A Career in Medical Science Begins 55

Chapter Four

A Career in Medical Science Begins

I

f Sternberg seriously entertained the idea of becoming part of the Army Medical 

Museum staff in the spring of 1870 so that he could pursue bench-work 

science in the laboratory, he was sorely disappointed. An alliance between 

military medicine and science—cooperatively striving to prevent disease and 

improve the health of the individual soldier—was an idea whose time had not yet 

arrived. Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes had already gathered what he considered to be the best and brightest officers of the Army Medical Department—

Joseph J. Woodward, John S. Billings, George A. Otis, and Edward Curtis—to staff 

the museum. They were heavily engaged in compiling the Medical and Surgical 

History of the War of the Rebellion, refining photomicrographic techniques, and 

testing field medical equipment; so, adding a fifth officer would mean that some 

field post would go without sufficient medical coverage. Barnes was aware of 

Sternberg’s interests in medical science, but considered them unsupportable. He 

had approved Curtis and Billings to assist the Department of Agriculture’s investigation of diseased cattle, but Congress was funding those research efforts because 

only healthy cattle turned a profit. The army was not receiving any research grants 

for any purpose and, furthermore, the results of Curtis and Billings’ work only 

led to disillusionment for the entire idea of a germ theory. Barnes could not waste 

money or personnel on such unproductive endeavors when the army needed 

surgeons in field assignments. Therefore, the surgeon general ordered Sternberg to 

Fort Columbus on Governors Island in New York Harbor. Ironically, this assignment would focus Sternberg on a subject that would put him in the vanguard of 

the fledgling science of bacteriology for the next 31 years.1

On August 14, Sternberg encountered an unusual, yet severe disease in one of 

the married enlisted soldiers who lived in the tenement house in the northeast 

corner of the island. The malady swept with lethal rapidity through the barracks 

that housed the band, the laundress’ quarters on the island’s eastside, and the officer’s 
56 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

quarters on the north. Based on the signs and symptoms, Post Surgeon Major 

Charles Page and Sternberg believed they were dealing with a form of malignant 

malarial fever or perhaps a mild form of yellow fever modified by the northern 

climate. Page informed Lieutenant Colonel John M. Cuyler, Medical Director, 

Department of the East, about the crisis, but did not immediately inform the New 

York City and Brooklyn Boards of Health about the outbreak. On September 2, 

New York City residents attended the funeral of Private William Harrington, who 

had died of the enigmatic malady on the island the day before. Ten days later, all 

four of them were dead. The nature of their deaths was inconclusive, but yellow 

fever was suspected. 

The New York City Board of Health initiated an inquiry into these deaths that 

led them to Governors Island for answers. The investigating team that consulted 

with Page and Sternberg on the island included Doctors Stephen Smith, G. Ceccarini, 

Moreau Morris, J. M. Carnochan, and Thomas Cottman. Of these physicians, only 

Cottman and Page had any practical experience with yellow fever, and, therefore, 

the board leaned heavily on their opinions for a reliable diagnosis. Diagnostic 

criteria for yellow fever consisted of observing characteristic signs and symptoms—such as continuous fever, head and flank pain, nausea, black vomit or other 

signs of bleeding, and a yellowing of the skin—at the bedside and finding albumin, 

a protein, in the urine. Apparently, none of the consultants discovered a sufficient 

amount of these characteristics to diagnose yellow fever. Although Page reiterated 

that it might be a mild form of yellow fever, it was not the malignant variety he 

had seen at his southern postings. He leaned toward a malarial fever diagnosis. 

The board’s investigation was rapid but careful, according to board members, and 

they were happy to proclaim the disease malarial in nature as “... no good could be 

accomplished by letting the public know that such a dreaded visitation [as yellow 

fever] had reached their City.”2

Not all of the board members were convinced that Page’s diagnosis was accurate. 

It was well known that a few ships infected with yellow fever had arrived in the 

New York Harbor that summer, and not all of them had followed correct quarantine procedures. At the suggestion of Dr. Smith, local physician and nonboard 

member, Dr. Josiah Clark Nott, who had significant yellow fever experience in Alabama, was requested to reevaluate the matter. On September 28, Nott reviewed 

and examined cases. He declared it was a yellow fever outbreak. The board of 

health hastily reversed its original decision, but some of the military surgeons involved still doubted that yellow fever was running rampant on the island. Although 

Sternberg had agreed with the earlier diagnosis of malaria, Nott’s consultation 

changed his mind. He would never again confuse the two fevers. A request was 

sent through Post Commander Lieutenant Colonel Thomas H. Neill and Medical 

Director Cuyler to General Irwin McDowell, commander of the Department of 

the East, to establish a quarantine of the island and remove the sick to the new 

quarantine hospital 10 miles down the harbor. This was readily agreed to, and 

Sternberg was detailed to accompany them. Sixty patients—some of them in a 

moribund condition—were quickly prepared. Medical orderlies carried patients, 
A Career in Medical Science Begins 57

iron beds, and all onto the waiting vessel. The last bed had hardly hit the deck 

before the steamer’s captain—anxious to be rid of his lethal cargo—was ready 

to shove off. With but a few moments for good-byes, Sternberg embraced his 

wife. Both were afraid of what the very near future might hold, but neither 

would betray that emotion for now. “Be a brave little woman,” he encouraged 

hastily, “I will come soon to care for you.”3

Sternberg’s stoicism on the Governors Island dock was merely a charade; in 

his heart he was terrified for Martha’s life. As he waved to her from the steamer’s 

bow, the memory of Louisa’s wasted form lying prostrate at Fort Harker filled 

him with dread for Martha’s safety. He had determined that this would not happen 

to her, even if he had to violate the quarantine. Sometime between the initiation of the quarantine on September 29 and the time he left for the quarantine 

hospital, Sternberg developed a clandestine plan to get Martha and their maid to 

safety. In this endeavor he had two accomplices, Neill and a cousin, a successful 

merchant named Watson, in Newark, New Jersey. Neill agreed to transport Martha 

and the maid in his personal barge, and Watson would meet the boat on the New 

York shore with his carriage after dark. Watson would then provide a refuge for 

the women until the first frost eliminated the disease from the island. Mrs. Sternberg, 

who was unaware of these events, was surprised when she returned home from 

tending to a very ill Mrs. Page, the post surgeon’s wife, one afternoon late in 

September, to find Neill anxiously waiting on her porch. “There is a small boat just 

off our landing waiting for an answer from you,” he stated quietly. “Dr. Sternberg has 

communicated with a cousin of his, asking him to come and take you and your 

maid with him.”4 It was Neill’s turn to be surprised when Martha declined to go. 

