Belle Montgomery
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New national exhibit highlights the only female Medal of Honor recipient
For her medical efforts for the Union Army during the Civil War, Dr. Mary Walker was awarded the Medal of Honor. It is the highest award granted to members of the U.S. military. To this day, she remains the only woman to have received the Medal of Honor.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Spy, prisoner of war, patriot – at one time or another, all those words described Dr. Mary Walker, a practicing surgeon for the Union Army during the Civil War.
“She was a woman ahead of her time,” said Keith Hardison, director of the Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Now, though, Dr. Walker’s time has come. She is the focus of a new special exhibit at the center.
“Dr. Walker wanted to go where the fighting was bloodiest,” said exhibit curator Molly Randolph. “She tried multiple times to join up and was denied.”
Yet, she persisted and volunteered her medical skills to Union commanders during the Civil War. They put her to work – for no pay – on the front lines.
That’s when her career as a spy began.
“She used that cover of going into the countryside and providing medical care to do some espionage,” Randolph said.
Eventually, the Confederate Army captured her and held her as a prisoner of war for four months, where she became well-known for wearing her trademark pants.
“She was rather notorious,” Randolph said. “She was ...
Rest of Article: https://www.thedenverchannel.com/ne...ghts-the-only-female-medal-of-honor-recipient
For her medical efforts for the Union Army during the Civil War, Dr. Mary Walker was awarded the Medal of Honor. It is the highest award granted to members of the U.S. military. To this day, she remains the only woman to have received the Medal of Honor.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Spy, prisoner of war, patriot – at one time or another, all those words described Dr. Mary Walker, a practicing surgeon for the Union Army during the Civil War.
“She was a woman ahead of her time,” said Keith Hardison, director of the Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Now, though, Dr. Walker’s time has come. She is the focus of a new special exhibit at the center.
“Dr. Walker wanted to go where the fighting was bloodiest,” said exhibit curator Molly Randolph. “She tried multiple times to join up and was denied.”
Yet, she persisted and volunteered her medical skills to Union commanders during the Civil War. They put her to work – for no pay – on the front lines.
That’s when her career as a spy began.
“She used that cover of going into the countryside and providing medical care to do some espionage,” Randolph said.
Eventually, the Confederate Army captured her and held her as a prisoner of war for four months, where she became well-known for wearing her trademark pants.
“She was rather notorious,” Randolph said. “She was ...
Rest of Article: https://www.thedenverchannel.com/ne...ghts-the-only-female-medal-of-honor-recipient
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