THE RESULT OF OBSERVATIONS
MADE UPON
THE DISEASES
WHICH OCCURRED IN
THE MILITARY HOSPITALS
OF THE UNITED STATES,
DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN
AND THE UNITED STATES.
1. The army when in tents, was always more sickly, than in the open air. It was likewise more healthy when it was kept in motion, than when it lay in an encampment.
2. Young men under twenty years of age, were subject to the greatest number of camp diseases.
3. The southern troops were more sickly than the northern or eastern troops.
4. The native Americans were more sickly than the natives of Europe who served in the American army.
5. Men above thirty, and five and thirty years of age, were the hardiest soldiers in the army. Perhaps the reason why the natives of Europe were more healthy than the native Americans, was, they were more advanced in life.
6. The southern troops sickened from the want of salt provisions. Their strength and spirits were restored only by means of salted meat. I once saw a private in a Virginia regiment, throw away his ration of choice fresh beef, and give a dollar for a pound of salted bacon.
7. Those officers who wore flannel shirts or waistcoats next to their skins, in general escaped fevers and diseases of all kinds.