Doctors five: African-American contract surgeons in the Spanish-American war

Abstract

The role played by African-American contract surgeons during the Spanish-American War has been a neglected aspect of the war's medical history. These men left their civilian practices, as did their white colleagues, to serve in the U.S. Army for relatively (even for the time) little compensation. After the war, as "civilian employees," they were not even eligible for a pension. Patriotism motivated their call to arms. Copyright © by Association of Military Surgeons of U.S., 1999.