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EPIDEMICS    RESULTING 
FROM    WARS 


PRINTED  IN  ENGLAND 
AT  THE  OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 


gp- 


Carnegie  Endowment  for  International  Peace 

DIVISION  OF  ECONOMICS  AND  HISTOKY 
John  Bates  Clark,  Director 

EPIDEMICS   EESULTING 
FROM  WARS 

By  Dr.  FRIEDRICH  PRINZING 

edited  by 
HARALD  WESTERGAARD 

PROFESSOR   OF   POLITICAL  SCIENCE   IN   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   COPENHAGEN 


OXFORD :   AT  THE  CLARENDON  PRESS 

London,  Edinburgh,  New  York,  Toronto,  Melbourne  and  Bombay 

HUMPHREY  MILFORD 

1916 


PIS 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  BY  THE 
DIRECTOR 

The  Division  of  Economics  and  History  of  the  Carnegie 
Endowment  for  International  Peace  is  organized  to  '  promote 
a  thorough  and  scientific  investigation  of  the  causes  and 
results  of  war  '.  In  accordance  with  this  purpose  a  conference 
of  eminent  statesmen,  publicists,  and  economists  was  held 
in  Berne,  Switzerland,  in  August  1911,  at  which  a  plan  of 
investigation  was  formed  and  an  extensive  Hst  of  topics  was 
prepared.  The  programme  of  that  Conference  is  presented 
in  detail  in  an  Appendix.  It  will  be  seen  that  an  elaborate 
series  of  investigations  has  been  undertaken,  and  the  result- 
ing reports  may  in  due  time  be  expected  in  printed  form. 

Of  works  so  prepared  some  will  aim  to  reveal  direct  and 
indirect  consequences  of  warfare,  and  thus  to  furnish  a  basis 
for  a  judgement  as  to  the  reasonableness  of  the  resort  to  it. 
If  the  evils  are  in  reahty  larger  and  the  benefits  smaller  than 
in  the  common  view  they  appear  to  be,  such  studies  should 
furnish  convincing  evidence  of  this  fact  and  afford  a  basis 
for  an  enlightened  policy  whenever  there  is  danger  of  inter- 
national conflicts. 

Studies  of  the  causes  of  warfare  will  reveal,  in  particular, 
those  economic  influences  which  in  time  of  peace  bring  about 
clashing  interests  and  mutual  suspicion  and  hostility.  They 
will,  it  is  beUeved,  show  what  poHcies,  as  adopted  by  different 
nations,  will  reduce  the  conflicts  of  interest,  inure  to  the 
common  benefit,  and  afford  a  basis  for  international  con- 
fidence and  good  will.  They  will  further  reveal  the  natural 
economic  influences  which  of  themselves  bring  about  more 
and  more  harmonious  relations  and  tend  to  substitute 
general  benefits  for  the  mutual  injuries  that  follow  unintel- 
ligent self-seeking.  Economic  internationaUsm  needs  to  be 
fortified  by  the  mutual  trust  that  just  dealing  creates  ;   but 


vi  INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

just  conduct  itseK  may  be  favoured  by  economic  conditions. 
These,  in  turn,  may  be  created  partly  by  a  natural  evolution 
and  partly  by  the  conscious  action  of  governments ;  and 
both  evolution  and  public  action  are  among  the  important 
subjects  of  investigation. 

An  appeal  to  reason  is  in  order  when  excited  feelings  render 
armed  conflicts  imminent ;  but  it  is  quite  as  surely  called 
for  when  no  excitement  exists  and  when  it  may  be  forestalled 
and  prevented  from  developing  by  sound  national  policies. 
To  furnish  a  scientific  basis  for  reasonable  international 
poHcies  is  the  purpose  of  some  of  the  studies  already  in  pro- 
gress and  of  more  that  will  hereafter  be  undertaken. 

The  pubHcations  of  the  Division  of  Economics  and  History 
are  under  the  direction  of  a  Committee  of  Research,  the 
membership  of  which  includes  the  statesmen,  pubhcists,  and 
economists  who  participated  in  the  Conference  at  Berne  in 
1911,  and  two  who  have  since  been  added.  The  list  of 
members  at  present  is  as  follows  : 

Eugene  Borel,  Professor  of  Pubhc  and  International  Law 
in  the  University  of  Geneva. 

LuJo  Beentano,  Professor  of  Economics  in  the  University 
of  Munich ;  Member  of  the  Royal  Bavarian  Academy  of 
Sciences. 

Charles  Gide,  Professor  of  Comparative  Social  Economics 
in  the  University  of  Paris. 

H.  B.  Greven,  Professor  of  Political  Economy  and 
Statistics  in  the  University  of  Leiden. 

Francis  W.  Hirst,  Editor  of  The  Economist^  London. 

David  Kinley,  Vice-President  of  the  University  of  Illinois. 

Henri  La  Fontaine,  Senator  of  Belgium. 

His  Excellency  Luigi  Luzzatti,  Professor  of  Constitu- 
tional Law  in  the  University  of  Rome;  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  1891-3 ;  Prime  Minister  of  Italy,  1908-11. 

GoTARO  Ogawa,  Professor  of  Finance  at  the  University 
of  Edoto,  Japan. 

Sir  George  Paish,  Joint  Editor  of  The  Statist^  London. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  vii 

Maffeo  Pantaleoni,  Professor  of  Political  Economy  in 
the  University  of  Rome. 

EuGEN  Philippovich  von  Philippsberg,  Professor  of 
Political  Economy  in  the  University  of  Vienna ;  Member 
of  the  Austrian  Herrenhaus,  Hofrat. 

Paul  S.  Reinsch,  United  States  Minister  to  China. 

His  Excellency  Baron  Y.  Sakatani,  recently  Minister  of 
Finance  ; '  Present  Mayor  of  Tokio. 

Theodor  Schiemann,  Professor  of  the  History  of  Eastern 
Europe  in  the  University  of  BerHn. 

Harald  Westergaard,  Professor  of  Political  Science  and 
Statistics  in  the  University  of  Copenhagen. 

Friedrich,  Freiherr  von  Wieser,  Professor  of  Political 
Economy  at  the  University  of  Vienna. 

The  function  of  members  of  this  Committee  is  to  select 
collaborators  competent  to  conduct  investigations  and  present 
reports  in  the  form  of  books  or  monographs  ;  to  consult  with 
these  writers  as  to  plans  of  study ;  to  read  the  completed 
manuscripts,  and  to  inform  the  officers  of  the  Endowment 
whether  they  merit  publication  in  its  series.  This  editorial 
function  does  not  conmiit  the  members  of  the  Committee  to 
any  opinions  expressed  by  the  writers.  Like  other  editors, 
they  are  asked  to  vouch  for  the  usefulness  of  the  works,  their 
scientific  and  literary  merit,  and  the  advisability  of  issuing 
them.  In  Hke  manner,  the  publication  of  the  monographs 
does  not  commit  the  Endowment  as  a  body  or  any  of  its 
officers  to  the  opinions  which  may  be  expressed  in  them. 
The  standing  and  attainments  of  the  writers  selected  afford 
a  guarantee  of  thoroughness  of  research  and  accuracy  in  the 
statement  of  facts,  and  the  character  of  many  of  the  works 
will  be  such  that  facts,  statistical,  historical,  and  descriptive, 
will  constitute  nearly  the  whole  of  their  content.  In  so  far  as 
the  opinions  of  the  writers  are  revealed,  they  are  neither 
approved  nor  condemned  by  the  fact  that  the  Endowment 
causes  them  to  be  published.  For  example,  the  publication 
of  a  work  describing  the  attitude  of  various  socialistic  bodies 


viu  INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

on  the  subject  of  peace  and  war  implies  nothing  as  to  the 
views  of  the  officers  of  the  Endowment  on  the  subject  of 
sociaUsm  ;  neither  will  the  issuing  of  a  work,  describing  the 
attitude  of  business  classes  toward  peace  and  war,  imply  any 
agreement  or  disagreement  on  the  part  of  the  officers  of  the 
Endowment  with  the  views  of  men  of  these  classes  as  to 
a  protective  poUcy,  the  control  of  monopoly,  or  the  regulation 
of  banking  and  currency.  It  is  necessary  to  know  how  such 
men  generally  think  and  feel  on  the  great  issue  of  war,  and  it 
is  one  of  the  purposes  of  the  Endowment  to  promote  studies 
which  will  accurately  reveal  their  attitude.  Neither  it  nor 
its  Committee  of  Research  vouches  for  more  than  that  the 
works  issued  by  them  contain  such  facts  ;  that  their  state- 
ments concerning  them  may  generally  be  trusted,  and  that 
the  works  are,  in  a  scientific  way,  of  a  quaHty  that  entitles 
them  to  a  reading. 

This  monograph  on  epidemics  resulting  from  wars  is 
designed  to  bring  into  hght  an  aspect  of  international  conffict 
that  has  never  been  adequately  appreciated.  An  examination 
of  the  facts  here  presented  will  indicate  that  until  com- 
paratively recent  times  the  most  serious  human  cost  of  war 
has  been  not  losses  in  the  field,  nor  even  the  losses  from 
disease  in  the  armies,  but  the  losses  from  epidemics  dissemi- 
nated among  the  civil  populations.  It  was  the  war  epidemics 
and  their  sequelae,  rather  than  direct  miUtary  losses,  that 
accounted  for  the  deep  prostration  of  Germany  after  the 
Thirty  Years'  War.  Such  epidemics  were  also  the  gravest 
consequence  of  the  Napoleonic  Wars. 

It  may  appear  that  a  study  of  war  epidemics  can  have 
only  historical  interest,  in  view  of  the  progress  of  modern 
medical  science.  Plague,  cholera,  and  typhus  can  be  brought 
under  control  by  modem  methods  of  sanitation.  One  can 
point  to  the  fact  that  in  the  present  great  war,  the  only 
serious  epidemic  that  has  been  reported  is  the  typhus  fever 
epidemic  in  Serbia.  When  the  medical  history  of  the  war 
comes  to  be  written,  however,  it  will  be  foimd  that  the 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  ix 

aggregate  losses  from  sporadic  outbreaks  of  war  epidemics 
have  been  very  considerable.  A  war  sufficiently  protracted 
to  lead  to  universal  impoverishment  and  a  break-down  of 
medical  organization  would  be  attended,  as  in  earlier  times, 
by  the  whole  series  of  devastating  war  epidemics.  And  even 
in  the  case  of  less  exhausting  wars,  the  chances  of  widespread 
epidemics  is  far  from  negligible.  There  is  much  food  for 
reflection  in  the  author's  account  of  the  small-pox  epidemic 
following  the  Franco-German  War.  In  1870  the  means  of 
coping  with  small-pox  were  as  nearly  perfect  as  they  are 
in  the  greater  part  of  the  world  to-day.  This  fact  did  not 
save  Europe  from  a  widespread  epidemic,  entaihng  human 
losses  exceeding  in  gravity  the  losses  in  the  field.  To-day, 
as  in  the  past,  the  probabihties  of  increased  morbidity  in 
the  civil  population,  not  only  among  the  belligerents,  but 
among  neutrals  as  well,  must  be  entered  as  a  highly  important 
debit  item  against  war. 

John  Bates  Clark, 

Director, 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 1 


CHAPTER  I 
War  Pestilences        .......         4 

CHAPTER  II 

The  Time  before  the  Thirty  Years'  War  .         .         .11 

CHAPTER  III 
The  Thirty  Years'  War 25 

CHAPTER  IV 

The  Period  between  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  and 

the  French  Revolution       .....       79 

CHAPTER  V 

The  Period  between  the  French  Revolution  and 

Napoleon's  Russian  Campaign      ....       92 

CHAPTER  VI 

The  Epidemics  of  Typhus  Fever  in  Central  Europe 
following  upon  the  russian  campaign  and  during 
THE  Wars  of  Liberation  (1812-14)        .         .         .     106 


xu 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

CHAPTER  VII 

From  the  Age  of  Napoleon  to  the  Franco-German 

War 165 

1.  The  Russo-Turkish  War  of  1828-9  .  .  .165 

2.  The  Crimean  War  (1854-6) 170 

3.  The  North  American  Civil  War  (1861-5)           .          .  175 

4.  The  Italian  War  of  1859 183 

5.  The  Danish  War  of  1864 183 

6.  The  German  War  of  1866 184 

CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Franco-German  War  of  1870-1,  and  the  Epidemic 

OF  Small-pox  caused  by  it  .         .         .         .         .189 


CHAPTER  IX 

From  the  Franco-German  War  to  the  Present  Time  .  286 

1.  The  Russo-Turkish  War  of  1877-8  .  .  .286 

2.  The  Boer  War  of  1899-1901 290 

3.  The  War  in  South-west  Africa  (1904-7)  .          .          .  296 

4.  The  Russo-Japanese  War  of  1904-5         .          .          .  296 

5.  The  Occupation  of  Tripoli  by  the  Italians  (1911)       .  299 

6.  The  War  between  Turkey  and  the  Balkan  States 
(1912-13) 300 


CHAPTER  X 

Epidemics  in  Besieged  Strongholds 

1.  The  Siege  of  Mantua  (1796-7) 

2.  The  Siege  of  Danzig  (1813)     . 

3.  The  Siege  of  Torgau  (1813)    . 

4.  The  Siege  of  Mayence  (1813-14) 

5.  The  Siege  of  Paris  (1870-1)    . 

6.  The  Siege  of  Port  Arthur  (1904) 

CONCLUSION    .... 
INDEX 


302 
304 
306 
311 
316 
320 
324 

328 

335 


INTRODUCTION 

In  countries  which  have  the  misfortune  to  be  the  scene 
of  protracted  wars,  the  mortality  regularly  undergoes  a  con- 
siderable increase.  This  is  caused  chiefly  by  the  infectious 
diseases  which  in  war  times  so  often  appear  in  the  form  of 
epidemics.  These  diseases,  moreover,  not  only  afflict  the 
country  in  which  the  war  is  waged,  but  are  also  carried  by 
prisoners,  returning  soldiers,  and  in  other  ways,  into  the  land 
of  the  victor,  where  it  is  possible  for  them  to  spread  over 
a  large  territory.  A  report  on  the  loss  of  human  life  among 
that  part  of  a  population  which  does  not  participate  in 
a  war  has  not  yet  been  undertaken,  writings  on  war  pesti- 
lences usually  confining  themselves  to  the  losses  within  the 
armies  themselves.^  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  study 
to  investigate  the  losses  sustained  by  the  non-belligerent  part 
of  the  population  in  consequence  of  epidemics  caused  by  wars. 