The well-meaning conspirators had failed to anticipate that she would see her 

duty differently and resist abandoning her husband and home. She also reminded him that they could all be arrested for ignoring the quarantine. Perplexed, the 

frustrated Neill responded, “We have thought of all of that; my barge will take 

you and your maid over to New York at 11 o’clock tonight; your cousin will meet 

you at the Battery with a carriage; you will get immediately into the carriage and 

proceed out of New York state as quickly as possible.”5 Martha perceived that the 

details of her flight had been carefully planned and her husband expected her to 

be on that barge. Neill’s promise to watch their quarters removed Martha’s last 

reservations about leaving. Later that night, she and her maid scurried quietly 

aboard the colonel’s barge and escaped to the mainland.6

As these events transpired, Sternberg began a long and trying month at the 

Swinburne Island Hospital. Created on an artificial shoal near Fort Richmond, 

Staten Island, Swinburne Island Hospital had just been completed. There were ample quarters for physicians and nurses and six well-equipped, pavilion-style hospitals that accommodated 250 patients each. Hospital Steward David Robertson accompanied Sternberg to the quarantine station hospital, but as the epidemic grew, 

it became apparent that Sternberg’s capabilities would soon be overwhelmed if he 

did not receive greater assistance. To relieve this situation, medical director Cuyler 

dispatched Lieutenant Colonel Thomas A. McParlin, surgeon at the U.S. Military 
58 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

Academy, who had had experience with yellow fever during the war with Mexico, 

and another physician to assist in confirming and treating cases.7

By the end of the first week in October, eight of the 60 transferred patients had 

died, and an average of four new yellow fever cases per day had been received 

from Governors Island. The epidemic was not abating. The board of health recommended to Cuyler that the island be evacuated until the first frost could halt 

the disease. General McDowell refused. While he stated his medical director had 

already reported—although erroneously—the long-awaited frost, he had no safe 

or decent place to put the 500 men, women, and children that inhabited the post.8

At Swinburne Hospital, Sternberg received an education in yellow fever diagnosis and treatment. He wrote to Martha daily. His letters nearly always expressed 

his relief that she was safe, assurances that their separation would be short-lived, 

and a confirmation that he too was in the best of health. However, his letters were 

not pandering attempts to allay his wife’s fears by putting a soothing patina over 

a trying situation. On the contrary, Sternberg shared in detail his daily toil and 

emotions with her in detail. The extremely long hours at the hospital fatigued 

him greatly, and the ebb and flow of patients recovering and dying kept his spirits 

in a constant state of flux. Post Chaplain Davidson, who had been on sick leave 

when the epidemic struck, returned to minister to the sick and rapidly succumbed 

as had the little drummer boy in the band; however, Sternberg’s clinical efforts 

seemed to retrieve others from death’s door. He hoped to make a short visit to see 

Martha, but the timing of the barge from Governors Island always frustrated his 

hopes for this rejuvenating respite. 

As cases began to wane, he found a medically related opportunity to go to New 

York City that included a flying visit to Newark. The long-awaited homecoming 

was a joyous occasion, but Martha was shocked by her husband’s appearance. The 

fatigue and depression she had only read about now stood before her in the pale, 

underweight form of her husband. She knew his dedication to patients and afterhours work habits consumed him to the detriment of his own well-being. Epidemic 

or no epidemic, she was determined to return to the West Bank with him, if only to 

ensure he was taking care of himself. Sternberg lacked the energy to resist.9

The anxiously awaited and much anticipated first frost stubbornly resisted making 

an appearance until late in October. As expected, the epidemic dried up rapidly, 

and the Sternbergs returned to their quarters on Governors Island. There had been 

157 cases of yellow fever and 49 deaths. The epidemic had left the post shaken and 

subdued. Effects of the outbreak still lingered. Many buildings on the west side of 

post had been torn down, and although the quarters looked pretty much the same, 

every mattress, carpet, and item of bedding had been burned to ensure that the 

yellow fever poison had been eliminated. During the quiet winter of 1870–1871, 

officers and enlisted personnel convalesced and many were transferred to new assignments. In late April, Surgeon Madison Mills assumed duties as post surgeon 

at Fort Columbus, and Sternberg was transferred to Fort Hamilton at the entrance 

of New York Harbor. Although Mrs. Sternberg remembered the assignment as 

pleasant, it was extremely short-lived, and her husband spent half of his tour on 
A Career in Medical Science Begins 59

temporary duty at Fort Adams, Rhode Island. On June 20, orders transferred them 

once again, and this time to Fort Warren in Boston Harbor.10

The year the Sternbergs spent with the 5th Artillery on the 28-acre George’s 

Island was tranquil, but uncomfortable. With only a weekly boat to Boston, Fort 

Warren added new meaning to isolation. The granite-arched, casemate-style fort 

was considered excellent for a strong defensive posture in the harbor, but it was 

less than accommodating as a residence. Little light penetrated any of the perpetually damp, cold rooms, and the occupants were obliged to keep stoves lit during 

all seasons. Condensation collected on ceilings, walls, and mirrors; metal objects 

rusted quickly and mildew spread rapidly on nearly everything else. These conditions and sudden temperature changes were believed to be responsible for the 

prevailing respiratory diseases and rheumatism on post. Sternberg, like previous 

surgeons, advised against using the casemates as living quarters, and, also like 

his predecessors, made little headway. A company-sized garrison made medical 

duties incredibly light, but their living arrangement was not suitable for a home 

laboratory. Although this was probably a trial for the semi-reclusive Sternberg, it 

appears that Martha, with only two other officers’ wives with whom to converse on 

a daily basis, engaged more of her husband’s attention and compelled him to socialize more frequently. Sailing and fishing, either from the wharf or rocky shore, 

were two of their favorite pastimes. Sternberg joined another officer in purchasing 

a small sailboat, and he enjoyed showing off the skills he had learned long ago on 

Otsego Lake for Martha. Dinner parties followed by music were the main diversions during the long winter. The garrison’s musical ensemble included an officer 

on piano, Martha on Spanish guitar, and their surgeon on the flute, an instrument 

he played well, according to his wife.11

In July 1872, Sternberg was reassigned as acting medical director, Department 

of the Gulf, while Medical Director James Simons was on extended leave. The first 

issues he encountered were well known to him from the war: yellow fever, sanitation, and quarantine. By 1872, the effects of the declining value in state-issued 

paper currency and the oppression of radical reconstruction were taking their toll 

on the city’s institutions, such as the Louisiana State Board of Health. The board 

had resumed its age-old struggle with epidemic disease after being returned to 

state control by the federal government in 1866. Although some health authorities 

worked diligently to maintain hygienic standards, quarantine and sanitary measures were not executed with the same rigor as they had been under martial law. 

