title: Samuel A. Mudd, MD, physician-farmer, University of Maryland School of Medicine class of 1856.
abstract: America is in the midst of experiencing the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. We do so with some ambivalence knowing that the war forged a great union and ended slavery but also caused the deaths of more than 600,000 fellow citizens. Samuel A. Mudd, MD, University of Maryland School of Medicine class of 1856, was a man of this time. As a physician-farmer in Southern Maryland, he was a highly respected physician, a slave owner, and a devout citizen. The Civil War (1861-1865) would alter his life in ways few could have imagined. This article looks at his background, his education, his work as a physician-farmer, and his dramatic rise to national attention and infamy. Convicted by a military tribunal and imprisoned for his "crimes," he was able to partially redeem himself using his medical skills and professionalism. Mudd was a man of his time. And what a time it was.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia, SC 29203, USA. rharding@uscmed.sc.edu
authors.forename: Richard K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Harding
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000266:history*; D047831:American Civil War; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D008396:Maryland; D010820:Physicians / Q000266:history*; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000266:history*