’Neither an Officer nor an Enlisted Man’: Contract Surgeons’ Eligibility for the Medal of Honor

U.S. Army contract surgeons in the nineteenth century were in many ways indistinguishable from their commissioned counterparts; however, as civilians they were treated quite differently when it came to some legal entitlements, which included eligibility for the sole military decoration of the period, the Medal of Honor. This article compares the experiences of four different contract surgeons who claimed entitlement to the Medal of Honor and the varying outcomes. These case studies offer a window into the various power structures of the time, demonstrating that some military awards were influenced by gender, influence, timeliness, and merit relative to other potential recipients.