Cholera and yellow fever had visited the city that year. Cholera claimed 1,200 

lives, and yellow fever claimed another 185. In the following year, yellow jack 

returned with a vengeance and accounted for 3,000 deaths. Although an absolute 

quarantine with other cities was a sure fix to the problem, it was also a doubleedged sword that had to be wielded carefully. Tight quarantine regulations might 

preclude yellow fever, but they also caused a decline in commerce that risked the 

city’s economy. Public health officials had to be sensitive to both issues. Although 

local physicians and public health advocates, such as Dr. Stanford Chaille, recognized the need for sanitary reform in the “unsewered [sic] streets and the heaps of 
60 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

decomposing garbage which rot unmolested in the sluggish gutters,” they found it 

difficult to convince legislators to fund long-term programs.12 It was, therefore, no 

surprise when yellow fever reappeared during the summer of 1872. Fortunately, 

yellow jack remained localized to the wharf district and a few other contiguous 

areas. More importantly for Sternberg, the outbreak provided the opportunity to 

meet local city physicians, such as Chaille, Joseph Holt, Edward H. Barton, JeanCharles Faget, and Joseph Jones, and become actively involved with yellow fever 

again. The yellow fever epidemic at Fort Columbus had made a significant impact 

on Sternberg. It stimulated an interest that intensified over time and demanded 

description, analysis, explanation, and, hopefully, publication. Now he was in the 

proper venue to resume his literary work with colleagues who were interested and 

experienced with the disease. 

With Dr. Simons’ return in mid-October, Sternberg was reassigned to Fort 

Barrancas, nine miles from Pensacola on the Florida panhandle. The cultural, 

intellectual, and professional stimulation and excitement to which they had become accustomed over the past 18 months in New York, Boston, and New Orleans ended abruptly when the steamer docked them at the Barrancas wharf. 

Fort Barrancas, a small artillery post, sat on a sandy plateau overlooking Pensacola Bay. Warrington, the Navy Yard, was situated a mile to the east on the road to 

Pensacola, and the village of Woolsey was located just north of the yard. An increase in the size of the garrison the previous year had induced the government 

to renovate some of the older officer’s quarters and construct three new units, 

as well as new quarters for the laundresses. However, in Mrs. Sternberg’s words, 

“Fort Barrancas was not an attractive post. The officer’s quarters were new frame 

buildings, neither well planned nor well built. We chose a set of quarters near the 

hospital; the house was surrounded by a wide porch which added to our comfort 

during the summer season.”13 Each set of quarters was elevated and surrounded 

by a picket fence and a boardwalk, built to keep the children out of the burr grass 

that grew in abundance, and connected all of the post houses. Except for this 

unattractive and irritating weed and a few fruit and magnolia trees, the sandy 

soil failed to grow anything of beauty.14

Although less than impressed with the new post and surroundings, the Sternbergs appreciated that condensation was not continually dripping from every wall, 

their world was not circumscribed by water, and field deployment was unlikely. 

Although Fort Barrancas was not a garden spot, they determined there was no reason why the confines of their picket fence could not become one. Gardening was a 

relaxing pleasure the Sternbergs had always enjoyed, but the soil of Fort Barrancas 

required a little creative reworking to become productive. Sternberg bought topsoil, which was brought in by schooner, and obtained a special bluegrass seed advertised to develop into a lush lawn with appropriate care. With a shovel, rake, and 

wheelbarrow, the Sternbergs landscaped their property, planted seed, and adorned 

their yard with several horticultural curiosities from the nearby Grand Bayou. A 

green oasis emerged among the otherwise desolate yards of the garrison.15

Martha helped relieve the tedium of garrison life by raising chickens—an activity 
A Career in Medical Science Begins 61

engaged in by many officers’ wives at small army posts during this era—and making frequent trips to her family in Indianapolis, while her husband concentrated 

on his yellow fever manuscript after routine medical duties were completed. The 

long hours of study and contemplation now began to take shape, and Sternberg 

crafted a paper that supported his belief that the etiologic agent of yellow fever was 

a living microorganism. He began with the premise that the current theories of 

yellow fever causation—the “non-contagionist” or belief in a local origin and the 

“contagionist” or belief in an importation of the disease—were untenable because 

they did not “explain all of the well-attested facts” of yellow fever.16 He acknowledged the three agents considered as likely etiologic candidates by the medical 

community: 

1. a volatile inorganic matter; 

2. a lifeless organic matter that catalyzes substances in the earth or 

atmosphere into the yellow fever poison; and

3. a living germ, which under favorable environmental conditions (heat, 

moisture, and so forth) will rapidly multiply and acting—directly or 

indirectly—on other substances convert them into “the efficient cause of 

disease.”17 He then presented his hypothesis “the poison [of yellow fever] is 

of the latter nature, [and] is ... the only theory consistent with the observed 

facts in regard to the origin and propagation of the disease, and upon it 

all the otherwise contradictory facts are reconcilable.”18 To support this 

hypothesis, Sternberg submitted six propositions with proofs based on the 

Governors Island epidemic:

a. Transmission from person-to-person did not occur. Individuals in Castle 

William, the arsenal, and Fort Columbus had free communication 

with infected persons during the early part of the epidemic, but only a 

few persons in Castle William and the arsenal became ill, and soldiers 

in the Fort Columbus garrison proper escaped entirely. Although 

many New York citizens who visited the island before the quarantine 

became ill, no new cases were reported in the city. Most significantly, 

none of the staff at the quarantine hospital became ill.

b. Yellow fever is not an inorganic substance generated by atmospheric 

or telluric influences. Varying atmospheric conditions had to exist on 

the island, in the harbor, and in the cities of New York and Brooklyn 

for this to be true, and a seasonal recurrence of the disease would 

be expected. Neither of these conditions was seen. If the agent were 

an inorganic substance generated from decomposing matter or other 

filth, it would need a source on the island. According to Sternberg, the 

island was in excellent sanitary condition. 

c. Yellow fever poison is portable in ships, goods, clothing, and so forth, 

and a minute quantity is capable of producing a large effect. Importation 

of the disease was an accepted fact, and most epidemics began with a 
62 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

few cases at a point of entry and then expanded. He also contended that 

an imported inorganic agent would produce only a limited effect. However, if the agent was “capable of self-multiplication, or, in other words, 

endowed with life, as in the case of the yeast plant, then its action is only 

limited by the supply of the material [human beings] acted upon...”19 He 

also stated that “strong evidence”20 exists to implicate any type of decaying timbers as a source of “preservation and increase of the germ.”21

He concluded that the Governors Island epidemic appeared to have no 

point of entry, which was a surprising comment because numerous yellow fever-laden ships had entered the harbor in the summer of 1870. 

