Here's some more about the early medical and dental days of our country that I just found. I'm sure some have already heard/known about this occurrence, and I know this url doesn't follow the current thread, but I thought some of the list might be interested in this, as well as the possible resource to where they could address their inquiries. Rhonda Houston http://www.armymedicine.army.mil/armymed/default2.htm http://www.cs.amedd.army.mil/ameddregiment/Highlights.htm The Revolutionary War On July 27, 1775, the Continental Congress created a medical service for a 20,000-man army and named Dr. Benjamin Church of Boston as director general and chief physician. That year, Dr. John Jones of New York published the first American surgery text, a pamphlet titled "Plain, Concise, Practical Remarks on the Treatment of Wounds and Fractures." It was widely used in the war. Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, ran a Continental Army hospital and **wrote the **first American preventive-medicine **text for Army physicians. It was used until the Civil War. A historic first occurred in 1777, when George Washington ordered the inoculation of all Continental Army recruits to prevent smallpox. Never before had an entire army been immunized. And it worked. In 1778, Army doctors at Valley Forge published the first American pharmacopoeia, a 32-page list of medications. Dr. James Tilton built a well-ventilated, uncrowded Army hospital with isolation wards in 1779, influencing hospital design for decades. (Lt. Col. DaCosta Barrow, Office of the Surgeon General) http://www.dencom.army.mil/visitors/history3.htm Revolutionary War The Continental Army was established on 14 June 1775 without any idea of providing dental support to troops. Soldiers were responsible for their own dental care. French Navy dentists with the Comte de Rochambeau provided early training for civilian dentists during the American Revolution. 1776 Paul Revere performed the first recorded case of military forensic identification on the remains of Maj. Gen. Joseph Warren at Bunker Hill about ten months after Warren's death in that famous battle. 6 March 1840 The Baltimore College of Dental Surgery was established as the first dental school. Although this was primarily a civilian event, it signaled the advancement that dentistry had achieved in technology, science, education, and professional organization. These advances probably legitimized the argument by many civilian dentists of the early 1800s that the U.S. military should recognize dentistry as a specialized requirement. The Early Republic During the War of 1812 with England, the Mexican War in 1846, and the westward settlement of America, soldiers sought needed care from civilian dentists or itinerant tooth drawers. In remote locations Army physicians and hospital stewards (some with preceptor-type training in dentistry) were the only source of emergency dental care.