Back to Results
Cover image of A History of Medicine in the Early U.S. Navy
Cover image of A History of Medicine in the Early U.S. Navy
Share this Title:

A History of Medicine in the Early U.S. Navy

Harold D. Langley

Publication Date
Binding Type

Winner of the John Lyman Book Award from the North American Society for Oceanic History

In this first detailed history of the development of medical treatment and professionalization in the early U.S. Navy, Harold Langley traces the evolution of medical practice in the Navy from the time Congress authorized the building of the first frigates in 1794, to the establishment of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in the Navy Department in 1842. Langley reveals that the earliest federal efforts to deal with sailors' health care problems were seriously flawed. The early hospital system was poorly...

Winner of the John Lyman Book Award from the North American Society for Oceanic History

In this first detailed history of the development of medical treatment and professionalization in the early U.S. Navy, Harold Langley traces the evolution of medical practice in the Navy from the time Congress authorized the building of the first frigates in 1794, to the establishment of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in the Navy Department in 1842. Langley reveals that the earliest federal efforts to deal with sailors' health care problems were seriously flawed. The early hospital system was poorly funded, sailors' contributions were misappropriated, and the hospitals themselves were often administered in a shameful fashion. At the same time, medical officers commanded little respect from their naval colleagues, who rarely considered medical men to be "real officers."

In the first half of the nineteenth century, legal and administrative changes significantly improved the lot of medical officers and of the men under their care. Langley shows how these changes helped to shape health care in the later U.S. Navy. He also offers detailed descriptions of just what the naval doctor did, and examines the influence of health on readiness, morale, promotions, and retention.

Reviews

Reviews

A remarkable labor of love, Harold Langley's substantial volume records the lives of early U.S. naval surgeons, the engagements in which they were involved and the casualties they treated, in painstaking and often gory detail.

Chronicling half a century of history in acomprehendible, yet thorough fashion is no easy task. In A History of Medicine in the Early U.S. Navy, Harold Langley is able to accomplish both... an impressive overview of medicine in the early Navy.

About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
464
ISBN
9780801866722
Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface
Secretaries of the Navy, 1798-1843
Chapter 1. The Health, Welfare, and Safety of Seamen
Chapter 2. The Quasi-War with France
Chapter 3. Medicine and Health in the Quasi-War
Cha

List of Illustrations
Preface
Secretaries of the Navy, 1798-1843
Chapter 1. The Health, Welfare, and Safety of Seamen
Chapter 2. The Quasi-War with France
Chapter 3. Medicine and Health in the Quasi-War
Chapter 4. The Barbary Wars
Chapter 5. New Orleans
Chapter 6. Medical Care Ashore: Boston
Chapter 7. Naval Health Care in the North and South
Chapter 8. Washington, D.C.
Chapter 9. The War of 1812 at Sea
Chapter 10. The War of 1812 Ashore
Chapter 11. The War of 1812 on the Lakes
Chapter 12. Toward a More Professional Service
Chapter 13. Health Care and Hospitals, 1816-1829
Chapter 14. Continuing Reform Efforts
Chapter 15. Health Problems, 1829-1842
Chapter 16. The Growth of Professionalism
Chapter 17. Establishment of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Author Bio
Featured Contributor

Harold D. Langley

Harold D. Langley is curator of naval history at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Resources