Dr. George Snow Navy
Medical Exam
By Michael Echols
Applications for the Navy were made
by civilian physicians who, during the application process were required
to provide a biography and responses to a variety of medical related
questions in order for the Naval Board to determine qualifications for
the position. Many of these applications are rich with highly detailed
medical content offering an interesting perspective on the medical
knowledge and practices of the period. After the early years of
the War, a vetting
process was carried on by the various state militia boards in both the
Union and Confederacy with oral exams to determine varying
levels of competency as well as by the Federal Army Medical Department.
(See additional information on the
Federal Navy Medical Department.)
Because of the
loss of medical officers to the Confederacy and the rapid build-up of
the Navy during 1861, the Federal Navy quickly recruited
civilian physicians into service. During the course of the war, three
ranks existed for naval medical officers; assistant surgeon, passed
assistant surgeon, and surgeon.
The prospective surgeons made
application in writing to the Navy and then were vetted by a board or
individual as to their ability to serve and their medical experience.
An example of one of those application is shown below.
George W. Snow.
Newburyport, Mass., Assistant Surgeon. Chelsea, 24, physician; comm.
9/30/1861; captured 8/30/1862 at Second Bull Run, Va., exchanged, date
not shown; promoted to Surgeon, 35th Mass. Inf. on 3/13/1863, (Snow
enlisted on September 30, 1861, was captured at Second Bull Run and,
following his exchange, was ultimately mustered out in June of 1865 at
Alexandria, Virginia.)
U.S. Examining
Surgeon for Pension Office.)
There are three parts: The Navy
examiner's questions; George Snow's biography' Snow's answers to the
exams. Ultimately, Snow joined the Union Army, not the Navy.
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Navy examiner's questions
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George Snow's biography
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George Snow's exam answers
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TWENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT INFANTRY 1861
William Montieth, Colonel, November
25, 1861, New York City
Maclelland Moore, Lt. Colonel, November 25, 1862, Boston
George W. Cartwright, Major, October 8, 1861, Boston
Patrick A. O’Connell, Surgeon, Oct. 25, 1861, Worcester
George W. Snow, Asst. Surgeon,
September 30, 1861, Rutland
Nicholas O’Brien, Chaplain, January 7, 1862, Brookline
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From the Medical
and Surgical History, citation for Surgeon George W. Snow:
CASE
212.--Lieutenant John A. McGuire, Co. I, 148th Pennsylvania, was
wounded on May 12, 1864, at Spottsylvania, by a musket ball, which
smashed the trochanters and neck of the right femur. He was carried
to the hospital of the 3d division of the Ninth Corps, where, after
an exploration of the wound under chloroform and a consultation of
the senior surgeons of the division, it was determined to excise the
injured bone. The head, neck, and trochanters were accordingly
removed through a longitudinal incision by Surgeon George W.
Snow, 35th Massachusetts. The patient died on May 15, 1864.
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