In  doing  this  it  seems  advisable  to  select  a  few  war 
pestilences  which  on  account  of  their  enormous  extent  are 
particularly  notable,  and  to  subject  them  to  an  exhaustive 
discussion.  This  method  has  the  advantage  that  it  will 
enable  us  to  show  in  individual  cases  how  it  is  possible  for 
these  pestilences  to  extend  over  such  a  vast  territory,  under 

^  This  subject  is  discussed  in  a  general  way  in  the  following  works : 
J.  Pringle,  Beobachtungen  iiber  die  Krankfieiten  einer  Armee  sowohl  im  Felde 
als  in  Garnison.  Translation  by  J.  E.  Greding.  Altenburg,  1754. — Gurlt, 
Zur  Geschichte  der  intemationalen  und  freiwilligen  Kranken^flege  im  Kriege. 
Leipzig,  1873. — ^A.  Laveran,  Traitd  des  maladies  et  ipid&mies  des  armies* 
Paris,  1875. — L.  Uetterodt  zu  Schaffenberg,  Zur  Geschichte  der  Heilkunde  : 
Darstellungen  aus  dem  Bereiche  der  Volkskrankheiten  und  des  Sanitdtswesens 
im  Deutschen  Mittelalter  mit  besonderer  BerUcksichtigung  der  Lagerepidemieen 
und  der  Militdrkrankenpflege.  Berlin,  1875. — Knaak,  Die  Krankheiten  im 
Kriege.  Leipzig,  1900. — ^von  Linstow,  Kriege,  Schlachten  und  Belagerungen , 
in  denen  nicht  die  feindlichen  Waff  en,  sondern  Krankheiten  das  entscheidende 
Moment  waren.  Deutsche  mil.-drztl.  Zeitschrift,  vol.  xxix,  p.  177,  1900. — 
H.Westergaard,  Die  Lehre  von  der  Mortalitdt  und Morbilitdt.  Second  edition. 
Jena,  1901 .  pp.  223, 254, 260, 264, 566.— H.  Schwiening,  Krieg  und  Friede, 
in  Th.  Weyl,  Handbuch  der  Hygiene,   4.  Supplement,  B.    1904.    P.  65. 

15e».13  B 


2  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

what  circumstances  they  spread  from  place  to  place,  and  how 
they  enter  regions  remote  from  the  scene  of  war.  For  this 
exhaustive  discussion  the  writer  has  chosen  the  pestilences 
that  occurred  during  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  the  epidemic 
of  typhus  fever  after  Napoleon's  Russian  Campaign,  and  the 
pandemic  of  small-pox  after  the  Franco-German  War  of 
1870-1.  These  epidemics  afford  very  instructive  examples 
of  what  horrible  losses  both  friends  and  enemies  may  sustain 
in  consequence  of  war  pestilences. 

While  the  outbreaks  of  '  plague '  in  the  course  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  have  already  been  made  the  subject  of 
a  comprehensive  account,  strange  to  say  there  are  no  such 
accounts  of  the  other  two  epidemics  ;  to  give  a  clear  picture 
of  these  pestilences  the  writer  was  therefore  constrained  to 
collect  the  necessary  information  from  widely  dispersed 
sources.  In  gathering  his  material  a  number  of  large  German 
libraries  assisted  him  most  kindly — ^particularly,  the  Royal 
National  Library  at  Stuttgart  and  the  University  libraries 
of  Strassburg  and  Tubingen. 

The  other  parts  of  the  history  of  war  pestilences  are  set 
forth  in  a  more  general  way  ;  for  an  exhaustive  treatment 
of  them  would  have  necessitated  several  years  of  preliminary 
work,  which  the  writer  in  the  short  time  at  his  disposal  was 
unable  to  undertake. 

The  writer  has  drawn  as  much  as  possible  from  original 
sources ;  this  applies  at  least  to  the  pestilences  of  the 
Napoleonic  Period,  and  to  the  epidemic  of  small-pox  after 
the  Franco-German  War.  It  would  have  been  impossible 
to  deal  with  the  other  wars  in  the  same  way  without  consuming 
considerable  time.  From  the  bibliographies  it  will  appear 
what  sources  the  author  has  consulted  ;  rarely  are  quotations 
given  from  works  which  he  has  not  seen,  and  in  such  cases 
it  is  indicated  whence  they  were  taken. 

The  causes  of  the  origin  and  spread  of  pestilences  during 
a  war  are  clear.  Every  aggregation  of  people,  even  in  times 
of  peace,  at  celebrations  and  annual  fairs,  in  barracks,  and 


INTRODUCTION  3 

so  forth,  is  necessarily  exposed  to  the  danger  of  pestilence ; 
but  this  danger  is  ten  times  as  great  in  large  assemblages 
of  troops  during  a  war.  The  soldiers  are  then  subjected  to 
all  possible  kinds  of  hardship  and  suffering — ^lack  of  food, 
or  food  which  is  inferior  and  badly  cooked,  sleeping  out  in 
the  cold  and  rain,  fatiguing  marches,  constant  excitement, 
and  homesickness — and  all  these  things  greatly  lessen  their 
power  of  resistance.  When  large  bodies  of  troops  are  obliged 
to  remain  in  one  and  the  same  place  for  a  considerable 
length  of  time,  the  additional  difficulty  presents  itself  of 
keeping  the  locality  unpolluted  by  the  excrement  of  men 
and  animals,  and  by  refuse  of  all  kinds.  If  an  infectious 
disease  reveals  its  presence  in  such  an  aggregation  of  people, 
energetic  and  stringent  measures  must  be  adopted,  even  in 
times  of  peace,  to  prevent  it  from  spreading.  In  war  times 
it  is  often  impossible  to  take  the  necessary  precautions, 
since  the  attention  of  the  commanders  is  directed  toward 
very  definite  objects,  to  which  all  other  considerations  are 
subordinate.  Whether  the  germ  of  the  disease  is  already 
in  the  place,  or  whether  the  soldiers  bring  it  with  them,  in 
either  case  there  is  danger  that  the  fighting  armies  will 
cause  the  disease  to  spread  over  the  entire  scene  of  the  war, 
and  thus  seriously  endanger  thousands  of  human  lives. 

Modern  methods  of  sanitation  have  done  much  toward 
preventing  the  spread  of  army  pestilences,  not  only  in  peace, 
but  also  in  war.  The  last  few  decades  have  evinced  that 
fact.  Whatever  attitude  we  may  assume  toward  the  question 
whether  war  can  ever  be  wholly  abolished,  we  must  all  agree 
that,  if  war  has  once  broken  out,  all  possible  means  must  be 
employed  to  prevent  the  spreading  of  pestilence  within  the 
armies.  Here  the  interests  of  the  people  and  of  the  com- 
manders coincide,  since  the  efficiency  of  armies  is  often 
seriously  interfered  with  by  the  outbreak  of  pestilence,  and 
not  infrequently  the  success  or  failure  of  a  war  depends,  not 
upon  the  outcome  of  its  battles,  but  upon  the  appearance  or 
non-appearance  of  pestilence. 

B  2 


CHAPTER  I 
WAR  PESTILENCES 

All  infectious  diseases  may  spread  in  consequence  of 
war  and  develop  into  epidemics  of  varying  extent.  In  the 
next  chapter  we  shall  see  how  the  wars  at  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century  favoured  the  spread  of  an  epidemic  of 
syphilis.  In  the  Union  Army,  during  the  American  Civil 
War  of  1861-5,  both  measles  and  typhoid  fever  were  very 
widespread,  and  together  they  were  the  cause  of  4,246- 
deaths,  or  about  1-75  per  cent  of  the  total  enlistment.  Scarlet 
fever,  influenza,  yellow  fever,  relapsing  fever,  and  malaria 
(if  the  war  is  waged  in  countries  where  this  disease  is  endemic 
— especially  in  the  Lower  Danube  region,  in  the  Netherlands, 
Spain,  and  Italy)  have  also  played  an  important  role  in  many 
wars.  But  we  give  the  name  '  war  pestilences '  only  to 
those  infectious  diseases  which  in  the  course  of  centuries^ 
have  usually  followed  at  the  heels  of  belligerent  armies,  such 
as  tjrphus  fever,  bubonic  '  plague,  cholera,  typhoid  fever, 
dysentery,  and  small-pox ;  we  may  also  include  here  scurvj^ 
the  etiology  of  which  has  not  yet  been  definitely  determined. 

1.  Typhus  fever  (spotted  fever,  exanthematic  tjrphus — 
called  in  France  and  England  simply  typhus,  in  Spain 
tabardillo* — ^formerly  called  contagious  typhus,  hunger 
typhus,  camp  fever,  and  Hungarian  fever)  is  an  acute 
infectious  disease  of  cyclic  recurrence,  which  resembles 
typhoid  fever  only  in  name.  From  the  eighth  to  the  tenth 
day  after  infection,  often  somewhat  sooner  or  later,  it  begins 
with  a  chill,  accompanied  by  nausea,  vomiting,  violent 
headache,  and  psychic  depression.  In  the  first  few  days  the 
patient's  temperature  rises  rapidly,  and  on  the  fourth  or 

*  We  must  remember  that  the  word  '  typhus  ',  without  further  qualifica- 
tion, in  Germany  means  typhoid  fever,  whereas  in  France  and  England  it 
means  typhus  fever. 


WAR  PESTILENCES  5 

fifth  day  a  rash  in  the  form  of  dull-red  spots,  as  large  as  a  pea, 
breaks  out  over  the  entire  body.  These  spots  gradually 
grow  larger,  and  after  two  or  three  days,  through  the  appear- 
ance of  very  small  haemorrhages,  change  into  petechiae. 
The  apathy  of  which  the  patient  first  gave  evidence  now 
gives  way  to  wild  delirium.  At  the  end  of  the  second  week 
the  temperature  falls  rapidly,  and  in  one  or  two  days  becomes 
normal ;  often,  however,  the  fall  of  temperature  takes  from 
six  to  eight  days.  The  duration  of  the  entire  disease,  accord- 
ingly, is  from  two  to  two  and  a  half  weeks.  Death  usually 
occurs  at  the  crisis  of  the  disease — ^from  the  tenth  to  the 
twelfth  day — ^rarely  between  the  sixth  and  ninth  days  or 
after  the  twelfth. 

The  danger  of  the  disease  varies  greatly  in  different 
epidemics  ;  statements  regarding  this  point  diverge  according 
as  we  refer  to  the  statistical  records  of  hospitals  or  to  the 
private  practice  of  physicians.  With  the  latter  the  number 
of  deaths  is  smaller,  since  persons  suffering  from  the  disease 
in  mild  form  less  often  go  to  the  hospitals.  Epidemics  in 
which  a  quarter  of  the  patients,  and  even  more,  have  suc- 
cumbed have  frequently  occurred,  especially  in  war  times, 
during  famines,  &c.  The  cause  (infective  agent)  of  typhus 
fever  is  not  known ;  according  to  recent  investigations  it 
is  spread  by  vermin  ;  Ricketts  and  others  have  fixed  respon- 
sibiHty  for  it  upon  the  body  louse.  The  infection  is  com- 
municated from  man  to  man,  and  very  often  it  is  contracted 
from  the  clothes,  Unen,  and  other  effects  of  typhus  patients. 
Recovery  from  the  disease  usually  renders  a  person  immune 
against  a  second  attack.  Typhus  fever  frequently  appears 
nowadays  in  the  eastern  and  south-eastern  parts  of  Europe, 
in  Hungary  and  GaKcia,  and  also  in  Spain,  Italy,  and  Ireland. 

2.  Plague  appears  in  two  forms,  depending  upon  the  place 
where  the  infective  agent  enters  the  body :  the  bubonic 
plague  and  the  pneumonic  plague.  In  the  case  of  the  former 
the  painful  plague-sores  (buboes)  develop,  usually  two  or 
three  days  after  infection,  from  the  lymphatic  glands  ;  these 


6  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

sores, — which  appear  most  often  in  the  region  of  the  groin, 
less  often  in  the  axilla,  on  the  neck,  lower  jaw,  and  in  other 
places, — soon  suppurate.  There  is  either  a  development  of 
toxins,  which  are  the  cause  of  the  severe  general  symptoms, 
or  else  the  bacilli  pestis  go  from  the  glands  into  the  circulatory 
system  and  cause  septicaemia,  which  is  quickly  fatal.  Pneu- 
monic plague  takes  the  form  of  a  catarrhal  inflammation 
of  the  lungs,  causing  a  profuse  and  bloody  expectoration, 
which  contains  large  quantities  of  bacilli.  This  form  of  the 
disease  almost  always  ends  fatally  in  a  few  days.  The 
mortality  of  bubonic  plague  is  somewhat  lower ;  the  disease 
has  an  average  duration  of  eight  days,  and  carries  away  from 
fifty  to  seventy  per  cent  of  its  victims. 

In  the  Middle  Ages  an  epidemic  of  plague  (black  death) 
ravaged  all  Europe.  At  the  present  time  it  is  still  endemic 
in  India,  in  southern  China,  in  Egypt,  in  Uganda,  and  perhaps 
in  other  countries,  whence  it  frequently  develops  into  general 
epidemics. 

The  infective  agent  in  the  case  of  plague  is  the  bacillus 
pestis,  identified  in  1894  by  Kitasato,  and  subsequently,  but 
independently,  by  Yersin.  Rats,  which  are  very  susceptible 
to  the  disease,  play  an  important  role  in  spreading  it ;  in 
India  the  outbreak  of  a  plague  epidemic  is  always  preceded 
by  the  dying  of  large  numbers  of  rats.  Their  excrement  con- 
tains large  quantities  of  baciUi,  which  may  be  destructive  to 
human  beings.  The  rat-flea  is  also  known  to  carry  the 
infection.  The  infection  may  be  conveyed  directly  by  plague 
patients,  when  the  buboes  suppurate,  or  when  the  blood 
becomes  generally  infected  with  the  bacilli  pestis,  which 
are  contained  in  abundance  in  the  sputum,  urine,  and 
excrement,  or  when  the  lungs  are  affected  and  the  patient 
charges  the  atmosphere  by  coughing.  One  who  has  recovered 
from  the  disease  is  usually  inunune  for  life. 

