Samuel P . Moore Samuel Preston Moore ( September 16 , 1813 – May 31 , 1889 ) was an American physician , who served in the medical corps of the United States Army during the Mexican – American War , and later as the Confederate Surgeon General throughout nearly all of the American Civil War . Early life and career . Samuel P . Moore was born in 1813 in Charleston , South Carolina . He was a son of Stephen West Moore , a prominent banker in Charleston ( originally from Virginia ) , and his wife , Eleanore Screvan Gilbert . His brother , Stephen M . Westmore , also served in the Confederacy . Moore was educated in the local public schools of Charleston , and then attended South Carolina Medical College with the intention of becoming a physician . He graduated in 1834 and relocated to Little Rock , Arkansas , to start his medical practice . On March 14 , 1835 , Moore entered the U . S . Army , and was appointed as an assistant surgeon . In this capacity he serviced in the American frontier , including regions of Missouri , Kansas , Florida , as well as along the Texas border with Mexico . Moore married Mary Augusta Brown in 1845 . Moore also served as a surgeon during the Mexican – American War , which lasted from 1846 to 1848 . He befriended Col . Jefferson Davis , the future Confederate President , who was greatly impressed with Moore ' s abilities . Following the war with Mexico , Moore served in several U . S . Army postings , including a short stint at the United States Military Academy at West Point as a surgeon . On March 30 , 1849 , he was promoted to the rank of major in the army ' s Medical Corps . Civil War service . When the American Civil War began in 1861 , Moore was still a U . S . Army surgeon . He resigned his commission on February 25 , and returned to his medical practice in Little Rock , Arkansas . After the state of Arkansas seceded from the Union , Moore was approached by Jefferson Davis to join the Confederate cause , who cited " the army ’ s unfortunate military situation and the lack of trained medical men . . . " to persuade him On March 16 Moore was assigned to lead the new Confederate Army Medical Department as surgeon general . He replaced Charles H . Smith , who had been the acting surgeon general . Moore assumed his post on July 30 ; he would hold this position until the end of the war . By 1863 Moore ' s headquarters were the Confederate capital of Richmond , Virginia . He also would set up a Reserve Surgical Corps . Facing shortages in medicines , supplies , and equipment due to the ongoing Union blockade of Southern ports , as well as a shortage of few trained surgeons , Moore ' s job was difficult . He raised the recruiting standards and gave the most capable surgeons positions of authority . Moore designed the barracks - hospital layout , which is still in use today . This single level pavilion - style hospital was ordered built throughout the South . He improved the field ambulance corps , and supplemented the few available medicines with drugs made from the South ' s indigenous plants , which were produced in laboratories set up by Moore . To address the quality of surgeons , Moore organized an examination system to identify untrained doctors . If they failed , the doctor would serve as an attendant in a hospital for a time and retake the test . This system allowed semi - trained surgeons to be further educated , and unusable doctors to be dismissed from service . In 1864 Moore established the " Confederate States Medical and Surgical Journal " , a manual to instruct the surgeons throughout the army ; it included both exact descriptions and drawings of operations . During the war Moore also founded the Association of Army and Navy Surgeons of the Confederate States of America . This organization is believed to be the oldest military medical society in the United States . He also added dentists to the hospitals , the first time in American history its soldiers and sailors had access to this service . By the end of the war in 1865 , the Medical Department of the Confederacy had about three thousand men under Moore . Postbellum . After the war ended in 1865 , Moore resumed his life as a civilian doctor . He began a medical practice in Richmond , where he would spend the rest of his life . From 1877 to 1883 Moore also served on the Richmond School Board . He died in Richmond in May 1889 , and was buried in the city ' s Hollywood Cemetery . Legacy . While Moore ' s abilities and effectiveness have been disputed , Jefferson Davis approved of his performance . Military historian Bruce Allardice describes his contemporary judgments as positive , citing praises such as " his great work as an organizer , his remarkable executive ability " and his " great brusqueness of manner and his sternness as a disciplinarian . " Military historian David J . Eicher disagrees , saying " Surg . Gen . William A . Hammond ( U . S . ) and Samuel P . Moore ( C . S . ) were relatively ineffective as administrators . . . " Another summary also praises Moore ' s results , stating : Moore ' s rank in the Confederate Army has also been disputed . When the Confederate Army ' s Medical Department was organized on February 26 , 1861 , the legislation stated the surgeon general would be a colonel . However , Military historian Bruce Allardice considers Moore to be a brigadier general , as did " Confederate Veteran " magazine . The Confederate Congress ' s Act of February 27 , 1861 , stipulated that the post would be a staff officer only . Moore is also listed as an " unsubstantiated " brigadier general of the South Carolina militia , appointed in 1865 . Subsequent legislation to make the surgeon general a brigadier was proposed but never became law .