One can only surmise Sternberg was looking for—and could not find—a 

clearly identifiable single point of entry for the infection on the island.22

If these three propositions were true, Sternberg stated, “the necessary 

inference is that it is capable of self-multiplication which is a property of 

living matter,”23 and that the argument was “reduced by exclusion to the 

supposition that a specific living germ is the cause of yellow fever.”24 His 

last three propositions were evidence that the germ theory supported 

the facts in regard to the origin and transmission of the disease. 

d. Yellow fever is completely destroyed by temperatures of 32°F or less, an 

admitted fact as evidenced by past history. 

e. Yellow fever poison may remain dormant for an unknown length of 

time. In southern cities, sporadic and late-occurring cases of yellow 

fever that appeared to have milder manifestations could not be accounted 

for by importation or freezing temperatures. The concept of a dormant stage in the agent’s life cycle appealed to Sternberg as a viable 

explanation for these cases. He said it had a milder nature because the 

agent was not native to the United States, and its virulent character 

and reproductive abilities declined over time.

f. The risk and severity of disease depend upon age, sex, temperament, 

previous habits, acclimation, and the concentration of the poison to 

which one was exposed. Although Sternberg did not doubt the importance of demographic factors, he was convinced a dose-response effect 

occurred. The first cases on Governors Island all came from the same 

house and were severe; whereas those cases among the bandsmen in 

the South Battery were milder. Sternberg also hypothesized that this 

same dose-response effect and individual susceptibility governed the 

acclimation process, and, therefore, acclimation (immunity) was not 

absolute after every case of yellow fever. For acclimation to occur, an 

individual had to be not only susceptible, but also exposed to a concentrated enough dose of poison to generate a protective effect. If the 

person was not sufficiently susceptible or the dose was too dilute, then 

exposure to a more concentrated dose of poison in the future could 

produce the disease.25
A Career in Medical Science Begins 63

He summarized his conclusions: “Yellow fever is an infectious disease, produced 

by the action upon the human system (directly or indirectly) of a specific living 

germ, which finds the conditions essential to its multiplication, external to the human body. The germ is an exotic to the United States and is destroyed by a freezing 

temperature, but may sustain its vitality for an indefinite length of time at temperatures too low for it to increase, and will regain its reproductive power when 

subjected to a continued temperature of about 80°.”26 The article, “An Inquiry into 

the Nature of the Yellow Fever Poison, with an Account of the Disease as it Occurred at Governors Island, New York Harbor,” was published in the American 

Journal of the Medical Sciences in April 1873. It was well received by the readership 

if the opinion of Dr. Herron, a Pensacola physician, that Sternberg’s ideas were 

“well expressed” was representative of his medical colleagues.27

The significance of Sternberg’s first contribution to the medical literature does 

not lie in the originality of its hypothesis or in its conclusion. The concept of a 

living organism—most probably a fungus—as the agent of yellow fever can be 

found in the references he used—LaRoche, Dowler, Reynolds—as well as others of 

the time, such as Dr. George Wood’s Treatise of Medicine (1858 edition). With the 

exception of destruction by freezing temperatures, none of his propositions was 

beyond reproach. Although well thought out, they were based for the most part 

on Sternberg’s opinions and not scientific proof. Even the most patently obvious 

point of the paper—that yellow fever is not transmitted from person-to-person—

was challenged by Dr. Herron. However, Sternberg demonstrated an ability to put 

well-considered medical ideas on paper in a cogent manner for the first time in 

his career. His own experiences provided the basis to support a radical idea that 

was beginning to stimulate considerable debate in the medical centers of Europe 

and the United States. Just as he had been anxious to show his inventive powers 

in Kansas, he now desired to show his analytical powers to his medical colleagues 

and, simultaneously, took a stand on a contentious issue.28

On the morning of September 23, 1873, yellow fever became more than a 

hypothetical problem for Sternberg. Private Ferrell, who was a patient being 

treated in the Barrancas Hospital for anemia, had experienced a chill that was 

followed by fever, nausea, and head and flank pain. The following afternoon, 

Private King reported with the same symptoms. Sternberg believed them to 

be suffering with remittent fever—malaria—but, by the evening of September 

25, the hoped-for remission in fever had not occurred. Doubting his original 

diagnosis, he thought that yellow fever was now at Barrancas. A rather simple 

and dependable examination of urine specimens for the presence of albumin 

soon verified that Ferrell and King had yellow fever. The next morning Mrs. 

Schwartz, an enlisted wife and the Sternbergs’ cook, told him she had been up 

all night with two very sick children and asked for him to examine them. After 

doing so, he was convinced an outbreak had begun and that the post hospital 

was the center of infection.29

Yellow fever had been making its rounds along the Gulf coast since July. New 

Orleans had seen cases, and physicians at the Marine Hospital in Pensacola reported 
64 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

their first case, a fatality, on August 14. Two days later, the commander of the Navy 

Yard established a quarantine to preclude any contact between those two cities and 

the military installations on the small peninsula in Pensacola Bay. All incoming mail 

was fumigated with sulfuric acid gas before it was distributed. New recruits arriving from Pensacola were stopped by marines guarding the bridge over the Grand 

Bayou, stripped bare, and washed down in a carbolic acid bath before proceeding 

on to Fort Barrancas. Sternberg was confident that all preventive measures had been 

taken, but as he stated later, “While thus keeping my eye on the outposts, the enemy 

by a strategic movement...got possession of my citadel.”30 According to Sternberg, 

the strategic movement was accomplished in a barrel of potatoes. At the direction 

of the Navy Yard commander, provisions from New Orleans were deposited on a 

flat boat in Pensacola Bay, a safe distance from the Warrington wharf, and secured 

later by merchants in the town. The potatoes had been brought into the hospital 

on August 15 and dumped onto the storeroom floor where they had been picked 

over. Rotten potatoes had been tossed over the fence surrounding the hospital in 

the direction of the Schwartz home. Sternberg therefore assumed, since the vegetables came from a known point of infection aboard a vessel most likely infected 

as well, that they too carried yellow fever germs. He reported to the surgeon general 

that, while another explanation may become evident in the future, he found “nothing improbable” with this chain of events.31 He also reported the yellow fever to the 

post commander, Major John M. Brannan, and recommended the garrison move to 

Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. Brannan’s experience with the disease during the 

