive. No woman would be allowed to be a doctor in the Army, she was told.

She stayed in Washington, working as a doctor without pay at a number of Union Army camps. When the Patent Office was turned in to a temporary hospital, she worked as a surgeon (still unpaid) and treated patients with great skill and dedication. Despite continued derision for her desire to be appointed an Army surgeon, she steadfastly worked exhausting hours, tending to the injured and dying. After organizing a charity to care for the families of wounded men, she went to Virginia, near the front lines, to continue her brave service without pay.

In 1863, desperately in need of doctors to deal with the unimaginable carnage of the bloody war, the Army finally accepted her medical credentials. Dr. Walker was paid, but not formally commissioned. She was given a rank approximately equal to that of a Captain. Dr. Walker was assigned to field hospitals near the battle of Chickamauga Tennessee. Her work was widely hailed, with both her professional skill and personal courage earning her praise.

About six months after her appointment, Dr. Mary Walker was captured by the traitors who were shooting at U.S. Army troops. After being held as a POW for about four months, Dr. Walker was traded back to the Union Army in a prisoner exchange. Some sources say she served as a spy while in captivity!

Dr. Walker finished her wartime service helping female prisoners and helping to run an orphanage. When the War ended, she received a partial disability pension for injuries received while she was held as a POW. Determined to be validated for her service, she lobbied the War Department for a retroactive commission. When Secretary of War Stanton refused, stating that there was no legal basis to commission a female, President Andrew Johnson stepped in. He personally awarded Dr. Mary Walker the Medal Of Honor. She wore it every day for the rest of her life. Dr. Walker died in 1919. Her Medal Of Honor citation reads:

Whereas it appears from official reports that Dr. Mary E. Walker, a graduate of medicine, “has rendered valuable service to the Government, and her efforts have been earnest and untiring in a variety of ways,” and that she was assigned to duty and served as an assistant surgeon in charge of female prisoners at Louisville, Ky., upon the recommendation of Maj. Gens. Sherman and Thomas, and faithfully served as contract surgeon in the service of the United States, and has devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health, and has also endured hardships as a prisoner of war four months in a Southern prison while acting as contract surgeon; and Whereas by reason of her not being a commissioned officer in the military service, a brevet or honorary rank cannot, under existing laws, be conferred upon her; and Whereas in the opinion of the President an honorable recognition of her services and sufferings should be made; It is ordered, That a testimonial thereof shall be hereby made and given to the said Dr. Mary E. Walker, and that the usual medal of honor for meritorious services be given her. Given under my hand in the city of Washington, D.C., this 11th day of November, A.D. 1865. Andrew Johnson

This fabulous award, clearly well-intentioned and respectful, was also problematic. Under the rules adopted later for the Medal Of Honor, a civilian was not eligible to be a recipient! It is important to note that while she was the only woman ever to receive the Medal of Honor, she was not the only civilian. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, a civilian scout for the Army, famously received the Medal Of Honor as well.

Without going into a long dissertation about the changing rules and governing authority regarding the Medal of Honor, let me jump ahead to 1917 when an Army board revoked 911 Medals of Honor that were considered invalid.

Since Dr. Mary Walker was considered a civilian contract surgeon and not a commissioned  officer, her Medal of Honor was rescinded. Some suspected a tinge of sexism in the decision. Significantly, that same Army Board did not revoke the Medal Of Honor awarded to General Leonard Wood. He was a civilian contract surgeon at the same time as Dr. Walker – and was honored for that service!

In 1977, Army Secretary Clifford Alexander reinstated her Medal of Honor. WHile the reinstatement was controversial due to the means of its implementation, she is still officially recognized as the only woman to be awarded the Medal of Honor

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker spent her postwar years as a prominent advocate for women’s suffrage, education, progressive thought, and respect for women.