3.  Cholera,  after  an  incubation  period  of  two  to  eight  days, 
begins  with  frequent  (ten  to  twenty  times  a  day)  vomitings 
of  a  fluid  Uke  rice-water,  and  incessant  retching.   The  patient, 


WAR  PESTILENCES  7 

owing  to  the  great  loss  of  water,  sinks  rapidly  ;  he  acquires 
a  corpse-like  appearance,  loses  consciousness,  and  death  may 
result  on  the  first  or  second  day.  If  the  attack  is  survived, 
the  patient  frequently  dies  from  sheer  exhaustion  afterwards. 
The  mortahty  of  cholera  is  great — ^from  forty  to  fifty  per 
cent  of  its  victims  die.  In  this  calculation  the  numerous 
cases  of  cholerine,  that  are  always  prevalent  during  cholera 
times,  are  excluded.  Recovery  from  the  disease  does  not 
protect  a  person  against  contracting  it  again.  The  infective 
germ  in  the  case  of  cholera  is  the  '  comma  bacillus ',  dis- 
covered by  Robert  Koch  in  1883.  The  spread  of  cholera 
is  caused  by  the  penetration  of  the  comma  bacillus  into  the 
alimentary  canal,  resulting  from  contact  with  objects  which 
have  been  contaminated  by  the  evacuations  of  cholera 
patients  ;  less  frequently  it  is  indirectly  caused  by  the 
pollution,  from  evacuations,  of  water  used  for  drinking  or 
washing  purposes. 

4.  Dysentery  has  always  played  an  important  role  in 
miUtary  campaigns.  To  be  sure,  it  is  not  very  dangerous, 
so  far  as  the  patient's  life  is  concerned,  but  in  war  times, 
owing  to  irregular  nursing  and  scanty  nourishment,  and  the 
consequent  use  of  unsuitable  food,  it  may  spread  over  a  large 
territory  and  be  very  destructive  to  large  numbers  of  soldiers 
and  other  people. 

There  are  two  distinct  forms  of  the  disease — amoebic 
dysentery  and  bacillary  dysentery.  The  latter  is  caused 
by  the  hadllus  pyocyaneus,  discovered  independently  by 
Stiga,  Kruse,  and  Flexner.  The  disease  used  to  be  common 
throughout  Europe  ;  at  the  present  time  it  appears  in  Central 
and  Western  Europe  only  in  small  epidemics,  whereas  in 
Eastern  Europe  it  spreads  over  large  territories.  It  causes 
frequent,  often  blood-coloured,  defecations,  accompanied  by 
griping  pains  in  the  abdomen  and  a  distressing  pressure 
(tenesmus).  The  disease  lasts  from  one  to  one  and  a  half 
weeks,  but  for  a  long  time  after  recovery  the  patient's 
alimentary  canal  is  very  sensitive  to  improper  nourishment. 


$  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

The  disease  is  transmitted  either  by  direct  contact,  since  the 
evacuations  of  the  bowels  contain  large  quantities  of  baciUi, 
or  by  infected  water.  Amoebic  dysentery,  occurring  in 
tropical  countries  (Southern  Europe,  Egypt,  Southern  Asia, 
Central  America,  &c.),  is  much  more  dangerous  ;  it  is  caused 
by  an  amoeba,  carefully  studied  by  Kartulis,  and  very  often 
acquires  a  chronic  character,  sometimes  causing  abscess  of 
the  Hver. 

5.  Typhoid  fever  (called  in  England  '  enteric  fever ',  in 
France  '  fievre  typhoide ',  in  Italy  '  febbre  tifoidea ')  in 
many  wars  has  been  very  widespread  among  the  armies  ;  for 
example,  in  the  American  Civil  War,  in  the  Franco- German 
War  (Metz),  and  in  the  Russo-Turkish  War  of  1877-8. 
The  progress  of  the  disease  is  well  known  ;  between  the  time 
of  infection  and  the  outbreak  of  the  sickness  nine  to  eleven 
days  usually  intervene,  sometimes  even  as  much  as  three 
weeks.  In  the  first  week  the  temperature  of  the  patient 
rises  slowly,  during  the  second  week  it  remains  at  about 
the  same  height,  while  in  the  third  week  it  abates  consider- 
ably, becoming  normal  in  the  course  of  the  fourth  week. 
The  spleen  enlarges  a  great  deal,  and  in  the  second  week 
small  pale-red  spots  (roseola),  scarcely  as  large  as  a  pea, 
appear  on  the  buttocks  and  especially  on  the  belly.  The 
patient's  bowel-movements,  at  first  normal,  now  becomes 
diarrhoeal,  while  certain  psychic  disorders  also  manifest 
themselves,  usually  in  the  form  of  a  heavy  somnolence.  In 
the  third  week  the  patient's  life  is  threatened  by  complica- 
tions in  the  intestines — ^haemorrhage  or  perforation.  Charac- 
teristic of  the  disease  are  the  anatomical  changes  of  the  small 
intestine — at  first  enlargement,  and  later  ulceration  of 
Peyer's  patches.  The  infective  agent  in  the  case  of  typhoid 
fever  is  a  bacillus,  identified  by  Gaffky  in  1882.  It  lodges  in 
the  alimentary  canal,  and  is  conveyed  by  food  that  has  been 
touched  with  hands  to  which  matter  containing  the  bacillus 
has  adhered,  or  else  in  contaminated  water  used  for  drinking 
or  other  purposes.    From  eight  to  ten  per  cent  of  the  patients 


WAR  PESTILENCES  9 

die,  while  a  single  recovery  usually  insures  immunity  against 
a  second  attack. 

6.  Small-pox  has  an  incubation  period  of  ten  to  fourteen 
days.  The  disease  begins  with  a  chill,  accompanied  by  violent 
headache.  On  the  third  day  the  eruption  appears  ;  little 
papules  develop  and  quickly  change  into  pustules,  showing 
themselves  first  on  the  face,  then  on  the  back,  arms,  and  hands, 
and  finally  on  the  legs  and  feet.  On  the  ninth  day  the 
pustules  suppurate,  and  after  that  gradually  dry  up  ;  if  it 
progresses  favourably,  the  disease  is  over  in  two  or  two  and 
a  half  weeks. 

In  the  case  of  small-pox  the  infective  agent  is  not  yet 
known ;  infection  is  caused  by  contact  with  a  patient,  or 
with  objects  which  he  is  using  or  has  used.  It  is  particularly 
dangerous  to  touch  things  on  which  the  contents  of  the 
pustules  have  dried,  for  such  articles  remain  infectious  for 
a  long  time.  Recovery  from  the  disease  usually  renders 
a  person  immime  for  life.  The  mortality  in  different  epi- 
demics varies  greatly  ;  most  dangerous  of  all  is  the  so-called 
^ black  small-pox'  (haemorrhagic  small-pox,  with  bleeding 
in  the  pustules  and  under  the  skin).  The  total  number  of 
deaths  in  an  epidemic  of  small-pox  is  dependent  upon  whether 
the  disease  appears  in  a  vaccinated  or  an  unvaccinated 
community;  in  the  latter  case  the  mortaHty  may  reach 
thirty  per  cent,  whereas  in  the  former  case  only  three  or 
four  per  cent  of  the  patients  die.  Vaccination  renders  a  person 
immune  for  eight  to  twelve  years,  while,  if  the  disease 
breaks  out  anywhere  in  spite  of  vaccination,  the  number  of 
fatal  cases  is  very  few.  It  should  be  noted  that  small-pox 
was  formerly  dreaded,  not  only  because  of  its  danger  to 
life,  but  also  because  it  frequently  leaves  a  person  disfigured 
for  life,  and  in  rare  instances  causes  total  blindness. 

7.  Scorbutus  (scurvy)  used  to  be  a  common  disease  on 
ships,  in  prisons,  and  in  times  of  famine ;  it  appeared  with 
the  greatest  malignancy  in  besieged  cities — ^Thorn,  Nurem- 
berg, Alexandria,  Port  Arthur,  &c.     The  real  cause  of  the 


10  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

disease  is  unknown,  although  too  much  food  of  one  kind, 
particularly  lack  of  fresh  vegetables,  together  with  long 
confinement  in  poorly  ventilated  and  dark  rooms,  are 
important  causative  factors.  Inasmuch  as  the  disease  almost 
always  appears  in  the  form  of  an  epidemic,  it  is  probable 
that  there  is  a  specific  infective  agent.  It  begins  with  a 
general  feeling  of  weakness ;  the  skin  and  mucous  membranes 
become  pale  and  sallow,  the  gimis  become  inflamed  and 
ulcerated,  and  small  and  large  extravasations  of  blood  take 
place  in  the  skin  and  muscles,  and  at  the  joints  and  knuckles. 
In  serious  cases  haemorrhages  occur  in  the  intestines,  kidneys, 
bladder,  and  uterus.  A  change  of  diet  and  surroundings  will 
quickly  cure  scurvy;  otherwise  progressive  anaemia  will 
result  in  death. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  TIME  BEFORE  THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR 

Numerous  as  are  the  historical  notices  in  former  years 
regarding  the  destruction  of  armies  by  pestilence,  corre- 
spondingly few  are  the  detailed  reports  on  the  spread  of 
pestilence  among  the  non-belligerent  population.  The  best- 
known  example  from  antiquity  is  the  Plague  of  Athens 
(430-425  B.C.),  described  by  Thucydides.  The  plague  began 
in  the  second  year  of  the  Peloponnesian  War,  a  few  days  after 
the  invasion  of  the  Peloponnesians.  That  it  is  famous  is 
due  to  the  classical  description  of  it  by  Thucydides,  himself 
a  sufferer  from  the  disease.  The  Plague  of  Athens  broke  out 
in  the  Piraeus,  a  fact  which  has  led  to  the  inference  that  it 
was  borne  thither  by  mariners  from  Egypt.  At  the  time  of 
the  invasion  of  the  Peloponnesians,  thousands  of  country 
people  fled  to  the  city  of  Athens,  which  on  the  advice  of 
Pericles  opened  its  gates  to  them ;  thus  more  than  400,000 
people  were  crowded  together  within  its  walls.  The  first 
outbreak  of  the  plague  lasted  two  years,  then  there  was  an 
intermission  of  a  year  and  a  half,  whereupon  it  commenced 
anew.  The  second  outbreak,  according  to  Diodorus,  carried 
away  4,400  hoplites,  300  cavalrymen,  a  large  (but  uncertain) 
number  of  other  soldiers,  and  10,000  women  and  slaves.  The 
plague  also  penetrated  to  other  places,  sparing,  however, 
the  Peloponnesus.  The  nature  of  the  sickness  described  by 
Thucydides  cannot  be  positively  determined ;  it  has  been 
referred  to  as  bubonic  plague  (Sprengel),  as  small-pox 
(Krause-Daremberg,  Kobert),  as  typhus  fever  (Haser, 
Kanngiesser),  as  typhoid  fever  (Seitz),  and  even  as  anthrax. 
All  we  know  for  certain  is  that  it  was  some  highly  infectious 


n  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

disease,  recovery  from  which  rendered  a  person  immune. 
Krauss  and  Hecker  believe  that  it  was  a  special  disease 
('  antique  plague  '),  which  no  longer  occurs.^ 

The  Plague  of  the  Antonines,  also  called  the  '  Plague  of 
Galen ',  which  ravaged  Italy  in  a.d.  166-8,  has  also  been 
brought  into  connexion  with  warlike  events.  Avidius 
Cassius,  who  preceded  Verus  in  command  of  the  army,  had 
been  sent  to  Syria  for  the  purpose  of  suppressing  a  rebellion, 
and  there,  after  the  capture  of  Seleucia,  the  plague  broke 
out.  It  was  borne  by  the  troops  back  to  Rome,  where,  after 
the  triumphal  procession  of  166,  it  spread  far  and  wide,  so 
that  it  was  necessary  to  load  its  victims  on  wagons  and 
carry  them  off  for  burial.  The  plague  spread  from  Italy  to 
Gaul,  to  the  very  banks  of  the  Rhine,  and  a  large  part  of 
the  province  was  literally  depopulated — decayed  and  deserted 
villages  were  found  everywhere.  Haser  inclines  to  the  view 
that  it  was  an  epidemic  of  small-pox,  while  Laveran,  Hecker, 
Krause,  and  Littre  believe  that  it  was  neither  small-pox  nor 
typhus  fever,  but  '  antique  plague  '.^ 

The  expeditions  of  the  German  emperors  to  Italy,  as  well 
as  the  Crusades,  offer  numerous  examples  of  how  large  armies 
may  be  destroyed  by  disease.  So,  for  instance,  in  963  or  964 
the  army  of  the  Emperor  Otto  I  was  attacked  by  a  severe 
pestilence  in  Italy — a  murderous  disease  which  was  usually 
fatal  in  twenty-four  hours.  The  German  army  of  Henry  IV 
in  1081-2,  but  especially  after  the  capture  of  Rome  on  June  3, 
1083,  suffered  from  plagues  in  Italy ;  but  the  same  army 
fared  even  worse  in  1084,  when  a  plague  broke  out  and 
carried  away,  for  example,  the  entire  German  garrison  in 

*  F.  Schnurrer,  Chronik  der  Seuchen.  Tubingen,  1825.  Vol.  i,  p.  38. — 
H.  Brandeis,  Die  Krankheit  zu  Athen  nach  Thukydides.  Stuttgart,  1845. 
— ^H.  Haser,  Lehrbuch  der  Geschichte  der  Medizin  und  der  epidemisclien 
Krankheiten.  Third  edition.  Jena,  1882.  Vol.  iii,  p.  4.— W.  Ebstein, 
Die  Pest  des  Thukydides.  Stuttgart,  1899. — Also  an  article  by  the  same 
author  entitled  Die  Pest  des  Thukydides  in  the  Deutsche  med.  Wochenschrijt. 
No.  36.  1899. — ^F.  Kanngiesser,  IJber  die  Seuche  des  Thukydides.  Prag. 
med.  Wochenschrift.    No.  100.    1908. 