Mexican war left him in little doubt of its potential severity. Before the day ended, 

steam tugs and a sloop from the Navy Yard had transported the majority of the 144-

man garrison to the island in Pensacola Bay. Brannan, the Sternbergs, the hospital 

staff, some enlisted personnel in the quartermaster’s stables, eight hospital patients, 

and an officer recovering from typhoid fever remained on post. For the next week, 

the hospital was repeatedly fumigated with sulfuric acid gas and washed down with 

carbolic acid solution. Eleven soldiers, who were infected before the garrison was removed to Fort Pickens, were eventually brought back to the hospital as they became 

ill. There were a total of 28 cases of yellow fever—12 enlisted men and 16 civilians 

on post—of which 4 soldiers, including Private Ferrell, and the 2 Schwartz children 

died. The results could have been much worse. The expeditious move to Santa Rosa 

Island limited the attack rate to 11 percent among the command. The case–fatality rate was only 22 percent, a statistic Sternberg could be pleased about when he 

compared it to the nearly 37 percent suffered at Governors Island two years before.32

By the spring of 1874, Sternberg had been an assistant surgeon for 13 years and 

a captain for eight years. He had been entitled to and nominated for promotion 

to major and surgeon on February 22, 1869. However, the Senate did not take 

immediate action on the nomination, and two weeks later a new army appropriation bill was approved. The bill prohibited any new appointments or promotions 

in the Medical Corps and in many other staff corps until further legislation was 

enacted. The delay was frustrating professionally, but more significantly it meant 

no increase in pay. Sternberg was not alone in his frustration. Thirteen other medi-
A Career in Medical Science Begins 65

cal officers, including Charles B. White and Joseph J. Woodward, had also been 

deprived of promotion by the neglect of the Senate, even though Surgeon General Barnes presented well-founded arguments for their promotions. Patiently, 

Sternberg, White, and Woodward waited, and two years later, in February 1871, 

their names were again submitted for promotion. In the nomination, President 

Ulysses Grant also stated it was only just that the promotions and pay that should 

be made retroactive to February 1869. This nomination was also made late in the 

Senate session and suffered the same fate as the earlier nomination. The next army 

staff corps reorganization was approved in June 1874. The act restored promotion in the Medical Corps, but all existing vacancies in the grade of surgeon were 

abolished. This was more bureaucratic frustration than the three medical officers 

could tolerate. Over the next six months, they successfully lobbied Surgeon General Barnes and the Secretary of War, William W. Belknap, for support in their 

petition of grievances for presentation to Congress. Sternberg’s attention, however, 

was abruptly redirected to Florida by events that had transpired in Pensacola.33

The American bark, Elmira Combs, fresh from the Panamanian isthmus, entered 

the Pensacola Bay quarantine station in mid-August 1874. It anchored between 

the Spanish ship, Virtuoso, and the German bark, Laura Maria, both of which 

had crews devastated by yellow fever. Although the American crew suffered with 

malaria, they were—at that time—free from yellow fever. Presumably, the crew of 

the Elmira Combs had no direct contact with those of the other two ships, for she 

was permitted to continue to the Pensacola wharf after only five days at the station. 

During those days, the pernicious cargo brought from Cuba by the Spanish and 

German vessels easily found its way into the wardrooms, berths, and hold of the 

Elmira Combs. On August 21, her infected crew came ashore to the watering holes 

along the city’s dock. Most of them obtained lodging at Kelley’s boarding house for 

sailors, and it was there on the following day that the first tar (sailor) was taken ill 

with yellow fever.34

As the epidemic became established in the city, cases of yellow fever were also 

being seen at the Navy Yard. Captain James F. Baker, U.S. Marine Corps, had visited 

Pensacola and became ill on August 17. Eight days later, one of his men died and 

three more Marines fell ill. Diagnostic confusion, generated by the combination of 

malaria and yellow fever, among the navy surgeons there resulted in Navy Surgeon 

John B. Ackley asking Sternberg to consult with them in late August. After making 

rounds on all of the patients, Sternberg declared them ill with yellow fever and 

urged all well personnel be moved to safer ground. Although Ackley agreed, he 

anticipated difficulty in convincing the commander of the yard, 55-year-old Commodore Melancton B. Woolsey. The commodore received the surgeons courteously 

and listened to their concerns, recommendations, and Sternberg’s repeated appeals 

to vacate the Navy Yard. But this traditional old sailor was not convinced of imminent 

disaster. Even if he were, Woolsey stated, he could “not give such an order, it would 

seem cowardly on my part, it would be equivalent to deserting the ship.”35 The commodore instituted the same strict military quarantine, as previously, but by then yellow 

jack had already gained a foothold in the Navy Yard.
66 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

One week later, Sternberg reported to Brannan after returning from the navy 

hospital: “I have reliable information that a death from yellow fever occurred at 

the navy yard last night, and that there are four more cases [one of which was Surgeon 

Ackley] reported by the surgeon-in-charge. Two of these cases I have seen, and I 

confirm the diagnosis. I...respectfully recommend...all intercourse with the naval 

reservation be discontinued, and...the garrison...be moved into camp on Santa 

Rosa Island, as an absolutely protective quarantine between army and navy reservations is practically impossible.”36 Brannan did not share his navy colleague’s 

qualms about running from an enemy he could neither see nor control, and the 

garrison encamped once again at Fort Pickens. Only two personnel in the command became ill and both of them recovered.37

Fortunately for Sternberg, Martha was visiting her family in Indianapolis when 

the epidemic struck. On September 11, he wrote, “I cannot think of allowing 

you to come until all danger from yellow fever is over.”38 She did not hear from 

her husband until he telegraphed her some days later. Word of the epidemic 

spread like wildfire throughout the surrounding counties and neighboring 

states. People were fearful that the disease could be transported on or in almost 

any object, and Woolsey reported to G. M. Robeson, Secretary of the Navy, that 

railroad personnel were dumping mailbags gathered from the Navy Yard, Fort 

Barrancas, and Warrington at Pensacola Junction. Sternberg had continued for 

some days to send letters urging Martha to remain in Indiana, but they only 

accumulated at the junction nine miles from post. Her anxiety increased with 

no word from him, and her letters, which continued to arrive, were filled with 

pleadings for permission to come home.39

While Acting Assistant Surgeon B. J. Bymer attended to the troops at Pickens, 

Sternberg assisted the navy in a crisis of growing magnitude. On September 11, 

Surgeon Ackley died. One week later, Woolsey telegraphed Washington that the 

“fever [was] not abating.”40 One by one, his ships in the bay were becoming infected. But the commodore would not abandon the ship, nor would he allow anyone else to disgrace the service by such action. Acting Assistant Surgeon George 

