Military and Medicine To trace the footpath of military medicine from the fourteenth century to the eighteenth century is akin to detailing the medical advancements that has accompanied military conquests from the early civilizations to the present post modern society. The ancient medical knowledge and practices acted as the pedestal of modern civilian and military medicine. The Hippocratic theory espoused by Hippocrates remains the bedrock of medical advancements. Through military conflicts, conquests and trade, medical knowledge was transmitted from empire to empire. It is therefore prudent that to effectively discern, appreciate the progressivity and present the nature of military medicine as practiced by the British army in the eighteenth century, the bedrock of military medicine advancement must also be taken through a suave and logical analysis. Military medicine refers to the application of medicine in a military setting specifically for the benefit of the military. It is but an outgrowth of civilian medicine in the civilian community adopted for the military community. The relationship between medicine and war has often been proclaimed as being beneficial. However, military medicine is a conservative and non innovative component of medicine. These are cases where medical advancements have originated from war. Leo Van Bergen states that “many steps in surgical advancement and anesthesiology during the 20 th century are a debt to military medicine… the impact of warfare… on medical research can be stimulating and demanding, leading sometimes to real achievements” Ever since the beginning of wars and conflicts, the role of medicine in influencing not only the rate of change but also the outcome of conquest has never been ignored. There are cases where war served to advance medical knowledge. For instance, in the 16 th century the French Military surgeon, Ambroise Pare, discovered a new treatment for gunshot wounds. Casualties in war have always prompted doctors to use such opportunities and challenges as a pedestal for more advanced therapeutic alternatives. However, just as it can trigger a wave of new discoveries, war has been known to slow down medical progress. A notable example is the barbaric destruction of Rome by tribes of Northern Europe that led to the collapse of Roman empire and with it the medical knowledge that had been amassed for centuries. The resultant effect was medical progression in Europe during the subsequent era in the Dark Ages. It is the logics and principles of the medieval medical practices that laid the groundwork that would shape modern medicine. From the fifteenth century efficient methods of disease intervention were continually perfected and passed from generation to generation. Today’s concepts that drive developments in diagnosis, anatomy, medical training, research and public health systems draw their roots from the middle ages. In war medical doctors and physicians had the primary responsibility not only preventing and treating infections but also ensuring that recovery was quick to allow soldiers to return to fighting hence strengthening the work fighting force. Moreover the number of injured and the appalling