Mary Ann Brown Newcomb

Mary Ann Brown Newcomb, also known as Mary A. Newcomb (January 5, 1817 – December 23, 1892), was a camp and hospital nurse who served the Union Army during the American Civil War. She wrote the book Four Years of Work and Personal Experience in the War.

She had no experience caring for wounded soldiers, but like other Civil War nurses, Newcomb relinquished her everyday responsibilities to serve as a hard-working nurse. Her husband, First Sergeant Hiram A.W. Newcomb (born July 25, 1811) was wounded on February 15, 1862, and died eleven days later.

She provided care for her son, who healed and returned to active service, and her severely wounded husband who wished that she care for "the boys" with the 11th Illinois Infantry Regiment.

Mary Ann Brown was born on January 5, 1817, in Cayuga County, New York, the daughter of Mary Lockwood and Russell Brown. She died at her home in Effingham, Illinois on December 23, 1892. The American National Biography states that she died on December 22, 1892,