B. Todd became ill and quickly succumbed, as did Sternberg’s friend Captain 

Charles Franklin, along with his wife and two children. By the end of the month, 

Commodore Woolsey, Acting Assistant Surgeon Miller, Lieutenant Commanders 

Kellogg and Barclay, Captain Alexander A. Semmes, and every other commissioned officer at the Navy Yard, except for Paymaster William J. Thomsen, were 

either sick, dead, or convalescing.41

Sternberg, who was not immune to the disease, was fully cognizant of the risk 

he accepted every day at the Navy Yard. In a telegram to Martha, he insisted 

that she not return, even if he became sick: “In such a case, you must not think 

of coming here. I forbid it, my dear. I will have telegrams sent to you frequently 

and will conceal nothing from you... but you must stay at home. It is a disease 

of such short duration that I would be convalescent or beyond help before you 

could reach me and after a fatiguing journey you would be sure to have the disease.... I want to see you very much, my dear wife, but we must both exercise the 
A Career in Medical Science Begins 67

virtue of patience.”42 Ever sensitive to her emotions, he softened the stark reality 

of those lines, “You can not think, my dear...how happy I will be when you are 

with me again.... It is now a whole month since we parted. A little more than a 

month must pass before I can let you come back, but that will soon pass away, 

and then...we will be as happy as possible. So let us look forward to the 1st of 

Nov. as the time when we are to meet.”43

Commodore Woolsey died with yellow fever on October 2, and Captain A. A. 

Semmes assumed command of the Navy Yard. Unlike his deceased predecessor, 

Semmes ordered all infected ships to remain at anchor while the rest of the fleet 

proceeded immediately to the Mississippi River quarantine station south of New 

Orleans. Ten days later, the epidemic was on the wane, and by the time Navy surgeon 

James Rufus Tryon arrived to take charge of the naval hospital, only the convalescent remained for care.44

This epidemic, like the one at Fort Barrancas the previous year, only solidified in 

Sternberg’s mind that the yellow fever poison “was capable of self-multiplication 

outside of the human body.... And that it is not a personal emanation from the 

bodies of those sick with the disease.”45 He was also convinced the disease was 

an imported malady. In discussing the two outbreaks, he wrote: “...after careful 

consideration of the facts I have not been able to find any other source of infection 

as satisfactory to my mind, and that the disease did not originate at Barrancas 

seems almost certain for the following reason: Yellow fever has prevailed in Barrancas but six times in fifty-four years. Its appearance in every instance has been 

preceded by the arrival in the harbor of a vessel from an infected port.”46 Sternberg 

believed in a strict quarantine procedure and proper disinfection of infected vessels 

as the best preventive methods available. He also noted that a weak link in the 

quarantine chain, such as the early release from the station by a lackadaisical quarantine officer, improper disinfection of vessels, or the presence of an inadequately 

controlled town, like Warrington, rendered any quarantine effort worthless. Although this conundrum frustrated Sternberg and his colleagues, he began to focus 

once again on the pathophysiology of yellow fever. As he studied the available 

texts and current literature and compared them with the disease’s symptoms and 

progression he had just observed, he conceived a new theory to explain the action 

of the yellow fever poison.47

Mrs. Sternberg’s return in November re-established the happiness and stability 

to their home that her husband had predicted. But, just as at Governors Island, 

she found the epidemic had caused changes that saddened her and intensified the 

bleak loneliness of the small post. Many of her friends and acquaintances, such 

as Mrs. Ackley and Mrs. Franklin, were dead, and others had traveled north to 

convalesce. Sternberg, too, was almost completely preoccupied with yellow fever 

and resolving his belated promotion. Although efforts to resolve the promotion 

issue provided a three-week hiatus in Washington in December, it was purely a 

business trip and did little to dispel her feelings of isolation. Martha understood 

and supported her husband’s professional endeavors, but her toleration had its 

limits, which had been reached by the following April. If he would not voluntarily 
68 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

retreat from his professional labors, then he would have to be gently coerced. They 

had recently become aware of an Indian burial mound at a place known as Bear 

Point on the Alabama side of Perdido Bay, and Martha suggested they explore this 

area. Sternberg agreed because he had not indulged his love of anthropology and 

natural history since leaving Kansas.48

Two days of relaxation in camp and a few hours of digging in the dirt had the 

effect that Martha desired, but once they returned to Fort Barrancas her husband 

resumed his studies with renewed zeal. Sternberg had recently become a member 

of the fledgling American Public Health Association (APHA), and, in the epidemics 

of the past two years, he found grist for a paper to be submitted to the association. 

The paper was accepted, and he read it at the second annual meeting of the APHA 

held in Philadelphia in November.49

Sternberg’s paper, “An Inquiry into the Modus Operandi of the Yellow Fever 

Poison,” appeared as the lead article in the July 1875 issue of the New Orleans 

Medical and Surgical Journal. A long, and somewhat tedious paper, it still does not 

flow well in a lucid and logical fashion. Like his first article, the second begins with 

a challenge to the “opinion of the majority of the [medical] profession” that their 

theories on the pathophysiology of yellow fever needed revision.50 The commonly 

held belief was that the yellow fever poison acted directly on the blood as a ferment (zymosis) and altered the composition of the blood, resulting in the clinical 

and pathological characteristics observed. This hypothesis led to therapies that 

either eliminated the poison via the excretory organs or destroyed the poison in the 

blood. Sternberg commented that the theory of zymosis was only a theory because 

it had no chemical or physical basis to confirm it, and the success of the common 

therapies had “never been sufficient to give much support to the theory.”51 He did 

not follow this challenge with another theory, but instead with a suggestion “that 

the first and essential effect of the yellow fever poison is to produce a disturbance 

of the functions of the sympathetic nervous system, and that the grave changes in 

the blood which occur in the course of the disease are secondary in their nature 

and result from the arrest of the vital processes (nutrition, excretion, secretion) 

presided over by the sympathetic [system].”52

Sternberg’s suggestion came from a critical review of a recent article, “Constitution and Changes of the Blood in Yellow Fever,” by Dr. Joseph Jones of 

