April 30 

 

          On this day in 1862, Reverend James Henderson Ward (1816-1900) accepted an appointment as assistant surgeon of the 49th North Carolina Infantry. In 1860, the North Carolina-born Ward, 46, owned nine slaves on his farm in Greenville, Missouri, where he also served as a Methodist Minister. Soon after the war broke out, he returned to his native state of North Carolina, and offered his services to the Confederate government. He was a desirable appointment, because he had medical training and could bring spiritual comfort to sick or wounded soldiers. However, his tenure did not last long. Less than two months after accepting the position, Ward tendered his resignation, confessing, “the fatigues, labors, & exposures of camp are too great for a man of my age.” His resignation was accepted on June 28, 1862, just after the Seven Days Battles began. Three days later the regiment suffered over 100 casualties at the battle of Malvern Hill, but Ward did not deal with the medical aftermath of that fight. He had left military service. In the decades after the war, he worked as a physician in Arkansas and Missouri.

 

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Ward likely did not have to perform any combat surgeries (like the surgeon above), having submitted his resignation just as the bloody Seven Days Campaign began.

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Sources: 

Weymouth T. Jordan, comp., North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster, 11:27; 1860 U.S. Census: Wayne County, Missouri