*  A.  Laveran  (note  1,  introduct.),  p.  653.— H.  Hftser,  op.  cit.,  p.  24. 


BEFORE  THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  13 

Rome.  In  1137  Lothair's  army  was  likewise  attacked  by 
infectious  diseases  in  Italy.  But  by  far  the  most  devastating 
of  all  was  the  pestilence  which  broke  out  in  Rome  in  August, 
1167,  shortly  after  the  capture  of  the  city  by  Frederick 
Barbarossa,  and  paved  the  way  to  a  catastrophe  which  cul- 
minated in  the  complete  annihilation  of  the  German  army. 
At  that  time  many  eminent  men  succumbed  to  the  disease, 
the  army  dwindled  away  in  the  hands  of  the  leaders,  and  the 
soldiers  fled  in  vast  numbers  in  order  to  escape  certain  death. 
Even  after  the  Emperor  Barbarossa's  withdrawal  from  Rome 
the  pestilence  continued  to  rage  in  his  army,  and  it  was  a  long 
time  before  it  disappeared  from  the  city.  It  was  the  true 
(bubonic)  plague,  and  usually  resulted  fatally  on  the  first 
day.  In  the  winter  of  1190-1  a  pestilence  broke  out  in  Lower 
Italy  in  the  army  of  Henry  VI ;  it  appeared  at  the  beginning 
of  the  siege  of  Naples  and  carried  away  many  eminent  men. 
The  king  himself  contracted  the  disease,  and  had  to  be  taken 
to  Capua.^ 

The  armies  of  the  Crusades  fared  even  worse  ;  the  mortality 
in  the  First  Crusade,  before  and  after  the  conquest  of 
Antioch  (1097-8),  was  terrible.  The  pestilence  is  said  to 
have  broken  out  first  among  the  children  and  women  who 
accompanied  the  armies,  and  its  dissemination  was  favoured 
by  a  lack  of  sustenance  and  continual  rainfall ;  from  Septem- 
ber to  the  24th  of  November  the  pestilence  carried  away 
100,000.  The  nature  of  the  disease  is  not  known,  although 
it  is  known  to  have  been  very  infectious.  When  a  new  army 
of  1,500  Germans  arrived,  it  was  quickly  attacked  by  the 
disease  and  in  a  few  days  almost  completely  annihilated. 
Several  hundred  frequently  died  in  a  single  day,  and  as  the 
summer  of  1099  was  very  hot  and  a  number  of  bodies  remained 
unburied,  the  pestilence  lasted  well  into  that  year.  In  1100 
another  pestilence  raged  among  the  crusaders.    Again,  during 

^  Information  regarding  pestilences  that  attacked  Gennan  armies  during 
campaigns  into  Italy  is  taken  largely  from  a  book  by  B.  M.  Lersch,  entitled 
Geschichte  der  Volksseuchen.    Berlin,  1896. 


14  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

the  Second  Crusade  a  severe  epidemic  broke  out  in  the  army 
of  the  Emperor  Louis  VII  at  Attalia  in  Asia  Minor  ;  the  pesti- 
lence spread  rapidly  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  so 
that  many  houses,  even  entire  streets,  were  depopulated.* 

During  the  Third  Crusade,  shortly  after  the  death  of 
Frederick  Barbarossa  (June,  1190),  a  severe  pestilence  broke 
out  in  the  army  that  was  besieging  Antioch ;  according  to 
Michaux  only  5,000  infantrymen  and  700  cavalrymen 
survived  out  of  the  entire  German  army.^  At  the  siege  of 
Acre  (Ptolemais),  which  lasted  from  August  1189,  to  July 
1191,  there  broke  out  in  the  winter  of  1191  a  terrible  pestilence 
which  played  havoc  in  the  pilgrim  army  ;  it  was  caused  by 
an  inadequate  supply  of  food,  and  its  symptoms  (enlargement 
of  the  limbs  and  falling  out  of  the  teeth)  betoken  scurvy. 
It  also  appeared  in  the  army  of  Saladin,  but  was  much  worse 
in  the  Christian  army,  in  which  from  100  to  200  crusaders 
died  every  day.  Duke  Frederick  of  Swabia  succumbed  to 
this  disease  on  January  20,  1191.* 

At  the  time  of  the  crusade  against  the  heretics  a  serious 
pestilence  broke  out  in  Egypt  in  the  army  of  the  crusaders, 
which  had  already,  on  August  12,  1218,  suffered  from 
dysentery ;  it  appeared  in  December  during  the  siege  of 
Damietta,  after  a  heavy  and  continuous  downfall  of  rain. 
'  The  patients ',  says  Wilken,  '  were  suddenly  seized  with 
violent  pains  in  the  feet  and  ankles ;  their  gums  became 
swollen,  their  teeth  loose  and  useless,  while  their  hips  and 
shin  bones  first  turned  black  and  then  putrefied.  Finally, 
an  easy  and  peaceful  death,  like  a  gentle  sleep,  put  an  end 
to  their  sufferings.  A  sixth  of  the  pilgrim  army  was  carried 
away  by  this  disease,  which  no  medicine  could  cure.' '  Only 
a  few  patients  who  survived  the  winter  were  helped  to 
recovery  by  the  warmth  of  spring.    It  was  unquestionably 

*  See  B.  M.  Lersch  (loc.  cit.)  for  statements  regarding  the  First  and 
Second  Crusades,  pp.  80  and  85. 

'  B.  M.  Lersch  (loc.  cit.),  p.  90. 

•  F.  waken,  Geschichte  der  Kreuzziige.    Leipzig,  1826.    Vol.  iv,  p.  814. 
'  Id.,  loc.  cit.,  vol.  vi,  p.  222. 


BEFORE  THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  15 

a  severe  form  of  scurvy.  The  besieged,  too,  suffered  from 
the  destructive  pestilence,  and  also  from  Egyptian  ophthal- 
mia. We  read  further  in  Wilken  :  '  A  horrible  sight  greeted 
the  pilgrims  when  they  took  possession  of  Damietta.  Not 
only  the  houses,  but  even  the  streets  were  filled  with  unburied 
corpses  ;  in  the  beds  dead  bodies  lay  beside  helpless  and  dying 
invalids,  and  the  infection  of  the  air  was  intolerable.  Of 
80,000  inhabitants  which  the  city  had  had  at  the  beginning 
of  the  siege  only  3,000  were  left,  while  only  100  of  these  were 
healthy.'  ®  Other  reports  say  that  10,000  inhabitants 
survived. 

In  1270,  during  the  Seventh  and  last  Crusade,  which 
strangely  enough  passed  by  way  of  Tunis,  a  pestilential 
disease  broke  out  in  Carthage,  carrying  away,  in  addition  to 
many  soldiers  and  men  of  rank,  King  Louis  IX  of  France  him- 
self and  his  son,  Jean  Tristan.  This  pestilence  was  dysentery, 
and  it  spread  even  to  Sicily,  whither  the  king's  body  was 
conveyed.  After  the  king's  death  conditions  were  even  worse, 
since  so  many  people  died  that  it  was  impossible  to  bury  all 
the  bodies.    The  disease  also  attacked  the  enemy's  army.® 

The  increased  prevalence  of  leprosy  in  Europe  in  the 
Middle  Ages  is  often  attributed  to  the  Crusades.^*'  Leprosy 
was  very  widespread  in  Germany,  France,  Italy,  and  other 
countries  of  Europe  before  the  Crusades ;  according  to 
Hirsch  it  appeared  in  the  Roman  Empire  in  the  first  century 
before  the  birth  of  Christ,  but  did  not  become  very  prevalent 
until  later.  Legal  regulations  governing  the  marrying  of 
lepers  date  back  as  far  as  the  seventh  century,  while  the 
earliest  reports  regarding  leper-houses  come  down  from  the 
eighth  and  ninth  centuries.  Most  leper-houses,  however, 
were  built  between  the  eleventh  and  thirteenth  centuries, 
and  although  the  reverse  opinion  has  been  expressed,  it  is 

*  F.  Wilken,  Geschichte  der  Kreuzzuge.    Leipzig,  1826.    Vol.  vi,  p.  290. 

•  Id.,  loc.  cit.,  vol.  vii,  p.  561  ff. 

"  A.  Hirsch,  Handbtich  der  historisch-geographischen  Pathologie.  Second 
edition,  1881.    Vol.  ii,  p.  4. — H.  Schwiening,  op.  cit.,  p.  692. 


16  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

nevertheless  improbable  that  the  building  of  these  houses 
was  not  due  to  the  increased  prevalence  of  the  disease. 
Inasmuch  as  leprosy  was  very  widespread  in  the  Orient, 
where  numerous  crusaders  contracted  it,  as  indicated  by 
the  fact  that  institutions  were  founded  there  for  its  victims, 
many  crusaders  doubtless  returned  with  the  disease  in  their 
systems.  But  regarding  this  matter  we  shall  never  have 
absolutely  reliable  information  ;  for  it  is  assumed  that  many 
people  suffering  from  other  chronic  skin  diseases  were  placed 
in  the  leper-houses.  A  careful  study  of  the  available  data, 
however,  leads  us  to  believe  that  wrong  diagnoses  were  not 
so  frequent  as  to  account  for  the  large  number  of  cases  of 
leprosy  in  the  eleventh,  twelfth,  and  thirteenth  centuries. 
Admittance  to  leper-houses  was  regulated  by  many  pre- 
cautionary measures,  and  the  diagnosis  of  the  disease  was 
made  by  churchmen,  even  bishops,  who  without  doubt 
necessarily  acquired  a  good  eye  for  the  disease  in  the  course 
of  time.  Not  until  later,  when  we  may  be  certain  that 
leprosy  was  no  longer  brought  from  the  Orient,  was  the 
disease  probably  now  and  then  confused  with  syphilis. 

The  notable  pandemic  outbreak  of  syphilis  at  the  end  of 
the  fifteenth  century  was  also  largely  attributable  to  warlike 
events.  The  rapid  spread  of  the  disease  throughout  Central 
Europe  was  due,  according  to  contemporaiy  notices,  to  the 
Landsknechte  (common  foot-soldiers).  The  rough  coincidence 
of  this  epidemic  with  the  discovery  of  America  has  given 
rise  to  the  view  that  the  disease  did  not  exist  in  Europe 
at  earlier  periods,  but  was  borne  thither  from  America.  But 
we  can  point  to  numerous  instances  in  the  course  of  the  last 
century,  of  how  infectious  diseases,  hitherto  unknown,  or 
existing  only  sporadically,  all  of  a  sudden  became  pandemic 
(cholera,  plague,  diphtheria,  influenza),  although  no  satis- 
factory and  comprehensive  explanation  of  the  phenomenon 
has  been  offered.  It  is  generally  known  that  infectious 
diseases  break  out  in  a  mild  form  and  last  for  years,  and  then 
suddenly  change  their  character  and  cause  virulent  epidemics  ; 


BEFORE  THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  17 

this  is  positively  confirmed  by  the  epidemic  of  small-pox  in 
1870-2,  which  will  be  discussed  later.  At  all  events  we  cannot 
draw  the  conclusion  from  the  sudden  outbreak  of  an  epidemic 
of  syphilis,  that  the  disease  was  not  present  in  Europe  before. 

A  serious  epidemic  of  syphilis  broke  out  in  the  army  of 
Charles  VIII  of  France  during  his  expedition  to  Naples. 
Inasmuch  as  his  advance  was  nowhere  opposed,  he  was  able 
to  enter  Naples  on  February  12,  1495.  There  the  French 
army  gave  itself  over  to  the  most  unbridled  licentiousness, 
and  the  result  was  that  the  disease  spread  rapidly  in  both 
the  French  and  Italian  armies.  Italians  and  Frenchmen 
accused  each  other  of  having  brought  the  disease,  so  that  the 
former  called  syphilis  '  French  disease  '  and  the  later  '  Nea- 
politan disease  \  The  disbanding  of  Charles's  army  caused 
the  disease  to  spread  far  and  wide  in  Europe.  '  Those  who 
had  most  to  do  with  the  further  dissemination  of  the  disease,' 
says  Haser,"  '  were  the  Albanian  and  Roumanian  estradiots 
serving  in  the  Venetian  army,  brutal  and  rapacious  adven- 
turers, and  also  the  German  and  Swiss  Landsknechte  returning 
from  Italy,  who  spread  the  disease  over  a  large  part  of  Europe.' 

A  large  number  of  writers  of  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century  bear  witness  to  the  fact  that  the  pestilence  was  borne 
into  Germany  by  Landsknechte;  e.g.  Pastor  N.  Berler 
(Ruffachische  ChroniJc  of  1510),  Heinrich  Brennwald  (1519), 
Johann  Haselbergk  (1533),  Valentin  Miintzer  (1550),  Nurem- 
berg Chronicle  of  1580.^^  In  the  year  1495  the  pestilence 
broke  out  in  many  places  in  France  and  Germany ;  in 
Strassburg,  for  example,  the  disease  was  planted  by  Lands- 
knechte who  had  served  in,  and  been  discharged  from,  the 
army  of  Charles  VIII ;  Hans  Schott  testifies  to  this  fact  in 
his  Weltlich  Leyenbuch  (Strassburg,  1541).  The  city  of  Metz 
tried  in  vain  to  ward  off  the  disease ;    according  to  the 

"  H.  Haser,  op.  cit.,  p.  256. 

**  H.  Fuchs,  Die  dltesten  Schriftsteller  iiber  die  Lustseuche  in  Deutschland. 
Gottingen,  1843.  P.  436. — J.  F.  C.  Hecker,  Die  grossen  Volkskrankheiten 
des  Mittelalters.    Berlin,  1865.    P.  218. 

