What do our young people know about the men and women of Confederate History Month in April? Please share with your family.

Sally Tomkins was born in "Poplar Grove" Mathews City, Virginia on November 9, 1833. After her husband's death, Tomkins' mother moved the family to Richmond, Virginia, where Sally lived at the outbreak of the War Between the States.

When the Confederate Governement asked the public to help care for the wounded from the First Battle of Manassas (also called Bull Run in the north) Tomkins responded by operating a private hospital, which was funded by Judge John Robertson.

Robertson Hospital, subsidized by Tomkins' substantial inheritance, treated 1,333 Confederate soldiers from the opening until the last pateints were discharged on June 13, 1865.

Confederate officers tried to place their most seriously wounded in Sally Tomkins' care, because the hospital returned more patients to the ranks than any other medical facility.

Tomkins used her high rate of success to convince President Jefferson Davis to keep her hospital open as other private hosptials were closed in the city.

To circumvent the regulation that all hospitals are run by military personnel, on the 9th day of September 1863, President Jefferson Davis appointed Tomkins a Captain of the Cavalry. Sally Tomkins was the only woman honored by a commission on either side, north or south. Her commission as an officer entitled her to receive items from the military.

Captain Sally Tomkins was always welcome among the ranks of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and upon her death on July 25, 1916, was given a funeral with military honors.

For more information check: www.confederateheritagemonth.com

A native of Georgia, Calvin Johnson lives near the historic town of Kennesaw, home of the locomotive "The General" from the War Between the States. He is Chairman of the Confederate History and Heritage Month for the Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans and he's the author of the book When America Stood for God, Family and Country. His email is: cjohnson1861@bellsouth.net.