Wholesale Horse Doctor: The Life and Times of Dr. John Tempany, Forebear of the Modern U.S. Army Veterinary Service - Paperback

by Christopher M. Clarke (Author) The life of "Dr." John Tempany spanned some of the most exciting and momentous decades of American history. Born in New York City in 1838, he became a "dragoon" (mounted soldier) and pioneer in the newly opened Pacific Northwest, helping build and settle Walla Walla, Washington. He went on to serve as an aide-de-camp to several of the most important Union generals of the Civil War and to participate in some of the greatest battles of that epic conflict. After a brief hiatus in military service, he returned to the U.S. Army as the first veterinarian assigned to full-time care of horses for the cavalry. Tempany-who earned the honorary title, doctor, though he never had any professional education as a veterinarian-served in the South during Reconstruction, then transferred with Custer's 7th Cavalry to the Southwest where he was involved in the lengthy wars against the Comanche, Apache, and other hostile Indians. He took charge of the massive wagon train and herd of animals on the famous 1874 Black Hills expedition and participated in the U.S.-Canadian Boundary survey. He likely avoided death with Custer at Little Big Horn only because he left the Army for several years to try civilian life in Minnesota. Tempany returned to his first love-the U.S. Cavalry-in 1879, serving for more than two decades with the famed all-black "Buffalo Soldiers" of the 9th Cavalry all across the West, witnessing the end of Indian hostilities and the coming of the "modern" pre-World War I cavalry. By the time of the Spanish-American War in 1898, Tempany was the Army's senior veterinary surgeon and was sent to Tampa, Florida to inspect and oversee the shipment of all the "equine soldiers" being sent off to that conflict in Cuba. During his long career, he visited dozens, perhaps hundreds, of military installations, examined and purchased thousands of horses and mules, and cared for thousands more. He was a pioneer in the nascent field of veterinary medicine in the U.S. Despite his decades of service, due to quirks in the law, Tempany (like all Army veterinarians) was neither accorded the status nor the perquisites of a commissioned officer. Veterinarians occupied an anomalous position as semi-civilians with no retirement program, disability insurance, promotions, or pay raises. In fact, his pay did not change from 1879 until 1899. Beginning in the 1890s, Tempany began to press for changes in the status of veterinarians, seeking a "private bill" in Congress that would allow him to retire with a pension.