American surgeon who served under Jefferson Davis as the first Surgeon General of the Confederacy.
Born into a prominent Sephardic Jewish family his parents were Dr. Mordecai Hendricks De Leon and Rebecca Lopez. There were five other children: Edwin De Leon 1818-1891 a Confederate diplomat, writer, and journalist; Thomas Cooper De Leon a well known newspaper editor and author; three sisters, Agnes, Maria Louisa, and Adeline Mary Adams.
He obtained his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1836 and was appointed an assistant surgeon to the U.S. Army in 1838. He was involved in the Seminole War in Florida and was active in frontier outposts in the West.
He earned the nickname of the "Fighting Doctor" because of his exploits in the Mexican War of 1845 serving under General Zachary Taylor. In the battle with Mexico's General Santa Anna at Chapultepec he kept American troops from fleeing by taking command after all other officers were killed or wounded. Twice cited for gallantry he also received a Congressional Citation.
On February 19, 1861 he resigned from the U.S. Army and was appointed Chief Surgeon of the Army of the Confederate States of American in March 1861. He did not retain the position for long and after serving as surgeon in various posts he resigned from the Confederate Army on August 1, 1862.
Mary Boykin Chesnut (1823-1886) writes in her Civil War diary, "Camden De Leon is sure to lose his place as surgeon general. Dr. Gibbes wants it. Dr. Nott is looked upon by many as a fit person for it. De Leon is always drunk."
When the Civil War ended, De Leon was unhappy and went to Mexico for a year. He returned to the United States and settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory where he practiced medicine and owned property.
Dr. De Leon died in Santa Fe or Albuquerque in 1872. His grave site is unknown but research is ongoing. Numerous small graveyards have been lost in Santa Fe over time and it is very possible he was buried in one of the lost.
(Information for this biography was supplied by The National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Md. http://www.civilwarmed.org/)
Born into a prominent Sephardic Jewish family his parents were Dr. Mordecai Hendricks De Leon and Rebecca Lopez. There were five other children: Edwin De Leon 1818-1891 a Confederate diplomat, writer, and journalist; Thomas Cooper De Leon a well known newspaper editor and author; three sisters, Agnes, Maria Louisa, and Adeline Mary Adams.
He obtained his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1836 and was appointed an assistant surgeon to the U.S. Army in 1838. He was involved in the Seminole War in Florida and was active in frontier outposts in the West.
He earned the nickname of the "Fighting Doctor" because of his exploits in the Mexican War of 1845 serving under General Zachary Taylor. In the battle with Mexico's General Santa Anna at Chapultepec he kept American troops from fleeing by taking command after all other officers were killed or wounded. Twice cited for gallantry he also received a Congressional Citation.
On February 19, 1861 he resigned from the U.S. Army and was appointed Chief Surgeon of the Army of the Confederate States of American in March 1861. He did not retain the position for long and after serving as surgeon in various posts he resigned from the Confederate Army on August 1, 1862.
Mary Boykin Chesnut (1823-1886) writes in her Civil War diary, "Camden De Leon is sure to lose his place as surgeon general. Dr. Gibbes wants it. Dr. Nott is looked upon by many as a fit person for it. De Leon is always drunk."
When the Civil War ended, De Leon was unhappy and went to Mexico for a year. He returned to the United States and settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory where he practiced medicine and owned property.
Dr. De Leon died in Santa Fe or Albuquerque in 1872. His grave site is unknown but research is ongoing. Numerous small graveyards have been lost in Santa Fe over time and it is very possible he was buried in one of the lost.
(Information for this biography was supplied by The National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Md. http://www.civilwarmed.org/)
American surgeon who served under Jefferson Davis as the first Surgeon General of the Confederacy.
Born into a prominent Sephardic Jewish family his parents were Dr. Mordecai Hendricks De Leon and Rebecca Lopez. There were five other children: Edwin De Leon 1818-1891 a Confederate diplomat, writer, and journalist; Thomas Cooper De Leon a well known newspaper editor and author; three sisters, Agnes, Maria Louisa, and Adeline Mary Adams.
He obtained his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1836 and was appointed an assistant surgeon to the U.S. Army in 1838. He was involved in the Seminole War in Florida and was active in frontier outposts in the West.
He earned the nickname of the "Fighting Doctor" because of his exploits in the Mexican War of 1845 serving under General Zachary Taylor. In the battle with Mexico's General Santa Anna at Chapultepec he kept American troops from fleeing by taking command after all other officers were killed or wounded. Twice cited for gallantry he also received a Congressional Citation.
On February 19, 1861 he resigned from the U.S. Army and was appointed Chief Surgeon of the Army of the Confederate States of American in March 1861. He did not retain the position for long and after serving as surgeon in various posts he resigned from the Confederate Army on August 1, 1862.
Mary Boykin Chesnut (1823-1886) writes in her Civil War diary, "Camden De Leon is sure to lose his place as surgeon general. Dr. Gibbes wants it. Dr. Nott is looked upon by many as a fit person for it. De Leon is always drunk."
When the Civil War ended, De Leon was unhappy and went to Mexico for a year. He returned to the United States and settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory where he practiced medicine and owned property.
Dr. De Leon died in Santa Fe or Albuquerque in 1872. His grave site is unknown but research is ongoing. Numerous small graveyards have been lost in Santa Fe over time and it is very possible he was buried in one of the lost.
(Information for this biography was supplied by The National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Md. http://www.civilwarmed.org/)
Born into a prominent Sephardic Jewish family his parents were Dr. Mordecai Hendricks De Leon and Rebecca Lopez. There were five other children: Edwin De Leon 1818-1891 a Confederate diplomat, writer, and journalist; Thomas Cooper De Leon a well known newspaper editor and author; three sisters, Agnes, Maria Louisa, and Adeline Mary Adams.
He obtained his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1836 and was appointed an assistant surgeon to the U.S. Army in 1838. He was involved in the Seminole War in Florida and was active in frontier outposts in the West.
He earned the nickname of the "Fighting Doctor" because of his exploits in the Mexican War of 1845 serving under General Zachary Taylor. In the battle with Mexico's General Santa Anna at Chapultepec he kept American troops from fleeing by taking command after all other officers were killed or wounded. Twice cited for gallantry he also received a Congressional Citation.
On February 19, 1861 he resigned from the U.S. Army and was appointed Chief Surgeon of the Army of the Confederate States of American in March 1861. He did not retain the position for long and after serving as surgeon in various posts he resigned from the Confederate Army on August 1, 1862.
Mary Boykin Chesnut (1823-1886) writes in her Civil War diary, "Camden De Leon is sure to lose his place as surgeon general. Dr. Gibbes wants it. Dr. Nott is looked upon by many as a fit person for it. De Leon is always drunk."
When the Civil War ended, De Leon was unhappy and went to Mexico for a year. He returned to the United States and settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory where he practiced medicine and owned property.
Dr. De Leon died in Santa Fe or Albuquerque in 1872. His grave site is unknown but research is ongoing. Numerous small graveyards have been lost in Santa Fe over time and it is very possible he was buried in one of the lost.
(Information for this biography was supplied by The National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Md. http://www.civilwarmed.org/)
Gravesite Details
Some dates and information about Dr. De Leon are in minor dispute. For example his birth is sometimes listed at 1818.
