How Disease Affected The Military During The American Revolution

Before the flu pandemic of 1918 and the Coronavirus of 2020, there was the smallpox outbreak of 1775-1777. John Adams wrote to his wife on June 26, 1776, "The smallpox is ten times more terrible than Britons, Canadians, and Indians together. The small Pox! The small Pox! What shall We do with it?"This book explores the various diseases that affected the American and British armies during the Revolution. It examines how diseases helped decide the outcome of some battles and may have altered the course of the war. During the retreat to Crown Point, American General John Sullivan reported, "I found myself at the head of a dispirited Army, filled with horror at the thought of seeing their enemy....Smallpox, famine, and disorder had rendered them almost lifeless. Half of my 7,000 men were too sick or wounded for duty. Lice and Maggots....were creeping in Millions over the victims"In 1780 German historian Johnann David Shoepf described South Carolina, "Carolina was in the spring a paradise, in the summer a hell, and in the autumn a hospital."The book also examines some early uses of biological warfare. "Could it not be contrived to send the smallpox among those disaffected tribes of Indians?" ---- Sir Jeffery Amherst, the British commander-in-chief in North America.