Joseph Barnes Joseph K . Barnes ( July 21 , 1817 – April 5 , 1883 ) was an American physician and the 12th Surgeon General of the United States Army ( 1864 – 82 ) . Biography . Career and early life . Born in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , to a prosperous Federal judge , Barnes studied medicine at Harvard University , but left before finishing his studies due to ill health . He later studied medicine with Surgeon General Thomas Harris of the United States Navy , and received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1838 . After graduation , he served a year as resident physician at Blockley Hospital and for another year as visiting physician for the northwestern district of Philadelphia . Florida . Barnes appeared before an army examining board which was meeting at the time in Philadelphia and , pursuant to its recommendation , he was commissioned an assistant surgeon on June 15 , 1840 . he was assigned for his first duty to the United States Military Academy . After only a few months of duty , he was ordered to accompany a detachment of recruits to Florida , where hostilities were in progress against the Seminole Indians . For the two following years , he served successively at eight posts in that state , much of the time giving professional service to two or more posts at the same time , owing to the shortage of medical officers . Notable in his field service of this period was that involved while accompanying Brigadier General Willam Harney ' s expedition through the Everglades during the Second Seminole War . War with Mexico . In 1842 , Barnes was assigned to Fort Jesup , Louisiana , where he remained until 1846 , when with the beginning of the Mexican - American War , he joined the 2nd U . S . Dragoons en route to Corpus Christi to join the army being mobilized for the invasion of Mexico from the north . He served with the cavalry column of Major General Zachary Taylor ' s army during its advance to Monterey . Later transferred to Lieutenant General Winfield Scott ' s forces before Veracruz , he served with Major General William J . Worth ' s division during the siege and capture of that city . During the advance upon Mexico City , he was chief surgeon of the cavalry brigade and participated in the battles of Cerro Gordo , Contreras , Churubusco , and Molina del Rey , in the storming of Chapultepec and the capture of the capital . During the thirteen years that intervened between this time and the Civil War , Barnes served in a succession of posts in widely separated parts of the country . He served at Fort Croghan and other posts in Texas , in the plains country at Fort Scott , Fort Leavenworth , and Camp Center ( now Fort Riley ) , on the Pacific coast at San Francisco , Fort Vancouver and the Cascades , while between times he saw tours of duty at Baltimore , Fort McHenry , Philadelphia , and West Point . He was promoted to major and surgeon on August 29 , 1856 . Civil War . In April 1861 , Barnes was stationed at the Army ' s Fort Vancouver in Washington Territory , the second ranking officer behind future Union general Edward Ord . On June 4 , he was ordered east and departed Fort Vancouver on June 24 , 1861 . He soon served successively as medical director of the forces under Major General David Hunter , medical director of the Western Department , and medical director of the Department of Kansas . On May 2 , 1862 , he was ordered to report to the Surgeon General in Washington and upon reporting was assigned to duty as attending surgeon for the city . While on this duty he formed the acquaintance of U . S . Secretary of War Edwin M . Stanton , who quickly gained a highly favorable impression of him . On February 9 , 1863 , Barnes was appointed a medical inspector with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel , stationed in Washington . On August 10 , 1863 , he was further advanced to the position of medical inspector general with the grade of Colonel . It was but a few weeks after this advancement that the difficulties between Stanton and Surgeon General William Alexander Hammond culminated in the detachment of the latter from his office . On September 3 , 1863 , Barnes was by a special order of the War Department " empowered to take charge of the bureau of the Medical Department of the army and to perform the duties of Surgeon General during the absence of that officer . " He assumed the office of acting Surgeon General the following day thus beginning one of the longest and most eventful administrations in the history of the office . On August 22 , 1864 , he was advanced to the position of Surgeon General , with the grade of Brigadier General and on March 13 , 1865 , he received the brevet of major general for faithful and meritorious service during the war . As principal assistant , Barnes brought to his office major Charles Henry Crane , who continued in the capacity throughout the eighteen years of his term and succeeded to the office upon the retirement of his chief . Lincoln assassination . On April 14 , 1865 , at the time of the assassination of President Lincoln and the attempted assassination of Secretary of State William H . Seward , Barnes attended the death bed of Lincoln and ministered to the successful restoration of Seward . The morning after Abraham Lincoln ’ s death , three Army Medical Museum pathologists entered the White House to perform an autopsy on Lincoln ’ s body . Overseen by Barnes , the autopsy was conducted by Colonel Joseph Woodward and Major Edward Curtis . The autopsy began at 11 a . m . on April 15 , 1865 . Medical museum . The work of collecting material for the Army Medical Museum and for the " Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion " was pushed vigorously during the years 1863 and 1864 . The question of the military control of general hospitals was a vexing one from the beginning of the war . A War Department order of April 7 , 1862 , placed them under the supervision of the Surgeon General , but was not sufficiently explicit in its provisions regarding the right of command of the medical officers in charge of these hospitals . It was not until December 27 , 1864 , that the question was finally settled by General Order No . 306 , confirming the medical officer ' s right to command in his own sphere of action . The good will of Secretary Stanton was again shown by an order of February 8 , 1865 , giving to the medical department entire control of hospital transports and hospital boats . Post - war career . The " Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion " was first suggested by Surgeon General Hammond in a circular to medical officers inviting cooperation in the collection of material . In 1865 there was issued by the Surgeon General a report upon the extent and nature of the material available for its preparation . Four of the six monumental volumes were completed under General Barnes ' administration and the other two were far advanced at the time of his retirement . His regime was further notable for the interest he took in the development of the Army Medical Library . During his term of office , the library , under the supervision of Major John S . Billings , was expanded from a small collection of text - books to first rank among medical libraries of the country . Garfield assassination and retirement . In 1881 , during the long struggle of President James A . Garfield to live after being shot , Barnes was one of the surgeons who for weeks served in the chamber of the dying president . The protracted service and anxiety incident to the care of the latter took heavy toll on Barnes ' health . An Act of Congress passed June 30 , 1882 ( 22 Stat . 118 ) , providing for compulsory retirement for age , found Barnes nearly a year past the statutory age and he was retired on June 30 , 1882 . Death . A chronic nephritis , of which Barnes was a subject for some time , caused his death at his home in Washington on April 5 , 1883 .