1569.13  O 


18  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

Metz  Chronicle,  many  Burgundians  (500  cavalrymen  and  700 
infantrymen)  came  to  Metz  in  May  1495,  and  since  the  most 
of  them  were  suffering  from  mal  de  Naples,  they  were  not 
allowed  to  enter  the  city.  But  the  soldiers  infected  the  women 
in  the  vicinity,  and  the  disease  was  later  borne  by  them  into 
the  city,  where  it  prevailed  for  four  years,  not  beginning 
to  abate  until  the  year  1500.^^  We  also  have  testimony  to 
the  fact  that  the  outbreak  of  the  disease  in  Nordlingen  (1495) 
was  caused  by  the  arrival  of  Landshnechte. 

In  a  supplementary  way  we  may  add  here  that  later  wars 
also  caused  frequent  epidemics  of  syphilis  within  narrow 
confines  ;  instances  of  this  kind  are  cited  by  A.  Hirsch  ^*  and 
H.  Schwiening.-^^ 

In  August  of  the  year  1486  English  sweating-sickness 
appeared  in  England  for  the  first  time  ;  it  broke  out  among 
the  troops  of  Henry  VII  shortly  before  his  victory  at  Bosworth 
on  August  22,  1486.  And  when  Henry  landed  at  Milford 
the  disease  spread,  carrying  away  many  victims  wherever 
it  went.  '  Strong  and  well-nourished  people  were  particularly 
susceptible  to  it — ^more  so  than  old  men,  children,  and  poor 
people.  From  three  to  nine,  sometimes  all  the  inmates  of 
a  house  caught  it,  and  it  gradually  spread  over  half  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town.  The  first  appearance  of  the  disease 
is  said  to  have  caused  more  devastation  in  London  (where  it 
broke  out  on  September  21),  Bedford,  and  Cambridge,  than 
the  sword,  which  had  been  ruling  for  thirty  years  in  a  fearful 
civil  war.  According  to  Forest,  an  incredible  number  of 
people  died  from  it,  while  Thomas  Moore  also  speaks  of  the 
dangerous  character  of  this  epidemic.  In  many  places 
a  third  of  the  inhabitants  are  said  to  have  died  from  it, 
scarcely  one  in  a  hundred  of  its  victims  recovering.'  "    The 

"  F.  Mar^chal  et  J.  Didion,  Tableau  historique,  chronologique  et  medical 
des  maladies  endimiqiies,  ipidiTniques  et  contagieuses  qui  ont  rigrU  <)  Metz 
et  dans  le  Pays-Messin.    Metz,  1850  and  1861.    P.  116. 

"  H.  Hirsch  (note  10,  Chapter  II),  vol.  ii,  p.  62. 

"  H.  Schwiening  (note  1,  Introduction),  p.  694. 

"  B.  M.  Lersch  (note  3,  Chapter  II),  p.  197. 


BEFORE  THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  19 

subsequent  appearance  of  the  disease,  especially  the  trans- 
plantation of  it  to  the  continent  in  the  year  1529,  was  not 
attributable  to  warlike  events.  In  the  year  1551  it  disappeared 
as  suddenly  as  it  had  appeared  in  1486. 

The  disease  usually  began  with  a  chill,  headache,  palpita- 
tion of  the  heatt,  difficulty  in  breathing,  and  later  a  profuse, 
very  malodorous  emission  of  sweat  from  all  parts  of  the  body. 
The  patient  quickly  lapsed  into  a  state  of  lethargy.  The 
progress  of  the  disease  was  uncommonly  rapid ;  '  in  one 
day  either  the  disease  or  the  patient  came  to  an  end,'  says 
Fracastorius.  Any  patient  who  did  not  succumb,  recovered 
completely  after  one  or  two  weeks. 

From  the  sixteenth  century  on  notices  are  more  abundant ; 
we  now  hear  of  epidemics  of  typhus  fever  throughout  all 
Europe,  although  we  do  not  know  positively  where  the 
disease  first  appeared.  '  At  all  times,'  says  Hirsch,^'  '  as  far 
back  as  historical  investigation  is  able  to  follow  the  course 
of  typhus  fever  at  all,  the  disease  has  always  been  bound 
up  with  the  most  dismal  calamities  of  the  nations.  The 
supposition  is  therefore  justified  that,  in  the  numerous  war- 
pestilences  and  famine-pestilences  of  antiquity  and  the 
Middle  Ages,  regarding  which  we  have  no  medical  reports 
and  must  rely  only  upon  the  chronicles,  typhus  fever  has 
played  a  conspicuous  role.'  By  this,  however,  Hirsch  does 
not  mean  to  say  that  the  specific  disease  in  all  the  so-caUed 
war-pestilences  was  typhus  fever  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  adds  : 
'  In  saying  this  I  by  no  means  wish  to  imply  that  I  always 
identify  "  war-pestilences  "  and  "  famine-pestilences  "  with 
epidemics  of  typhus  fever;  those  pestilences,  appearing  at 
epochs  of  general  misery,  for  the  most  part  represent  a  mixture 
of  diseases,  especially  catarrh  of  the  stomach,  dysentery, 
scurvy,  typhus  fever,  and  frequently  malaria  and  tjrphoid 
fever,  which  not  only  by  chroniclers,  but  also  by  medical 
statisticians,   have   quite   often   been   lumped   together  as 

"  H.  Hirsch  (note  10,  Chapter  II),  vol.  i,  p.  385.  Hirsch  uses  the  word 
typhus  for  typhus  fever. 

02 


20  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

one  disease.''  It  is  to-day  almost  impossible  to  analyse  these 
accounts,  in  which  we  can  distinguish  only  individual 
characteristics  of  those  various  diseases.  This  appears  most 
distinctly  in  the  reports  of  the  chroniclers  and  historians 
regarding  the  war  pestilences  and  famine  pestilences  of 
antiquity,  and  it  also  explains  the  futile  effort  of  the  historians 
to  reduce  to  one  disease  known  to  us  the  numerous  and  com- 
plicated symptoms  which  they  have  looked  upon  as  the 
expression  of  a  single  disease-process — an  effort  which  has 
led  some  of  them  to  the  somewhat  extravagant  conclusion, 
that  they  were  diseases  which  are  now  extinct.  The  same 
backwardness,  furthermore,  characterizes — ^though  to  a  lesser 
extent — ^the  descriptions  which  the  physicians  of  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries  wrote  of  the  epidemics  of 
'  putrid  fever  ', '  bilious  fever  ',  and  '  mucous  fever  '  occurring 
at  that  time.  Here,  too,  in  many  cases  it  was  evidently 
a  question  of  the  simultaneous  outbreak  of  various  diseases, 
the  nature  of  which  even  the  most  expert  critic  could  not 
afterwards  determine  with  certainty. 

At  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  typhus  fever  was 
prevalent  in  many  parts  of  Europe ;  the  first  scientific 
account  of  it  comes  from  the  pen  of  Fracastorius,  who  had 
an  opportunity  to  observe  the  disease  during  the  epidemics 
in  Italy  in  1505-8,  and  who  described  it  as  a  disease  indi- 
genous to  Cyprus  and  the  neighbouring  islands  and  appearing 
for  the  first  time  in  Italy. 

The  names  given  to  the  disease  were  numerous  and  cannot 
all  be  mentioned  here ;  the  name  '  Hauptweh '  (headache) 
or  '  Hauptkrankheit '  (head-disease)  was  current  in  Germany, 
while  the  additional  words  '  ohne  Sterbedriisen '  (without 
death  glands)  expressly  distinguish  the  disease  from  bubonic 
plague.  T.  von  Gyory  ^*  mentions  a  large  number  of  synonyms 
— ^Hungarian  disease,  lazaret  fever,  spotted  fever,  petechial 
disease,  &c. 

In  1490  the  disease  was  borne  by  Spanish  soldiers,  who  had 
^'  Tiberius  von  Gyory,  MorfeMs /iwwgancus.    Jena,  1901.    P.  146. 


BEFORE  THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  21 

fought  in  the  Venetian  army  against  Turkey,  from  Cyprus 
to  Spain,  and  during  the  war  of  Ferdinand  the  Catholic 
against  the  Moors  it  spread  to  Granada  and  did  more  damage 
to  the  Spanish  army  than  the  swords  of  the  Moors.^* 

In  the  year  1490  a  serious  epidemic  broke  out  in  Lorraine, 
which  Marechal  and  Didion  ^®  think  was  typhus  fever ;  it 
appeared  in  that  bitter  and  indescribably  cruel  conflict 
between  Rene,  Duke  of  Lorraine,  and  the  people  of  Metz. 
Despite  the  armistice  proclaimed  on  June  18,  the  pestilence 
spread  far  and  wide  and  in  August  entered  Metz,  compelling 
the  inhabitants  to  take  to  flight ;  the  nobles  retired  to  their 
castles,  and  the  citizens  went  out  into  the  country.  And 
although  the  city  was  strictly  quarantined,  the  disease 
spread  throughout  Lorraine  and  northern  Alsace. 

In  the  year  1528  an  epidemic  of  typhus  fever  occurred  in 
connexion  with  warlike  events.  This  pestilence  broke  out 
in  Upper  Italy  and  spread  to  Lower  Italy,  where  a  war  was 
going  on  between  French  troops  on  the  one  side  and  German 
and  Spanish  troops  on  the  other.  The  loss  of  human  life 
was  uncommonly  large,  30,000  French  soldiers  and  twice  as 
many  non-belligerent  inhabitants  are  said  to  have  died. 
And  the  pestilence  was  also  borne  from  Italy  to  Germany. 

Well  known  in  history  is  the  great  pestilence  which  in 
1552  forced  Emperor  Charles  V  to  raise  the  siege  of  Metz, 
which  had  been  going  on  for  two  months  (November  and 
December).  Marechal  gives  us  detailed  information  about 
this ;  ^^  the  Emperor's  army,  he  says,  which  consisted  of 
80,000  German,  Spanish,  and  Italian  troops,  in  addition 
to  the  enormous  camp-following  that  always  accompanied 
armies  at  that  time,  was  reduced  one-third  by  the  end  of 
December  through  desertion,  disease,  and  disablement. 
According  to  the  report  of  the  Venetian  physician,  Andreas 

^'  J.  A.  F.  Ozanam,  Histoire  mMicale,  ginerale  et  particulUre  des  maladies 
dpidimiques,  contagieuses  et  epizootiques.  Paris  and  Lyons,  1823.  Vol.  iv, 
p.  157. — F.  Schnurrer,  op.  cit.,  vol.  ii,  p.  27. 

2"  Marechal  et  Didion,  op.  cit.,  p.  89.  > 

"  Ibid.,  p.  150. 


9^         EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

Gratiolo,  the  widespread  diseases  were  typhus  fever  and 
dysentery.  The  appearance  of  these  diseases  was  favoured 
by  the  congregating  of  such  enormous  numbers  of  people  in 
tents  and  inadequate  places  of  shelter,  and  also  by  the  great 
dampness  and  the  lack  of  the  necessaries  of  life.  The  extreme 
cold,  which  prevented  the  dispersion  and  isolation  of  the 
patients,  also  favoured  the  dissemination  of  the  disease. 
More  than  200  men  died  in  the  barracks  every  day,  while 
10,000  men,  all  told,  are  said  to  have  succumbed.  It  was 
also  observed  that  the  Spaniards  and  Italians  suffered  more 
than  the  Landshnechte  and  other  German  troops,  since  they 
could  not  stand  the  severity  of  the  climate  so  well.  During 
the  siege,  hospital-fever  and  scurvy  raged  in  the  city  itself, 
and  after  the  siege  was  raised,  in  the  night  of  January  1, 1553, 
typhus  fever  broke  out  there,  having  been  borne  into  the 
hospitals  by  wounded  soldiers  from  the  enemy's  camp,  or 
else  brought  back  by  citizens  who  had  been  out  to  inspect 
the  position  of  the  besiegers.  During  the  siege  the  surrounding 
country  had  been  most  terribly  ravaged  by  the  enemy's 
soldiers,  so  that  the  inhabitants  were  in  the  greatest  misery, 
without  food  and  without  any  source  of  help.  For  the  spread 
of  typhus  fever  this  afforded  a  very  favourable  soil,  and  it 
raged  furiously  in  the  months  of  June  and  July  in  the  villages 
surrounding  Metz. 

The  battles  with  the  Turks  in  the  east  did  a  great  deal 
toward  spreading  typhus  fever  throughout  Europe ;  for 
that  reason  the  name  '  Hungarian  disease  '  came  into  exis- 
tence. Toward  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  hitherto 
prosperous  Hungary,  by  endless  wars  with  Turkey  and  by 
international  strife,  was  brought  to  the  very  verge  of  ruin. 
Agriculture  ceased  almost  entirely,  the  development  of  the 
country  came  to  a  standstill,  large  tracts  of  land,  such  as 
the  Banat  region,  assumed  the  appearance  of  a  vast  swamp, 
while  at  the  same  time  the  alternate  cold  nights  and  hot 
days,  together  with  the  great  dampness,  were  very  unhealthy 
for  the  foreign  soldiers,  who  were  not  accustomed  to  such 


BEFORE  THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  2S 

a  climate.  Partly  this,  and  partly  the  utter  lack  of  sanitation, 
increased  the  baneful  effects  of  camp-life.  Dirt  and  refuse 
accumulated  in  heaps,  vermin  multiplied  so  rapidly  that  it 
was  impossible  to.  get  rid  of  them,  corpses  were  inadequately 
buried,  while  enormous  numbers  of  flies  and  gnats  molested 
the  soldiers  and  did  a  great  deal  toward  spreading  infectious 
diseases.  The  hospitals  were  in  a  pitiable  condition,  and 
since  the  soldiers,  after  their  previous  experiences,  had  little 
hope  of  leaving  the  country  alive,  they  gave  themselves 
over  to  a  most  dissolute  life,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
country  suffered  terribly.  Several  contemporaries  bear 
witness  to  the  fact  that  a  large  part  of  the  German  troops 
never  once  faced  the  enemy,  for  the  reason  that  they  sue- 
cumbed  beforehand  to  '  Hungarian  disease ',  which  killed 
more  of  them  than  the  swords  of  the  Turks.  Hence  Hungary 
was  called  at  that  time  the  '  Cemetery  of  the  Germans  '. 

