Dunlap's Pennsylvania packet , The general advertiser — Philadelphia, Pa., 1777-04-22 00:00:00, page 1

Fir the Pennsylvania Packet.
DIRECT! ONS for preserving the H EALTH
&F SOLDERS: Recommended to the conf;erati?n
ofthe () FFicEß^in the ARMY of the UNiTZD
American States.
FA FA L experience has taught the people of Ame
rica the truth of a proportion long since eftabiilh
ed in Europe, that a greater proportion or mn periffi
with sickness in all armies than fall by the (word, ihe
last campaign produced melancholy proofs of this asser
tion in every part of the Continent. But we ought to
confider upon this occasion, not only the mere LAs of
those worthy citizens who pe ifhed in this manner. The
complicated dirtrefs which accompanied their fickrtls
and delta, fhoaid never be forgotten. The gallant
youth who had torn himfelf from the arms of his pa
rents, or the partner of his joys ; who had plighted his
life to his country in the field ; and who, perhaps, (in
the epthufiafm of his military ardor) had courted death
from a muftet or a cannon ball, was often forced from
the feeae of action and glory by the attack of a fever,
2nd obliged to languifli for days or weeks in an ho pi
tal; and, at Igft, to close his eyes deprived of the sweet
^onfolation of a dying soldier, the th uyhts of ending his
life in the arms of victory, or in an ^ of just resentment
agaitrif the enemies of the liberties of his country.
The wisdom and munificence of the C^ngrefs, it is to
be hoped, have made the molt ample pr wilf c for lean
ing the calamities of war from fickne s in hur armies
hereafter, and, ifpoffible, to prevent it altogether; for
I maintain, that the mortality from (ickcels tn camps is
mot necessarily conceded with a I Ider's life: ft was
unknown to the armies of ancien Greece and Rome.
—Their armies had no di(cafes perch r to th'mlelves ;
nor were the diseases, to which their soldiers were lub
jed, attended with any peculiar symptoms. But the mu
nificence of the Congress, and the fl<ill of physicians and
fargeons, will avail but little in preventing mortality fi om
sickness among our soldiers, without the concurrence of
the Officers of the army. Your au hority, Gentle
men, is absolutely necefTuy to enforce the most fa
lurary plans and precepts for preferring the health of
the soldiers. Your own personal fafety is concerned in
your concurring in the plan adopted by the„Congre<s.
But if this were not the case, I am perluaded humani
ty and patrio'ifm would not plead in vaia in favor of
those brave fellows, whole lives are committed to your
care by the fuffrages of your country.
The art of preserving the health of a soldier consists
in attending to the following particulars: I. Driss.
11. Diet. 111. Cleanliness. And IV Encamp
ments.
I. The dress of a soldier has a great influence up
on his health. It is to be lamented, that the peculiar
Situation of our country, from the infancy of nur fo
reign trade and domestic manufactures, has obliged us
to clothe our foidiers chiefly in linen. It is a wed
known fad, that the perspiration of the body, by at
taching itfelf to linen, and afterwards, by mixing with
rain, is disposed to forGmiafmata, which produce fe
vers. Upon this account 1 could won the rifle Girt
was baniffied from our army. Besides accumulating pu
trid miafmata, it conceals tilth, and prevents a due re
gard being paid to cleanliness. The Roman foidiers
wore flannel Girts next to their ficins. Fids was one
among other causes of the healthiness of the Roman
armies. During the last war in America, Gen. (then
Col.) Gage obliged the foidiers of his regiment to
wear flannel shirts, from an accidental want of linen,
and it was remarkable; during a sickly campaign on the
Lakes, not a single soldier belonging to the said regi
ment was ever seen in any of the military hofpitas.
1 have known several instances where the yearly visits
of the intermitting fever have been staid in the Stare
of Pennsylvania, in places most fubjed to that disorder,
by nothing else but the use of flannel shirts.
The hair by being long uncombed, is apt to accu
mulate the perforation of the head, which by becom
ing putrid sometimes produces diseases. There are two
methods of guarding again* this evil, the lift is by
combing and dressing the hair every day ; the se
cond is by wearing it thin and (hurt in the neck. Ihe
former it attended with delays often incompatible with
the duty of a soldier, and therefore the latter is to be
preferred to it. This eay mode of wearing the hair
^@ore^
t^
OR
GENERAL
VOL VI.