New Orleans. Jones’ investigations led him to conclude that the yellow fever 

poison acted directly on the components of the blood and induced continuous 

changes in them from the time of introduction until fatal termination, 

although he was unable to find this poison microscopically. Sternberg thought 

that Jones’ observations, which were based on the zymotic theory, were unproven 

and his reasoning was incorrect. The abrupt onset of the disease without prodromal symptoms argued against the blood being the primary target of the poison 

(the ferment), and he disagreed that the poison acted on the blood in a progressive fashion. If such were the case, it would not follow that one could remain in 

good health while these systemic alterations proceeded. He also contended that 

in support of his belief in a dose-response relationship, if the poison acted as a 
A Career in Medical Science Begins 69

ferment in the circulation—capable of self-multiplication during this process—

then a small amount of the poison would be sufficient to produce the same severe 

attacks as a large dose. This did not explain the variations in severity from one 

epidemic to another.53

Sternberg then laid the foundation for his suggestion that the primary target 

of the poison was the sympathetic nervous system. If Jones could not find the 

agent, then perhaps he was looking in the wrong place. That the specific agent of 

the disease was a living organism and probably of fungal origin, Sternberg stated 

“is now considered probable by many recent authorities.”54 Fungi reproduce via 

sporulation. Spores freely circulating in the air could be inspired onto oral mucous 

membranes or directly into the upper airway; spores could also settle onto articles 

of food and drink and be directly ingested into the gastrointestinal tract. Once 

established upon lung or intestinal membranes, heat, oxygen, and moisture provided an excellent environment for growth. Sternberg believed—for reasons he 

does not make clear—that gastrointestinal ingestion was the most likely method of 

entry, and this determination would later direct some his investigations of yellow 

fever. The yellow fever agent was considered to have a variable incubation period, 

according to LaRoche, from 12 hours to months before symptoms became evident. 

Although Sternberg believed this period to be much shorter—from hours to a 

couple of days—it had to be accounted for pathophysiologically. Sternberg made 

his final hypothetical connection between cause and effect by demonstrating—via 

the literature—that all of yellow fever’s outward symptoms could be attributed to 

an irritation and subsequent paralysis of the sympathetic nervous system.55

Given that his dissertation was based on erroneous data is wholly inconsequential. The medical knowledge of the time was inadequate to permit anyone to arrive 

at correct conclusions about the pathophysiology of yellow fever. His ideas—and 

their synthesis—in this dissertation were well developed. Sternberg gathered the 

essential pieces of the yellow fever puzzle, analyzed them, joined them in a logical 

sequence of events, and concluded that they did not support his profession’s commonly held views. Although never shy about stating his opinions, he realized they were 

just as unproven as Jones’. He avoided being labeled a hypocrite by carefully couching 

his hypothesis as a suggestion to other investigators of the disease. As he worked 

through the article, some of the assumptions he would use in his future yellow 

fever research became solidified. A reflection of Sternberg’s medical experience, personality, and driving ambition to spar in the ring of medical science can be seen in 

this dissertation.

By the time his literary labors were in print, another epidemic of yellow fever had 

struck the Gulf coast and was ravaging Fort Barrancas. Quarantine operations had 

been placed under naval jurisdiction in early July. Commodore George Cooper, 

the new commander of the Navy Yard, was pleased with this action and believed 

his marines could maintain a vigilant and proper quarantine. Sternberg had established a reliable communication network between himself and the quarantine officers 

at New Orleans and Pensacola. Although it did not exactly give him real time 

information, it had been close enough in the past two seasons to allow him to take 
70 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

action before yellow fever became established on post. The arrival of the German 

bark, von Moltke, into Pensacola Harbor from Havana on the evening of June 27 

showed Sternberg that he had been living under a false sense of security. Anxious 

to return home, the vessel’s pilot decided to avoid the quarantine station, anchored 

a short distance inside the bar between Santa Rosa Island and Fort Barrancas, and 

departed for the shore. The von Moltke had five cases of yellow fever on board, one 

of which died en route and another after arriving at the quarantine station.56

On July 18, Sternberg was called to see a laundress who had a fever and headache. The following day, the laundress’ neighbor reported to the hospital with the 

same symptoms. On July 20, two more cases appeared. His anxiety rose as no 

remission of fever occurred in the first two cases, but he admitted it was not until 

sometime on July 21—a day that brought six more cases—that he was convinced it 

was yellow fever. Dr. Herron wrote later, “...the fever appeared almost simultaneously in nearly every house in [the] garrison.”57 This was only a small exaggeration. 

In the three days since the first case, cases had occurred in the company barracks 

and along officer’s row. The report of the dreaded disease generated an immediate 

response from Brannan and Cooper. The garrison was moved forthwith to Santa 

Rosa Island. Before they had been encamped 24 hours, it became evident that the 

transfer had occurred too late. The next day, seven soldiers were returned to the 

post hospital with yellow fever, and over the following three days, 41 more cases 

appeared. The outbreak came without warning. No cases appeared in Pensacola or 

at the Navy Yard. It appeared to one and all that this epidemic would be of a very 

malignant nature. A strict quarantine was maintained against the post. Special 

orders issued by the post commander gave Sternberg authority to hire as many 

nurses and purchase whatever supplies he required, and they directed the post 

quartermaster to purchase as many coffins and hire as many laborers as necessary 

to dig graves and bury the dead. The post had become a pariah, shunned by the 

rest of the world. It would have to survive by its own resources and what supplies 

those willing to risk death would bring them.58

After informing his commander of the situation and telegraphing the medical 

director, Department of the Gulf, for more medical assistance, Sternberg scurried 

quickly to his quarters to tell Martha she would have to leave post. Protesting this 

declaration was futile, but as always she made the attempt. Sternberg remained 

adamant, and there was a heightened sense of anxiety in his tone as he told her, “I 

want the garrison to feel that my entire time is at their disposal, for undoubtedly 

we are to have an extensive epidemic.”59 Martha’s sense of loyalty, however, would 

not allow her to accept the inevitable. The discussion continued until interrupted 

by an orderly from Brannan requesting Sternberg to report immediately.60

The commander had a personal problem similar to Sternberg’s. A young friend 

was then visiting Mrs. Brannan. The girl was nonimmune and terrified to remain 

on post. Brannan asked if he procured a wagon and driver, would Mrs. Sternberg 

consent to take the girl with her? Sternberg agreed and told Martha she had to 

leave and take the nonimmune girl with her. It had also occurred to him that Martha 

could already be incubating the disease, for he said, “You cannot go north, and I am 
A Career in Medical Science Begins 71

not willing you should go far from me. If you are taken ill I will come to you....”61

