Final answer:
The Nurse Corps of the United States Army was established by Dorothea Dix, who was appointed during the American Civil War to oversee the Union Army's nurses, fostering women's involvement in military medical care and sanitary reform.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Nurse Corps of the United States Army was established by Dorothea Dix during the American Civil War. In the North, women volunteered extensively due to the efforst by Dix, who was appointed to supervise the Union Army's nurses. This movement came in response to women's increased involvement in medical care during the war and Dorothea Dix's campaign for reform in the treatment of the mentally ill and the sanitary conditions in military camps. It is important to recognize that her leadership during the war era contributed significantly to the formation and professionalization of nursing within the military context. Although Elizabeth Smellie and Margaret Macdonald were notable nurses associated with the Canadian Army Medical Corps, they did not contribute to the establishment of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.