D U N L A P's
TUESDAY, APRIL 22d, 1777.
11. The diet of foidiers fhouhl consist chief, of
vegetables. The nature of th^ir out,, as well as their
former habits of life, reqri e it. if every tree on the
continent ot America produced Jeiuns bark, it would
not be fufficicht to picfetvc or to retort the health of
foidiers who eat two . r th ee p mods of tlelh m a day.
Their vegetables Gould b: well choked. It is of the
lift confequeoce teat damaged Hour Gould not be uled
in the camp. I: is the feed :f many disorders. It is of
equal cvofeque3ce th^c good iLu- Gould not be ren
dered unwholfome by an t. rin making it into bread.
Perhaps it was the danger to which flour was always
exposed of bring damaged in a camp, or being render
ed unwholfome from he m^m n'baking it, that led
the Rmpan Generas t'ui .^^ ihad of flour, tor
the dai'y food of their ^ ..,;, CxG. fed his troops
with wh Mt ojy, in hi, expedition into Gaul. It was
prepared by bein^ well boiled, aG vas eaten with spoons
in the room of bread. Isa little sugar or meiaffes is ad
ded to when prepared in this marker, it forms not on
ly a most wholesome food, but a most agreeable repast.
What Gall I fay to the custom of drinking spirituous
liquors, which prevails lo generally in our army? I
am aware of the prejudices in favour of it. It requires
an arm more powerful than mine—the arm ofa Her
cules to encounter them. The common apology for
the use of rum in our army, is, that it is necessary to
guard against the effects of heat and cold. But I main
tain, that in no case whatever, does rum abate the ef
fe&s of either of them upon the constitution: On the
contrary, I believe it always increases them. The
temporary elevation of spirits in summer ; and the tem
porary generation of warmth in winter, produced by rum,
always leave the body languid, and more liable to be af
fecicu with heat audeoid %fievwfr?& Happy would it be
for our loldiers, if the evil ended here! the use of rum,
by gradually wearing away the powers of the system,
lays the foundation of fevers, —flux s, —jaundices, —and
all the train of diseases which occur in military hospi
tals. It is a vulgar error to suppose that the fatigue
arising from violent exercise, or hard labor, is relieved
by the use of spirituous liquors. The principles of
animal life are the fame in a hore as in a man, and
horses, we find undergo the severest labour with no
other liquor than cool water. There a.e many in
stances where even reapers have been forced to ac
knowledge that plentiful draughts o' milk and water
have enabled them to gg through the faigues of har
vest with more plerfure and fewer inconveniences to
their health, tham ever they experienced from the use
of a mixture at rum and water.
Spirituous liquors wee unknown to the armies of
ancient Rome. The canteen of every soldier was fil
led with nothing bu vinegar, and it was by frequently
d inking a mail quantity of this wholetome iquor mix
ed with water, that the Roman foidiers were enabled
to sustain tedious matches through scorching lands,
without being fubje& to sickness of any kind. The vi
negar effectually refills that tendency to putrefaction,
to which heat and labour dispose the fluids. It more
over calms the inordinate a&ion of the tolids, which is
Created by hard duty. It would be foreign to my pur
pose, or I might ffiew that the abdrattion of rum from
cut soldiers, would contribute greatly to promote dici
pline and a faithful discharge cf duty among them.
Gen. Wolfe, who was a Philosopher as well as a Ge
neral, never fuffered a drop of ipiiis to be drank by
bis soldiers, except when they served as centries or up
on fatigue duty in rainy weather. Perhaps these are
the only cases in which a small quantity of turn may be
ufeful. It will be of the most essential service if it be
mixed with three or four times its quantity of water.
111. Too much cannot belaid in favour of clean
liness. If it were possible to convert every blade of
grals on the Continent into an American soldier, the
want of cleanliness would reduce them in two or three
campaigns to a handful of men. It fhouki extend 1.
To the botty of a soldier. He (hould be obliged to wash hs
hands and face at lealt once every day, and his whole
body twice or three times a week, Specially in summer.
The cold bath was part of the military dilcipline of the
Roman soldiers, and contributed much to preserve their
health : 2. It Should extend to the deathes of a soldier.
Frequent changes of linen are indilpenfably necessary,
and unless a ftn& regard is paid to this article, all our
~° \^h r'm nr
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!^^^^^^
THE
ADVERTISER.
