American Revolution:

There were only pre-war militia surgeons and volunteers who wanted to help with medical efforts. At the end of the 1700s, military medicine was not as distinguished because there was lack of precision, advice, and treatment. Not only was there an education standard problem, social uncertainty fell over America about physicians. In America, a physician was middle class rather than an aristocrat in Britain. There were regimental hospitals with only senior surgeons and other surgeons with enlisted troops under a line commander. But, general hospitals took over the regimental hospitals during an epidemic. At the beginning of the American Revolution, there was no organization to keep open regimental hospitals. In 1775, Congress finally saw the need of medicine and established the "Hospital" medical organization headed by Dr. Benjamin Church. Dr. Church was in charge of the Hospital Department which oversaw the general hospitals and the surgeons recruited. The Hospital Department was required to stockpile medical stores and supplies that the Army needed and also has the regimental surgeons working for the colonel of the regiment. To help with medical knowledge in the Revolution, American medicine leaders made medical guides to hopefully help medical practitioners and line officers. One example was the Directions for Preserving the Health of Soldiers Recommended to... the Officers of the United States Army by Benjamin Rush. Benjamin Rush was a patriot and a delegate to the Continental Congress, but his most notable accomplishment was being one of the five physicians to sign the Declaration of Independence. His published Directions for Preserving the Health of Soldiers Recommended to... the Officers of the United States Army was similar to John Pringle's Observations on the Diseases of the Army in Camp and Garrison. Hygiene, food, clothes, and overall health management of soldiers were stressed in both published works and these responsibilities were put in the hands of line officers instead of medical practitioners. Almost directly after Rush's writing, regulations for the Continental Line were established by Major General Baron von Steuben. He ordered the placement of kitchens, sinks, and daily inspections of the tents by officers in order to maintain the overall hygiene and health of soldiers. Along with the new enforcements, regimental commanders had to put the the health of soldiers as their first priority. Even though there were new installments in the regimental camps to improve health, hospitals only got the leftover space. Public health became big during the American Revolution and the first priority being a soldier's health. 

 

War of 1812:

The United States assigned civilian physicians to military forces, units, ships, etc. These physicians had no rank and no authority in their job. Joseph Lovell called attention to the shortcomings of medical establishments in a comprehensive and innovative setting, wanted report of inspection in the establishments. After the war, both the Army and Navy were restructured and Lovell's ideas brought back up. Congress founded the Army Medical Department (AMEDD) and made Lovell the first Surgeon General of the Army. On the other hand, Navy focused development and understanding of naval technology and ships rather than medicine. It wasn't until 1828 that Navy reorganized their medical system and recruited surgeons that had to take exams to enter because it assured those who served and their families a semblance of safety. Next, AMEDD was made into a 2-tier system where pay of surgeons tied with majors, assistant surgeons of 5 years with captain pay, and new assistant surgeons with lieutenant pay. The low pay of military physicians was concerning to Lovell because he knew that he did not have the best physicians. So, he implemented a clinical exam to enter the AMEDD, like the Navy. After the improvement of physicians, the power that physicians had was a problem, because they had none. In 1848, chain of command established for medical officers so then command could follow through with the treatment instructions given to soldiers.