Captain Sally: A Biography of Capt. Sally Tompkins, America’s First Female Army Officer

Sally Tompkins was a very wealthy young woman who was a nurse that owned and ran her own private hospital in Richmond, Virginia during the American Civil War. The hospital had the highest survival rate of any hospital north or south. This statistic was even more remarkable considering that the worst cases were sent to her. She was also commissioned as Captain in the Confederate Cavalry because, by law, all hospitals had to be under military rule to be able to receive medical supplies. She took her rank seriously. She was adored by the Confederate troops and received probably hundreds of marriage proposals, all of which she declined. It was said that “her strength of mind and character took the place of more frivolous charms.” Capt. Sally Tompkins demonstrated that women were capable of doing so many things that, in this time period, women were thought incapable of doing. As a hospital administrator, she challenged gender expectations and helped to expand the role of women in all management positions.