&^^> G^ CQ/CdSGxz^^
care Gould be taken that the vessels in dihich he cocks Ls
rivals should be carefully washed after each time 0 their
being uftd.
Too many soldiers mould not be allowed on any
pretence whatever to crowd into the tame tent or quar.
ter. The goal fever is the offspring of rhe pertyirari
on and respiration of human bodies brought into a
compass too narrow to be diluted, and rendered inert
by a mixture with the atraofphere.
The straw or hay which composes the bed of a soldi
er, should be often changed, and his blanket fhull be
exposed every day to the fun. This w ; ll preven the
perspiration from becoming morbid and dangerous by
accumulating upon it.
The Commanding Officer should take the utm^ft
care never to fuffer a soldier to sleep, or even to tit
down in his tent with wet eloathes, nor tn lie dovn in
a wet blanket or upon damp straw. the utmost v^i
lance will be necessary to guard agaiuft this frugal
source of disorders among soldiers.
The environs of each tent, and of the camp G ge
neral, Should be kept perfectly clean of the offals of
animals and of filth of all kinds. They Gould be bured
or carefully removed every day beyond the neighbour
hood of the camp.
IV. The formation of an encampment is of the
utmost importance to the health or an am 7 [r is %)
no parpofe to seek for fecurny from an en' n the
wisest disposition of troops in a country wb .e mashes
and mill-ponds let loose intermitting fevers upp : them.
Sometimes it may be necessary to e ^unp ^ amp' to
on the fide of a river. Previous to this fte, it is rhe
duty of the Quarter Matter to enquire rr^m 1 ijc
quarter the winds come at the Guton of bri enca 110-
meat. If they pass a-cross the river btf, , they reach
his array, they will probably bring with &m,h° c^
of bilious and intermitting fevers, and Gis will ^^
especially be the case in the fall of the year. I ? e
British troops at Pensacola, by Gifting their qu:ru $
every year, so as to avoid the winds that c?me ever
a river in the neighbourhood of the town, at a ctr ain
season, have preferred their health in a manner scarce
ly to be paraphed in so warm a climate.
It is the duty of the Commanding Officer of a di
vifioo or detachment of the army, to avoid is much as
possible, exposing his troops to unnecefevy fatigue, or
watchfulnefs. The daily exercises of the m.xnal, and
manoeuvres, (which contribute to the health of J 11 rs)
as alio all marches, should be performed in thec ,& of
the morning and evening in summer. Castries thornl
always be provided with watch coats, and they th ail
be often relieved in very hot, fold, and rainy weathe.
The fire and smoke of wood, as alia rhe burning s : f
fulphur, and the explosion of gunpowder, have a fi 1-
gutar efficacy in preserving and retting the purity of
the air. There was an instance in the ! ...rb een
Britain and France, of a ffiip in Sir Edward Hh $
fleet, that had above one hundred mer n buard id
with a putrid fever. This (hip was bb iged to be-? rr
part in the well known battle between Sir hd^ard
and Monsieur Conflans. A few days after the cru ce
ment, every man on board this ship recovered, ^d a
entire stop was put to the pragrefs of the dfrrder.
This extraordinary event was thought to be occrin 1-
ed by the explosion and effluvia cf the gunpowder.
I shall conclude these direafonsby uggeiling two
hints which appear to be worthy of the attention of rhe
gentlemen of the army. Consider in the fit ft place that the
principal study of an officer, in the time of war ftptud
be to save the blood of his men. An heroic ex ^Oll
is admired most when it has been performed with trie
loss of a few lives. But if it be meritorious 10 'ave the
lives of soldiers by (kill and attention in the fieri,
why Gould it be thought less so to preserve them by
(kill and attention of another kind, in a march, or an
encampment? And on the contruy, if it be criminal
in an officer to ficrifice the lives of thcufacds by hiri
temerity in a battle, why Gould it be th ught sis fa
facrifice tw ce their number in a hafp^al, by his r.e i
gence ?—Conlidir in the feco^d place, that an atterD^n
to the health of your soldiers, is absolutely necc/Ri/
to form a great military chara&er.
Had it not b^n for this eminent quality, Xenophon
would never have led ten thousand G erk f- 'x n
months through a cold and mott inhofpi aba coanx,,
wonfdfrbius have that arm'. -tosher < r n
r. 7 - .. , v '“,s creuir win oe given, on r b 3
NUMB 284.