'  Hungarian  disease '  was  typhus  fever,  which  manifested 
certain  unusual  characteristics  for  the  reason  that  the  German 
troops,  being  unaccustomed  to  the  local  foods,  inclined 
considerably  toward  intestinal  catarrh  and  scurvy,  while 
many  of  them  also  suffered  from  malaria,  which  weakened 
their  power  of  resistance.  The  sudden  beginning  with  a  chill, 
the  appearance  of  lenticular  spots  on  the  fourth,  fifth,  or 
sixth  day,  the  duration  of  about  fourteen  days,  the  sudden 
fall  of  temperature — all  these  symptoms,  mentioned  by 
witnesses,  definitely  stamp  the  disease  as  typhus  fever.  If 
the  disease  has  been  identified  by  many  historians  with 
bubonic  plague,  the  reason  is  that  in  serious  cases  of  typhus 
fever  suppuration  of  the  salivary  glands,  gangrene  of  the 
lower  extremities,  of  the  nose  and  ears,  &c.,  are  not  infrequent 
occurrences. 

According    to    Gyory,^^  the   pestilence    which   raged    so 

furiously  in  the  army  of  Joachim,  Margrave  of  Brandenburg, 

when  the  latter  was  in  Hungary  in  1542,  was  typhus  fever. 

He  assumes   that  the   disease  was   borne  thither  by  the 

*2  Gyory,  op.  cit.,  p.  145. 


U  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

Italian  troops  which  the  Pope  had  sent  to  help  fight  against 
the  Turks,  although  he  cannot  base  his  assumption  on  any 
argument  save  that  typhus  fever  was  no  rare  disease  in  Italy. 
It  is  much  more  probable,  however,  that  the  disease  was 
already  endemic  in  Hungary  at  that  time,  whether  from  of 
yore,  or  whether  the  Turks  had  brought  it  there.  So  much, 
however,  is  certain,  that  the  Germans  suffered  a  great  deal 
more  from  it  than  did  the  Hungarians  and  Turks,  who  had 
probably  already  survived  attacks  of  the  disease  and  had 
thus  become  immune. 

'  Hungarian  disease '  acquired  greater  importance  in  the 
year  1566,  when  it  spread  from  Hungary  over  a  large  part 
of  Europe.  It  was  then  that  this  name  first  came  into 
fashion.  According  to  Thomas  Jordanus,  who  took  part 
in  the  expedition,  the  disease  broke  out  on  the  island  of 
Komorn  during  the  war  of  Maximilian  II  against  the  Turks ; 
from  there  it  spread  further  west  and  forced  the  Emperor 
to  conclude  a  treaty  of  peace  which  favoured  the  Turks. 
After  the  dispersion  of  the  army  the  discharged  soldiers 
carried  the  disease  in  all  directions.^^  Vienna  was  hit  very 
hard ;  not  only  separate  houses,  but  also  entire  streets, 
were  filled  with  victims  of  the  disease.  The  returning 
Italians  brought  the  disease  first  to  Carinthia,  where  it 
broke  out  severely  in  Villach,  and  then  to  Italy.  In  the 
year  1567  the  pestilence  carried  away  400  people  in  the  little 
town  of  Villach,  and  from  there  it  spread  to  Styria.  In  the 
same  way  it  was  carried  to  Bohemia,  Germany,  Burgundy, 
Belgium,  and  Spain. 

At  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  typhus  fever  appeared 
in  Hungary  with  renewed  virulence ;  during  the  siege  of 
Papa  it  raged  with  particular  severity  among  the  Italian 
troops,  and  according  to  Coberus  all  the  patients  in  the  field- 
hospital  died. 

2'  Gyory,  op.  cit.,  p.  148. — ^F.  Schnurrer,  op.  cit.,  vol.  ii,  p.  112. 


,     CHAPTER  III 

THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR 

At  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  epidemics  of 
bubonic  plague  and  typhus  fever  were  frequent  occurrences 
in  various  parts  of  Central  Europe,  but  they  were  usually 
kept  locaUzed  by  the  strict  measures  that  were  adopted,  in 
accordance  with  the  best  scientific  knowledge  of  the  time, 
to  prevent  them  from  spreading ;  the  houses  in  which  the 
patients  lay  were  quarantined,  strangers  from  infected  places 
were  forbidden  to  enter  the  cities  under  penalty  of  death, 
the  clothes  and  beds  used  by  the  patients  were  burned,  while 
in  the  streets  and  public  squares  fimiigations  took  place. 
But  in  the  storm  and  stress  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  such 
precautions  could  be  taken  only  to  a  limited  extent,  and 
even  when  they  were  energetically  carried  out,  they  did  no 
good,  since  diseases  were  so  frequently  borne  from  place  to 
place.  A  further  consequence  of  the  long  war  was  famine, 
which  was  caused  by  the  devastation  of  the  fields  and  the 
non-cultivation  of  the  land,  due  to  the  lack  of  workers. 
This  made  it  easier  for  pestilences  to  become  unusually  wide- 
spread throughout  Germany.  The  fact  that  the  scene  of 
the  war  kept  changing  was  also  to  a  great  extent  responsible 
for  the  gradual  dissemination  of  various  diseases,  since  the 
regions  in  which  the  fighting  was  going  on  were  always  par- 
ticularly exposed  to  pestilential  devastation. 

Unfortunately  we  possess,  for  the  various  pestilences, 
scarcely  any  accounts  written  by  physicians,  and  with  a 
few  exceptions  must  rely  upon  the  information  given  by 
chroniclers.  In  most  cases,  therefore,  it  is  impossible  to 
state  with  certainty  just  what  the  individual  diseases  werie. 
Consequently,  inasmuch  as  the  word  '  plague '  is  used  in 
the  chronicles  for  any  serious  pestilence,  we  have  adopted 


26  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

it  in  this  same  general  sense  in  our  account,  without  neces- 
sarily meaning  thereby  bubonic  plague.  Certainly  one  of 
the  most  common  '  war  diseases  '  at  that  time  was  typhus 
fever,  and  diseases  that  were  commonly  called  '  burning, 
virulent  fever  ',  '  plague  ',  '  head-disease  ',  '  Hungarian 
disease ',  and  '  Swedish  disease',  were  undoubtedly  nothing 
else  but  that.  At  the  same  time  real  plague,  bubonic 
plague,  now  and  then  occurred,  and  the  word  '  plague '  is 
thus  very  often  used  in  its  proper  sense,  especially  in  reference 
to  the  pestilences  of  the  years  1630-6.  '  In  the  history  of 
this  calamitous  war,'  says  Seitz,^  '  we  see  typhus  fever  like 
a  malignant  spectre  hovering  over  the  armies  wherever  they 
go,  in  their  camps,  on  their  marches,  and  in  their  permanent 
quarters,  and  preparing  an  inglorious  end  for  thousands  of 
valiant  warriors.  Its  ravages  among  the  non-belligerent 
population  in  town  and  country  caused  the  inhabitants  of 
many  provinces  to  remember  with  hatred  and  loathing  the 
departed  soldiers,  who  were  usually  accused  of  having 
planted  the  seed  of  death.' 

In  general  one  may  say  that  before  1630  the  specific 
disease  was  usually  typhus  fever,  and  that  after  1630  bubonic 
plague  spread  along  with  this  disease  throughout  Germany  ; 
the  death  statistics  of  the  larger  cities,  adduced  at  the  end 
of  this  chapter,  lead  us  to  this  conclusion.  In  addition  to 
these  two  diseases,  we  find  frequent  mention  of  dysentery, 
scurvy,  and,  toward  the  end  of  the  war,  small-pox. 

Innumerable  articles,  chronicles,  &c.,  have  described  in  de- 
tail the  miserable  condition  of  the  German  countries  during 
the  Thirty  Years'  War.  The  following  account  is  largely 
based  upon  a  notable  work  by  a  physician  named  Lammert, 
who  offers  us  a  chronological  enumeration  of  the  pestilences 
of  that  time,  and  also  an  exhaustive  bibliography.^    Since 

^  F.  Seitz,  Der  Typhus,  vorzuglich  nach  seinem  Vorkommen  in  Bayern 
geschildert.    Erlangen,  1847.    P.  55. 

*  G.  Lammert,  Geschichte  der  Seuchen-,  Hungers-  und  Kriegsnot  zur  Zeit 
des  DreissigjShrigen  Krieges.    Wiesbaden,  1890. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  27 

it  is  impossible  to  discuss  here  thoroughly  all  the  countless 
epidemics  that  occurred,  we  can  merely  point  out  their 
main  features  and  indicate  their  connexion  with  warlike 
events.  The  figures  quoted  may  be  relied  upon,  if,  as  is 
usually  the  case,  they  are  taken  from  church-registers ;  as 
regards  statements  taken  from  chronicles,  on  the  other  hand, 
there  is  more  occasion  for  distrust.  For  a  correct  under- 
standing of  the  facts,  to  be  sure,  we  should  have  to  know 
the  exact  population  of  the  cities  and  towns,  and  this  infor- 
mation is  only  in  rare  instances  available.  We  must  bear 
in  mind,  furthermore,  that  the  country -people  fled  to  the 
cities  when  armies  were  approaching,  and  also  that  nearly 
all  cities  were  surrounded  by  walls  and  embankments. 

The  war  began  in  Bohemia.  After  the  battle  on  White 
Hill,  near  Prague  (November  8,  1620),  the  soldiers  of  Count 
Mansfeld,  who  were  already  infected  with  typhus  fever, 
marched  down  the  Main  to  the  Palatinate  and  to  Alsace, 
devastating  the  country  as  they  passed  and  leaving  severe 
pestilences  behind  them.  In  the  year  1625  the  main  scene 
of  the  war  was  transferred  to  the  north,  where  numerous 
epidemics  had  already  broken  out  in  the  course  of  that  year. 
The  disorder  caused  by  the  war,  and  especially  the  wild 
warfare  of  Wallenstein,  who  in  the  fall  of  1625,  after  muster- 
ing his  army,  had  joined  forces  with  Tilly,  were  particularly 
favourable  to  the  spreading  of  disease.  Hence  in  the  years 
1625-6  we  see  precisely  in  North  Germany  the  '  plague ' 
doing  the  greatest  damage. 

The  battle  of  Barenberg  (near  Lutter,  August  1626)  gave 
the  Imperialists  the  upper  hand  in  North  Germany.  This 
ascendancy  was  taken  away  from  them,  however,  with  the 
appearance  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  of  Sweden,  who  won  a 
complete  victory  over  Tilly  in  the  battle  of  Breitenfeld 
(September  17,  1631).  After  that,  Gustavus  Adolphus 
advanced  to  the  Lower  Main  (Frankfurt  and  Mayence),  and 
the  following  year  carried  the  war  into  Bavaria,  which  now 
became  the  principal  scene  of  the  fighting.     After  the  battle 


28        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

of  Nordlingen  (September  7,  1634),  the  fugitive  Swedish 
Protestant  army,  pursued  by  the  ImperiaHsts,  retreated 
through  Wiirttemberg,  Baden,  and  Hesse  to  the  Rhine, 
where  the  war  was  now  carried  on  for  several  years.  Both 
armies  were  badly  infected  with  disease,  and  spread  pesti- 
lence wherever  they  went.  After  the  battle  of  NordUngen 
the  war  became  decentraUzed,  splitting  up  into  a  number 
of  warUke  movements  throughout  all  Germany  ;  and  every- 
where these  movements  occurred  they  added,  if  possible, 
to  the  misery  of  the  people. 

In  the  year  1631  that  terrible  epoch  of  plague  began 
which  reached  its  climax  in  the  years  1634!-5  and  lasted  well 
into  the  following  year.  Its  widespread  character  was  due 
to  the  innumerable  plimdering  and  devastating  marches  of 
the  Protestant-Swedish  and  Imperialist-Catholic  armies  back 
and  forth  across  the  country,  and  also  to  the  consequent 
famine.  Everything  the  brutalized  soldiers  could  not  con- 
sume themselves  or  take  with  them,  they  destroyed  or  burned. 
There  was  an  absolute  dearth  of  farm-workers,  and  in 
addition  to  that,  the  year  1635  was  dry  and  unproductive. 
Horrible  are  the  descriptions  of  the  hunger  and  misery  which 
the  people  in  all  parts  of  Germany  experienced  at  that  time. 
Under  such  conditions  pestilences  could  spread  unhindered ; 
to  be  sure,  they  relaxed  a  little  after  the  year  1638,  but  by 
no  means  ceased  entirely.  Whenever  real  plague  disap- 
peared, typhus  fever,  which  was  prevalent  in  all  parts  of 
the  army,  took  its  place  ;  and  thus  diseases  were  borne  from 
place  to  place  until  the  very  end  of  that  disastrous  war. 

I.    The  Wae  in  Bohemia  and  the  Palatinate  (1618-24) 

The  year  1620  saw  the  first  warlike  events  of  any  impor- 
tance ;  at  the  beginning  they  were  confined  to  Bohemia, 
where  in  November  1619,  Frederick,  Elector  of  the  Pala- 
tinate, had  been  crowned  King  of  Bohemia.  In  the  first 
part  of  the  year  1620  typhus  fever  broke  out  in  Austria 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  29 

and  Bohemia  among  the  poorly  nourished  troops  of  the 
Catholic  League,  carrying  away,  it  is  said,  20,000  Bavarian 
soldiers.  After  the  League's  successful  battle  on  White 
Hill  (November  8,  1620),  the  disease  was  borne  by  Bavarian 
soldiers  back  to  Upper  Bavaria  and  Wiirttemberg ;  it  is 
stated  that  it  caused  an  eruption  of  red  spots  over  the  entire 
body,  and  that  headache,  dizziness,  and  stupefaction  were 
prevailing  symptoms.*  Munich,  by  adopting  strict  measures 
of  precaution — ^isolation  of  the  patients  in  houses  outside 
of  the  city,  disinfection  of  suspected  effects  and  incoming 
letters,  washing  in  vinegar  of  money  sent  in  from  infected 
localities — ^managed  to  exclude  the  disease  from  the  city 
limits.  In  1620  the  troops  of  Count  Mansfeld  conveyed 
the  disease,  which  was  called  '  head-disease ',  to  Franconia, 
where  in  the  following  year  it  raged  extensively.  In  conse- 
quence of  their  marauding  expeditions,  typhus  fever  also 
became  very  widespread  in  the  Upper  Palatinate — Neu- 
markt  and  Weiden  are  mentioned  as  places  where  it  appeared  ; 
in  Weiden  250  persons  died,  three  or  four  times  as  many  as 
in  normal  years.  Count  Mansfeld  then  marched  down  the 
Main  and  along  the  Neckar  to  Mannheim,  and  everywhere 
his  soldiers  went  they  left  behind  them  the  germ  of  typhus 
fever :  e.  g.  in  Boxberg  (near  Mergentheim),  in  Neckarelz 
(near  Mosbach),  in  Eberbach,  in  Ladenburg  and  Viemheim 
(both  near  Mannheim),  and  in  many  other  places. 

