Born November 9, 1833
Matthews County, Virginia
Died July 25, 1916
Richmond, Virginia

Confederate nurse and hospital administrator
Only woman to hold a position as a commissioned officer in the
Confederate Army

Sally Tompkins overcame traditional attitudes about women and provided much-needed care to Confederate troops.

Over three thousand American women acted as paid nurses during the Civil War, and thousands more performed nursing duties as volunteers. Sally Tompkins was one of the most successful nurses on either side of the conflict. The private hospital she established for wounded Confederate soldiers in Richmond, Virginia, had the highest survival rate of any Civil War medical facility. Between the time she opened it in July 1861 and the end of the war in 1865, she lost only 73 out of 1,333 patients.

Resident of Richmond at the Beginning of the Civil War

Sally Louisa Tompkins was born into a wealthy family on November 9, 1833, at...