Wartime Wounds & Diseases

Soldiers suffered from smallpox, putrid fever, venereal disease, fractures, and amputations alongside common ailments like coughs and rheumatism. Hand-drawn registers of sick and wounded soldiers kept track of the variety of diseases and ailments prevalent at the Continental Army General Hospitals, giving army leaders a sense of their military capacity. In the example from Albany and Schenectady, notice the separate columns tracking “men nurses,” “women nurses,” and “fatigue men” (laborers). This offers clear evidence that patient care required dedicated nursing staff to keep the hospital running. Also note that Albigence Walso is using a "Discutient Plaster" in his care of a soldier, the recipe for which he likely found in the British medical text Pharmacopoeia pauperum (1718), which circulated in the American colonies. Click here to learn more.