In  the  following  year  Lorraine,  the  Palatinate,  and  northern 
Baden  became  the  scenes  of  Count  Mansfeld's  predatory 
incursions.  Since  the  country-people  fled  to  the  cities,  the 
latter  became  greatly  overcrowded ;  in  Strassburg,  for 
example,  whither  23,000  country -people  had  sought  refuge, 
a  severe  pestilence  (chiefly  dysentery)  broke  out  and  carried 
away  in  the  course  of  that  year  (1622)  4,388  people.     '  Head- 

^  J.  C.  Rhumelius,  Historia  morbi,  qui  ex  castris  ad  rostra,  et  a  rostris 
ad  aras  et  focos  in  Palatinatu  Bavariae  superioris  penetravit,  anno  1621,  et 
permansit  annos  1622  et  1623.  Quoted  from  Ch.  Boersch  in  his  Essai  sur 
la  mortality  d  Strassbourg,  1836,  p.  138. 


30  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

disease '  broke  out  in  Wimpfen-on-the-Neckar,  after  the 
battle  fought  there  on  May  6,  in  consequence  of  the  arrival 
of  over  900  hundred  sick  and  womided  soldiers ;  the  result 
was  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  were  taken 
sick,  and  a  third  of  them  died.  In  the  Palatinate,  through 
which  Mansfeld  passed  on  one  of  his  predatory  raids,  the 
mortality  in  town  and  country,  in  consequence  of  dysentery 
and  other  diseases,  was  very  great.  Again,  in  Frankfurt- 
on-the-Main  typhus  fever  broke  out  in  1622,  and  1,785  people 
died  (as  compared  with  600-700  in  normal  years).  In 
Mayence  and  vicinity  the  disease  became  very  widespread 
in  the  year  1624.  A  plague  also  broke  out  in  Nuremberg 
in  October  1624,  carrying  away  2,487  people  that  year, 
and  2,881  the  following  year. 

The  Palatinate  suffered  terribly  in  the  year  1623  from  the 
continued  marauding  of  Mansfeld's  army,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  cross-marches  of  Spanish  and  Walloon  troops 
pestilential  diseases  were  conveyed  from  there  to  Lorraine. 
In  July  1623,  according  to  Marechal  and  Didion,*  typhus 
fever  or  bubonic  plague  broke  out  in  the  village  of  Lessy 
and  raged  furiously  for  two  months.  Despite  energetic 
measures  that  were  taken  to  prevent  the  disease  from 
spreading,  neighbouring  and  even  more  or  less  remote 
villages  were  infected,  so  that  in  1624  the  entire  country 
was  suffering.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  all  strangers  were 
forbidden  to  enter  the  city  of  Metz  under  penalty  of  death, 
the  disease  made  its  appearance  there  in  May  1625,  and  in 
less  than  ten  months  carried  away  3,000  people.  Of  the 
cities  surrounding  Metz,  all  of  which  were  infected,  Verdun 
had  a  particularly  high  mortality.  The  epidemic  spread 
from  the  Palatinate  to  Wiirttemberg,  Baden,  Hanau,  Nassau, 
and  down  the  Rhine  ;  for  the  most  part  it  was  typhus  fever. 

In  the  year  1623  the  army  of  the  Catholic  League  spread 
infectious  diseases  throughout  Hesse,  particularly  in  the 
region  of  the  Werra.  When  the  army  withdrew,  it  left 
*  Marechal  et  Didion,  op.  cit.,  p.  174. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  31 

dysentery  behind  it,  for  example,  in  Witzenhausen,  Esch- 
wege,  and  Hersf  eld ;  in  July  and  August  it  carried  away 
many  victims.  A  pestilential  disease  broke  out  on  June  3, 
1624,  in  Hersf  eld,  carrying  away  from  October  4,  1624,  to 
January  1625,  316  persons.  In  1625,  '  hunger  typhus  '  and 
bubonic  plague  appeared  in  Nassau ;  the  pestilence  began 
in  Dillenburg  on  December  18,  1625,  and  lasted  until 
October  30,  1626,  carrying  away  in  this  time  378  people 
— about  one-third  of  the  population.  The  climax  of  the 
pestilence  came  in  July.  A  plague  also  broke  out  among 
the  soldiers  in  Walsdorf-on-the  Ems,  likewise  in  Idstein, 
remaining  there  for  several  years. 

II.    The  War  in  Saxony,  Thuringia,  Brandenburg, 

AND   POMERANIA    (1625-30) 

The  years  1625  and  1626  were  bad  pest-years  ;  according 
to  Lammert,  the  various  epidemics  that  occurred  were 
partly  typhus  fever,  partly  bubonic  plague,  and  partly 
dysentery.  The  pestilences  spread  over  Saxony,  Thuringia, 
Silesia,  Eastern  Prussia,  Posen,  Poland,  and  Moravia,  and 
carried  away  large  numbers  of  people.  They  were  not 
always  directly  connected  with  warlike  events,  as  shown 
by  the  fact  that  many  provinces  that  were  spared  by  the 
war  were  attacked  by  the  diseases.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  incursion  of  Wallenstein's  troops  into  Saxony  and 
Thuringia  caused  pestilence  to  become  unusually  wide- 
spread. 

From  1625  to  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Breitenfeld  (1631) 
Saxony  suffered  terribly  from  pestilences  that  were  caused 
and  prolonged  by  the  war,  though  by  no  means  as  terribly 
as  in  the  years  1631-3.  Dresden  and  Leipzig,  comparatively 
speaking,  were  but  slightly  affected.  Of  13,000  inhabitants 
that  Dresden  had  in  the  year  1626,  341  succumbed  to  a 
plague  which  began  in  April  and  disappeared  in  December ; 
the    disease  was  called  '  burning    fever ',  spotted  fever ', 


52  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

and  '  pestilential  spotted  fever ',  while  in  the  records  of  the 
town  council  we  find  mention  of  '  spots,  often  the  size  of 
a  groschen,  all  over  the  body ',  and  also  of  '  swellings  '. 
Inasmuch  as  abscesses  and  gangrene  are  often  observed  in 
cases  of  typhus  fever,  it  seems  likely  that  it  was  that  disease.* 
Of  14,500  inhabitants  in  Leipzig  only  122  succumbed  to  it, 
although  houses  in  all  the  streets  were  infected.  Here 
again,  accordingly,  we  see  how  slight  the  danger  to  life  is 
in  the  case  of  typhus  fever. 

The  western  part  of  the  present  kingdom  of  Saxony 
suffered  considerably  more  than  the  eastern  part.  In  the 
year  1625  plagues  broke  out  in  the  cities  of  Plauen,  Reichen- 
bach  (1,000  deaths),  and  Zwickau  ;  the  last-named  city  was 
revisited  in  June  1626,  and  between  then  and  the  end  of 
the  year  216  people  died  there.  Pestilence  also  broke  out 
in  the  vicinity  of  Leipzig  in  1626 — ^in  Borna  (70  deaths),  in 
Grimma  (350  deaths),  and  in  Wurzen,  where  it  appeared  in 
August.  The  following  places  nearer  Dresden  were  also  the 
scenes  of  plagues  that  year :  Rosswein  (near  Dobeln — 376 
deaths),  Mitweida  (outbreak  on  April  9,  1626 — ^number  of 
deaths  before  that  day  22,  between  that  day  and  the  end 
of  the  year,  1,000),  Frankenberg  (581  deaths),  Freiberg  (752 
deaths  in  the  year  1626 — 500  of  them  due  to  the  plague). 
The  village  of  Dohna,  south  of  Dresden,  is  also  mentioned ; 
in  the  year  1626  there  were  157  deaths  there,  as  compared 
with  an  average  annual  mortahty  of  60.  In  the  Erzgebirge 
plagues  appeared  in  various  places  in  the  year  1 625 ;  1 34  people 
died  in  Annaberg  and  323  people  in  ZobUtz.  In  1626  there 
were  205  deaths  in  Schwarzenberg,  178  deaths  in  Gottesgabe, 
and  81  deaths  in  Breitenbrunn.  Two  towns  in  eastern 
Saxony,  Bischofswerda  and  Zittau,  are  also  mentioned ; 
there  were  182  deaths  in  the  former  in  the  year  1625. 

All  Thuringia  suffered  severely  from  pestilences  in  the 
years  1625-6.    In  the  year  1625  the  number  of  deaths  in 

•  E.  J.  J.  Meyer,  Versuch  einer  medizinischen  Topographic  und  Statistik 
der  Haupt-  und  Residenzstadt  Dresden .    Stolberg  and  Leipzig,  1840.    P.  122. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  $8 

Eisenach  had  increased  to  315,  while  in  1626  a  plague  raged 
so  murderously  that  769  persons  succumbed  to  it ;    other 
reports  say  2,500,  but  this  number  doubtless  includes  the 
refugees.     In   the   following   year   the   number   of   deaths 
decreased  to  156.     In  Ruhla,  a  neighbouring  village,  98  per- 
sons succumbed  to  the  plague.    In  many  Thuringian  cities 
the  epidemic  had  already  secured  a  foothold  in  the  year  1625, 
and  was  then  spread  over  a  very  large  territory  by  Wallen- 
stein's  invasion.    Schmalkalden  was  the  scene  of  a  plague 
from  June  to  August,  1625,  and  in  Gotha  one  broke  out  at 
the  end  of  July,  1625,  carrying  away  722  persons  that  year 
and  209  the  following  year.    In  Erfurt,  which  had  some 
15,000  inhabitants,  3,474  people  are  said  to  have  succumbed 
to  a  plague  in  the  year  1626,  the  strict  ordinances  passed  by 
the  town  council  on  December  25,  1625,  being  of  no  avail. 
The  small  communities  and  cities  lying  to  the  north  of 
Erfurt,  according  to  the  reports,  were  very  severely  attacked  ; 
in  the  year  1625  Ballstadt,  with  a  population  of  600,  lost 
365,  while  in  the  year  1626  the  number  of  deaths  in  Grafen- 
tonna  was  510,  in  Gebesee  275,  in  Kindelbruck  1,514,  in 
Straussfurth  367,  in  Weissensee  500,  and  Colleda  1,000.    In 
the  region  south  of  Erfurt  the  village  of  Ohrdruf  lost  203 
inhabitants  in  the  year  1625,  and  143  in  the  following  year. 
In  Arnstadt  1,236  people  succumbed  in  1625  to  '  head- 
disease  '  and  bubonic  plague — a  number  corresponding  to 
one-quarter  of  the  population.     Grafenroda  had  1,630  deaths 
in  the  year  1625,  and  Tambach  400  deaths  in  1626.     Koburg 
and  Rudolstadt  were  also  visited  by  a  plague  in  1626,  while 
towns  in  the  vicinity  of  the  latter,  Konigssee,  Schwarza, 
Tanna,  and  Schleiz,  had  707, 129, 195,  and  181  deaths  respec- 
tively.   The  neighbouring  town  of  Possnek  in  the  year  1625 
had  already  lost  1,000  inhabitants.    Jena  and  Weimar  both 
suffered,  while  there  were  228  deaths  in  Gera  and  1,100 
deaths  in  Zeitz  due  to  pestilence.    Many  other  places  in 
Thuringia  that  suffered  from  plagues  are  not  mentioned 
here. 

