volunteer. the army surgeons she worked with supported her appeal to washington for a formal appointment but she was again denied. newspapers began to pick up the story of the woman doctor on the battlefield. the new york tribune wrote, the lady is exceedingly popular among the soldiers in the hospitals and is undoubtedly doing much good. in 1864, general george henry thomas, under his authority as commander of the army of the cumberland, hired mary as a contract surgeon and she was fine finally earning a salary equivalent to a with captain. she was held for four months and released in a prison swap for a a confederate surgeon. she then abraham lincoln described her treatment as a prisoner of war and mary immediately returned to the battlefield helping to treat the thousands of wounded after the battle of atlanta.
it was her service in the civil war that won her the congressional medal of honor. when the war broke out, mary went to washington to request to enlist as an army surgeon. her request was denied. she then volunteered in a makeshift hospital in washington with 100 severely wounded soldiers. mary kept requesting formal appointments as an army surgeon and kept getting rejected. in 1862, she set off to the battlefield herself and offered her services there as a volunteer. the army surgeons she worked with supported her appeal to washington for a formal appointment but she was again denied. newspapers began to pick up the story of the woman doctor on the battlefield. the new york tribune wrote, the lady is exceedingly popular among the soldiers in the hospitals and is undoubtedly doing much good. in 1864, general george henry thomas, under his authority as commander of the army of the cumberland, hired mary as a