Editing William Chester Minor (section)

==Military career==
He was accepted by the [[Medical Corps (United States Army)#19th century|Union Army as a surgeon]] and may have served at the [[Battle of the Wilderness]] in May 1864, which was notable for the terrible casualties suffered by both sides. There is an unverified story of Minor also being given the task of punishing an Irish soldier in the Union Army by [[human branding|branding]] him on the face with a ''D'' for "[[deserter]]"{{Sfn | Winchester | 1998 | loc = ch 3}} and that this incident later played a role in Minor's delusions.{{Sfn | Winchester | 1998 | loc = ch 3}} Historians disagree as to whether the Union Army used branding as a punishment for desertion,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/desertion,-cowardice-and-punishment.html |title= Desertion, Cowardice and Punishment |last=Weitz |first=Mark |date= April 2012 |access-date=March 2, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author = <!-- not stated --> |title = Deserters in the Civil War |url = https://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/23934 |website = TeachingHistory |publisher = Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University|access-date = May 9, 2025 }}</ref> which means that the story may be fabricated. Moreover, it is unlikely Minor was present at the Battle of the Wilderness, which took place May 5–7, 1864, since his military records place him at Knight USA Hospital in New Haven at that time and do not show him arriving at 2 Division Hospital USA at Alexandria, Virginia, until May 17.<ref>William C. Minor, Acting Assistant Surgeon, USA, Hospital Muster Roll, 2 & 3 Divisions U.S.A General Hospital and Returns, Veterans Records, National Archives, Washington, D.C.</ref>

After the end of the Civil War, Minor saw duty in New York City. He was strongly attracted to the [[red-light district]] of the city and devoted much of his off-duty time to consorting with prostitutes. By 1867, his behavior had come to the attention of the army and he was transferred to a remote post in the [[Florida Panhandle]]. By 1868, his condition had progressed to the point that he was admitted to [[St. Elizabeths Hospital]], a [[lunatic asylum]] (as [[Psychiatric hospital|mental health hospitals]] were then called) in Washington, D.C. After 18 months he showed no improvement.