ABSTRACT
William Alexander Hammond, reform-minded surgeon general for the Union army during part of the Civil War, was born in Annapolis, Maryland, on August 28, 1828. He was the second son of Dr. John Wesley Hammond (a physician who did not practice much) and his wife, Sarah Pinckney Hammond. William grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and was educated, with an excellent background in classics, by private tutors. In 1844 he began privately studying medicine in New York City with William Holme Van Buren. He then attended the Medical Department of the University of the City of New York (1847-1848), from which he graduated in March 1848, despite the fact that graduates were supposed to be at least twentyone years old.