Martha capitulated and packed in a rush. The promised wagon, commandeered 

by an immune captain, arrived loaded with tents, camp equipment, and a month’s 

worth of provisions. After tying Martha’s pony to the rear of the wagon, he held her 

for a moment and then said, “Don’t put any water between us.”62

Although Navy Surgeon General Joseph Beale advised abandoning the yard 

“the moment the fever becomes threatening,” Cooper maintained communications with Brannan.63 He realized the Navy Yard was the only dependable lifeline 

that Fort Barrancas had, and he continued to receive and forward supplies to the 

neighboring post. Cooper’s telegrams to the Secretary of the Navy during the last 

week of July chronicled the horrors transpiring at Fort Barrancas: “women and 

children stricken down at Barrancas,”64 “keep strangers away from here, fever raging at Barrancas, sixty five cases, seven deaths,”65 and “post commanding officer’s 

wife sick, his duties providing for the sick are arduous...ladies and children of the 

post nearly all down, please inform the Secretary of War.”66

With Martha out of harm’s way, Sternberg devoted all of his energy and concentration to the expanding epidemic. His request for extra surgeons was answered 

on July 23 when Acting Assistant Surgeon William K. Mandeville arrived and 

attended to the laundresses and soldiers’ families. Two days later, Doctors W. Carson 

and L. F. Salomon arrived from New Orleans. Carson took charge of the soldiers at 

Fort Pickens, and Salomon directed the soldiers in the hospital. This left Sternberg 

to attend to the officers and their families in their homes and supervise everyone 

else. The small hospital had a 25-bed ward and was expandable to 50 beds. By the 

evening of July 26, it was overflowing with patients. Civilian members on post were 

treated in their homes, which kept Mandeville and Sternberg continually on the 

run making patient rounds. Overworked but indefatigable, Sternberg demanded 

the same from his assisting surgeons. He also required the surgeons to keep notes 

as meticulously as possible on as many patients as they could. Nursing care, which 

was critical in the treatment and recovery of all patients, was the weak link in 

the medical chain at Fort Barrancas. Sternberg had no choice in those he hired. 

Exorbitant wages had to be offered to induce those he had to volunteer, many of 

whom he considered “ignorant and indifferent” about the care they rendered.67

Hospital Steward Hill, chief nurse and wardmaster, was competent and efficient, 

but as cases mounted he could not ensure the adequacy of nursing care. Sternberg 

leaned heavily on him, however, and commented that Hill was “unremitting in his 

attention to the sick, until he was himself prostrated by the disease....”68

Sternberg and his colleagues at Fort Barrancas tried all of the standard therapeutic measures. Initially, cases received quinine to reduce fever, ergotine 

injections to reduce stomach irritability, and cold body baths. Patients were kept 

at complete rest, not even allowed to turn over in bed, and covered with blankets 

for fear that any small draft might jeopardize their recovery or induce a relapse. 

Brandy and champagne were administered in small repeated doses to stimulate 

the system. Complications, such as kidney failure, were treated with turpentine 

stupes, mustard plasters, dry cupping to the loins, and ice water enemas. Sternberg 
72 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

treated, observed, and treated again, but as the epidemic progressed he was left 

unimpressed by the majority of their therapeutic efforts. Dr. Jean-Charles Faget of 

New Orleans had published an article in 1873 that indicated a rising temperature 

accompanied by a declining pulse rate could be considered almost pathognomonic 

for yellow fever. Sternberg watched and recorded pulse rates and temperatures 

carefully with a relatively new medical instrument, the clinical thermometer.69

Sternberg only found time to write to Martha twice during the early part of the 

week. A system for keeping in contact had been arranged before they parted. Martha’s 

memoir is rather enigmatic on this point, but it apparently involved someone from 

Fort Barrancas, the Navy Yard, or Warrington as a relay. Martha’s servant delivered 

letters to a predesignated dropoff point and retrieved letters from Barrancas. This 

system worked well for 2 days, until the Pensacola quarantine police discovered 

her whereabouts. Martha and her party had had a difficult time finding a refuge. It 

was widely known that yellow fever was at Fort Barrancas, and Martha’s driver and 

her conveyance were obviously army property. Local residents soon realized the 

origin of the four refugees. They received a cold reception at many homes before 

they found one kind-hearted soul who took pity on the women and gave them 

shelter. Martha is unclear about exactly where this was, but it seems to have been 

about 25 miles, probably north or northeast, of Pensacola. Once their presence 

had been reported, quarantine officials surrounded the house with a cordon of 

police. The surveilling officers soon figured out her communication scheme and, 

although they interfered with it initially, on the fourth day she received a letter. The 

handwriting on the envelope was not that of her husband, but of his commander. 

In the brief note, Brannan informed her that Sternberg was seriously ill with yellow 

fever. He also made it clear that she was not—under any circumstances—to return 

to the fort, and guards had been posted to ensure she did not do so.70

Until July 28, the medical staff had remained untouched by yellow fever. But by 

noon on this day, both Hospital Steward Hill and the post surgeon were seized with 

fever. After three epidemics, Sternberg’s luck had finally ended. Mandeville took 

charge of the hospital. Brannan immediately telegraphed Herron in Pensacola for 

assistance and sent another telegram to Surgeon General Barnes informing him of 

the situation. Herron arrived at Sternberg’s bedside in the late afternoon, where he 

found him wrapped in blankets, febrile, nauseated, and experiencing intense head 

and low back pain. Therapy was initiated, but as the hours turned into days, Herron 

began to despair for Sternberg’s life. The work and stress of the past 10 days had 

fatigued his body, and the high fever and persistent low pulse did not bode well 

for a favorable outcome. Herron did not sense improvement until August 1; by the 

end of the day Sternberg had begun to rally. Three days later, Herron wrote to Martha 

that her husband was “now out of danger” and “clear of the effects of yellow fever.”71

As Sternberg gained strength, Hospital Steward Hill lost his long struggle with 

the disease—a death Sternberg blamed directly on poor nursing care.72 By midAugust, the epidemic was waning, but Fort Barrancas had suffered a total of 78 

cases and 31 deaths, a case to fatality rate of nearly 40 percent.73

Sternberg’s recovery proceeded without difficulty, but the residual weakness and 
A Career in Medical Science Begins 73

fatigue he experienced took weeks to resolve. He was granted three months of 

leave to convalesce. Instructions were sent to Martha for her to take the train from 

Pensacola to St. Louis where they would meet and go home to Kansas.74
74 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg