During at least the American Revolution, officers could receive MUCH better medical care than enlisted soldiers. The difference, as ever, came down mostly to money. Officers were almost always from at least the middling sort, with the highest positions in any army of the period held by men of wealth and means. This meant that officers could often afford to hire or retain their own physicians and buy their own medical supplies. This was particularly important in America, where trained physicians were rare and supplies of any kind could be hard to obtain.

General Washington had his own personal physician in Dr. Benjamin Rush, one of the best medical minds in the country. Officers also had the option to go on extended medical leave or resign because of poor health, as Daniel Morgan and Horatio Gates both did. The most an enlisted man in the Continental Army could look forward to if he was battling a debilitating injury or illness was assignment to the Corps of Invalids, who garrisoned positions deep in the interior (usually supply bases) and generally worked on logistical operations.