1369.13  n 


si  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

That  part  of  Saxony  which  corresponds  to  the  modem 
province  of  Saxony  fared  in  much  the  same  way  as  Thu- 
ringia,  while  those  parts  bordering  directly  on  the  kingdom 
of  Saxony  were  relatively  less  severely  attacked.  A  plague 
broke  out  in  Eilenburg  in  September  1625,  and  carried  away 
many  persons  there  and  in  the  surrounding  country.  At 
Delitsch  (west  of  Eilenburg)  a  dangerous  fever  {febris  maligna 
—probably  typhus  fever)  spread  through  the  wandering 
armies,  and  before  the  beginning  of  autumn  carried  away 
150  persons.  In  the  winter  the  disease  subsided  a  Kttle,  but 
broke  out  again  in  June  1626,  and  carried  away  880  people 
— in  September  alone  there  were  229  deaths,  and  numerous 
families  were  completely  wiped  out.  A  plague  also  raged 
in  the  vicinity  of  Halle ;  not  until  the  following  year,  how- 
ever, did  it  break  out  in  the  city  itself,  whither  it  was  borne 
by  ImperiaUst  soldiers,  and  where  it  caused,  from  June  to 
December,  3,400  deaths.  In  Eisleben  (east  of  Halle)  a 
plague  began  in  May  1626,  and  carried  away  30  to  50  people 
daily,  so  that  the  total  number  of  deaths  for  the  year  was 
3,068.  Merseburg  lost  341  inhabitants  in  the  year  1626, 
and  a  plague  raged  in  Naumburg  in  the  years  1625-6.  The 
town  of  Querfurt  (west  of  Merseburg)  in  1625  was  for  seven 
weeks  the  quarters  of  3,000  of  Wallenstein's  soldiers  ;  they 
brought  dysentery  with  them,  and  the  result  was  that  200 
citizens  died.  In  the  second  half  of  the  following  year 
a  plague  broke  out  and  carried  away  1,400  inhabitants  of 
the  city  (including  200  soldiers)  and  numerous  inhabitants 
of  the  surrounding  country.  The  town  and  vicinity  of 
Sangershausen  were  also  severely  attacked ;  the  pestilence 
began  in  the  town  in  June  1626,  and  reached  its  cHmax  in 
September  with  570  deaths — 1,323  deaths,  all  told,  are  re- 
corded in  the  church  register  for  that  year,  but  the  figure  is 
said  to  be  too  small.  Lammert  mentions  sixteen  surrounding 
villages  in  which  a  total  of  2,960  deaths  occurred  in  the  year 
1626.  In  Sondershausen  54  people  died  up  to  the  end  of 
July  of  that  year,  36  in  August,  137  in  September,  and  143 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  35 

in  October ;  the  mortality  then  decreased,  but  not  until 
466  persons  had  died,  400  of  them  in  consequence  of  the 
plague.  In  the  near-by  towns  of  Frankenhausen  and  Lan- 
gensalza  the  number  of  deaths  was  915  and  913  respectively, 
the  latter  town  having  been  visited  by  a  plague  the  year 
before.  Nordhausen,  from  January  1,  1626,  to  December  6, 
1626,  lost  3,283  inhabitants— 2,504  natives  and  779  refugees 
from  other  places.  In  Stolberg  (north-east  of  Nordhausen) 
a  plague  broke  out  on  June  27,  1626,  and  caused  623  deaths. 
Quedlinburg,  Aschersleben,  and  Halberstadt  were  also 
attacked ;   in  Aschersleben  a  plague  broke  out  on  June  15, 

1625,  and  between  then  and  the  end  of  the  year  carried 
away  157  persons.  The  total  number  of  deaths  in  the  year 
1625  was  534,  in  the  following  year  1,800  (1,066  in  conse- 
quence of  the  plague),  not  including  the  soldiers  ;  the  years 
1627-9  had  a  remarkably  low  mortality.  In  1626  a  plague 
carried  away  549  persons  in  Groningen  (near  Halberstadt). 
The  cities  on  the  Elbe  and  the  surrounding  country  were 
severely  attacked ;  a  pestilence  broke  out  in  Dessau  on 
September  3,  1625,  and  between  then  and  the  end  of  the 
year  224  persons  were  buried — 399  in  the  entire  year.  The 
disease  reappeared  in  the  summer  of  the  following  year, 
having  caused  662  deaths,  while  only  39  died  in  the  year 
following.  In  Aiken-on-the-Elbe  (below  Dessau)  1,000  per- 
sons, including  soldiers,  succumbed  to  a  plague  in  the  year 

1626.  In  the  cities  on  the  Saale,  above  its  confluence  with 
the  Elbe,  a  plague  raged  furiously  ;  in  Bernburg  it  appeared 
in  the  second  half  of  the  year  1625,  carrying  away  1,340 
persons  in  that  year  (the  number  of  deaths  in  the  following 
year  being  425) ;  Kalbe  was  also  severely  attacked.  A 
plague  broke  out  in  Magdeburg  at  the  end  of  June  1625, 
and  lasted  well  into  the  next  year ;  the  wealthy  citizens 
fled  from  the  city,  but  were  compelled  to  return  by  the 
approach  of  the  Imperiahsts,  and  the  result  was  that  several 
thousand  inhabitants  died.  The  country  to  the  south-west 
of  Magdeburg,  as  far  as  Bode,  suffered  severely-— Osterwed- 

D  2 


36  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

dingen,  Wanzleben,  Gross-Salze,  Forderstedt,  Egeln,  Wol- 
mirsleben,  and  other  places.  Several  soldiers  quartered  in 
Forderstedt  had  succumbed  to  a  plague  in  June  and  July 
1626,  and  had  infected  the  citizens  with  the  disease,  which 
carried  away  155  of  them.  A  plague  broke  out  in  Egeln 
in  October  1625,  and  reached  its  climax  in  February  1626 ; 
from  January  until  August  16  of  that  year  296  persons  died 
there.    In  Unseberg,  which  had  been  infected  in  August 

1625,  some  400  citizens  and  soldiers  were  buried  in  the  year 

1626,  in  addition  to  many  who  were  secretly  buried  in 
gardens,  thickets,  and  fields.  The  plague  raged  with  par- 
ticular fury  in  August  1626 ;  in  Volmirstadt  246  persons 
died  between  July  6  and  October  1626 — 144  in  September 
alone. 

In  Lower  Saxony,  in  the  region  between  the  Elbe  and  the 
Weser,  most  of  which  to-day  belongs  to  Hanover,  a  plague 
raged  virulently  in  the  years  1625-7.  In  Osterode,  whither 
numerous  country  people  had  fled  from  the  approaching 
war,  a  very  severe  pestilence  broke  out ;  in  the  Saint 
Aegidius  community  alone  1,500  persons  died,  among  them 
many  outsiders.  In  Klausthal  1,350,  in  Andreasberg  700,. 
in  Einbeck  3,000,  and  in  Hameln  1,143  people  succumbed 
to  bubonic  plague  and  '  head  disease '.  In  Goslar,  where 
the  pestilence  had  appeared  in  1625,  conditions  were  rendered 
particularly  bad  by  the  fact  that  many  wounded  Imperialists 
were  brought  there  after  the  battle  of  Barenberg  (near  Lutter 
— August  27,  1626) ;  most  of  these  soldiers  died  there,  3,000 
deaths  due  to  pestilence  having  occurred  in  Goslar  in  the 
years  1625-6.  Wallenstein's  soldiers  also  brought  pesti- 
lence with  them  to  Helmstedt  (in  the  region  of  Brunswick) ;. 
here  one-third  of  the  citizens  died,  and  295  houses  were 
rendered  tenantless.  The  university  faculty  fled  several 
times  to  Brunswick,  the  students  either  going  home  or 
enlisting  in  the  army.  This  plague  did  not  come  to  an  end 
for  two  years.  The  surrounding  villages,  furthermore,  were 
severely  attacked  by  it ;    during  the  siege  of  Gottingen  by 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  37 

Tilly  (June  to  August  12,  1626)  it  became  very  widespread, 
since  the  city  was  overcrowded  with  fugitives.  From  50 
to  60  persons  were  buried  every  day.  In  near-by  Dransfeld 
700  people  died,  in  Wolfenbiittel  1,705.  In  Hanover, 
where  a  plague  had  already  broken  out  in  the  year  1625, 
a  reappearance  of  it  in  March  1626  drove  out  the  garrison. 
The  severity  of  this  plague,  which  carried  away  3,000  people, 
was  increased  by  the  numerous  fugitives  in  the  city  ;  about 
one-third  of  the  population  survived.  In  the  city  of  Nien- 
burg,  which  was  besieged  by  the  Imperialists  after  the  battle 
of  Barenberg,  a  pestilence  likewise  broke  out  among  the 
inhabitants  and  in  the  garrison.  In  Liineburg  it  lasted 
from  1625  to  1628,  and  in  Osnabriick  from  August  1625  to 
the  end  of  the  year. 

In  the  years  1625-6  Wallenstein's  soldiers  carried  pesti- 
lence into  the  region  north  of  Magdeburg ;  in  Neuhaldens- 
leben  76  persons  were  carried  away  between  the  end  of 
August  and  the  first  of  the  year,  not  including  those  who 
were  buried  secretly.  The  following  year  it  demanded  a 
considerably  larger  number  of  victims — 583  ;  the  maximum 
was  in  June — ^147.  In  the  Altmark  (north-eastern  part  of 
the  province  of  Saxony)  dysentery,  bubonic  plague,  and 
typhus  fever  broke  out  almost  everywhere  during  the  years 
1625-8.  Dysentery  appeared  in  the  Danish  garrison  at 
Tangermiinde  and  carried  away  1,600  people,  and  on  June  29, 
1626,  the  Danes  withdrew  from  the  place.  Stendal  was 
also  visited  by  a  plague  after  the  departure  of  the  Danes; 
it  broke  out  in  July,  and  in  a  few  months  caused  2,511  deaths, 
the  normal  mortality  being  280-290.  Numerous  bodies  were 
secretly  buried,  while  many  peasants  who  had  fled  to  the 
city  were  among  the  dead  ;  thus  the  total  number  of  deaths 
was  estimated  at  5,000.  In  Osterburg  624  people  died  in 
the  years  1626-8,  and  in  Bismark  163  persons  died  in  the 
year  1626.  In  the  city  of  Havelberg  668  persons  succumbed 
to  dysentery,  '  head-disease  ',  and  bubonic  plague,  the  latter 
alone  carrying  away  about  400,    A  pestilence  was  conveyed 


m  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

.to  Gardenlegen  by  the  soldiers  of  Count  George  of  Brunswick, 
"wlio  had  his  head-quarters  there ;  the  number  of  deaths 
there  in  the  year  1626  amounted  to  no  less  than  1,514.  In 
Salzwedel  335  persons  died  in  the  year  1625,  and  451  in  the 
following  year,  the  plague  being  responsible  for  400  of  the 
latter.  In  Seehausen  dysentery  first  appeared,  and  soon 
gave  way  to  '  war-plague  '  (typhus  fever),  which  lasted  until 
1628  ;  some  200  of  the  soldiers  quartered  there  died,  and  as 
many  as  1,100  inhabitants. 

Brandenburg  also  suffered,  particularly  in  the  south- 
eastern part,  when  Wallenstein's  army,  in  pursuit  of  Count 
Mansf  eld,  turned  into  Silesia ;  there  were  386  deaths  in 
Luckau,  900  in  Kottbus,  500  in  Forst,  112  in  Spremberg, 
and  902  in  Jiiterbog. 

Further  north,  plagues  were  considerably  less  widespread 
in  the  years  1625-6.  In  1625  typhus  fever  broke  out  severely 
in  Liibeck  and  the  surrounding  country,  carrying  away  6,952 
people,  while  in  Bremen,  which  had  had  cases  of  plague  in 
1625,  a  widespread  outbreak  in  1627  carried  away  some 
10,000  people,  natives  and  refugees.  Mecklenburg,  being 
further  away  from  the  scene  of  the  war,  suffered  somewhat 
less.  In  the  year  1625  bubonic  plague,  '  head-disease ',  and 
dysentery  appeared  in  Rostock,  Wismar,  Schwerin,  Plau, 
and  New  Brandenburg.  In  the  following  year  a  plague 
broke  out  in  Parchim,  reached  its  climax  in  May,  and  lasted 
until  November,  carrying  away  1,600  persons.  In  Flens- 
burg  a  plague  broke  out  during  the  occupation  of  the 
Imperialists  (1627)  and  lasted  until  their  departure  (1630). 

The  pestilences  of  the  year  1627  were  not  very  widespread, 
and  this  applies  also  to  the  territory  in  Saxony  and  Thu- 
ringia  which  had  suffered  so  severely  in  the  years  1625-6. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  countries  in  the  northern  part  of 
Germany,  particularly  Pomerania  and  Schleswig-Holstein, 
were  severely  attacked  in  those  years,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
Wallenstein  had  transferred  thither  the  scene  of  the  war. 
In  the  year  1628  Hamburg  had  taken  in  a  great  many  foreign 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  39 

fugitives,  and  the  result  was  that  typhus  fever  soon  broke 
out  in  the  city  and  ca^rried  away  many  thousands  of  people. 
The  war  brought  great  misery  into  North  Friesland  and  the 
Frisian  Islands ;  the  Imperialists  and  Danes  oppressed  the 
people  by  enforced  quartering  and  extortions  of  all  kinds, 
and  the  result  was  famine  and  plague,  lasting  until  1630. 
In  Stade,  which  Tilly  in  1629  had  made  his  head-quarters, 
both  the  inhabitants  and  the  garrison  suffered  terribly  from 
a  severe  epidemic  of  dysentery.  In  the  city  of  Schleswig 
a  plague  broke  out  in  September,  and  again  in  November, 
in  consequence  of  the  quartering  of  Imperialist  troops ;  it 
devastated  the  entire  city,  so  that  211  houses  stood  abso- 
lutely empty  on  Christmas  Day,  1628.  Mecklenburg  was 
revisited  in  1629,  and  on  August  13  of  that  year  a  plague 
broke  out  in  Rostock  and  Teterow.  Imperialist  soldiers 
conveyed  pestilence  to  the  city  of  Plan,  where  they  passed 
the  night  of  November  29 ;  but  in  1630  it  appeared  in  a 
much  more  severe  form  there  and  carried  away  600  people. 
In  the  year  1630  a  plague  broke  out  in  Mecklenburg,  and  in 
Gustrow  one  raged  from  May  7  to  the  beginning  of  September. 

In  the  years  1628-9  Pomerania'  was  ravaged  by  the 
Imperialists,  with  resulting  pestilence  and  famine.  Greifs- 
wald  suffered  for  four  years  from  a  pestilence  which  reached 
its  climax  in  the  year  1631.  Grimmen,  Stargard  (3,500. 
deaths  in  the  years  1627-30),  Freienwalde,  and  other  places 
were  also  attacked.  In  Greifenberg,  where  soldiers  had  been 
quartered  in  large  numbers,  it  raged  with  unusual  fury ; 
three-fourths  of  the  city  were  devastated,  and  when  the 
Swedes  arrived  only  42  houses  were  uninfected.  Kolberg 
(on  the  Persante)  in  six  months  lost  3,000  inhabitants  in 
consequence  of  a  pestilence.  On  account  of  the  oppression 
caused  by  the  war,  many  citizens  fled  from  Koslin,  which, 
despite  the  decrease  in  population,  lost  919  inhabitants  in  the 
year  1630.  In  Stolp  800  people  died  in  consequence  of  a  plague. 

A  plague  was  borne  into  Silesia  in  July  1623,  and  in 
Bunzlau  an  average  of  thirty  persons  per  week  died;    of 


m         EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

760  deaths  in  the  year,  640  were  due  to  the  pestilence. 
Many  adults  fled  to  near-by  villages  and  died  there.    In 
the  following  year  a  plague  broke  out  again  in  Bunzlau,  but 
as  only  130  people  died  there  in  1625,  it  seemed  as  though 
the  pestilence  was  over.    In  September  and  October,  1626, 
however,  it  broke  out  again,  and  of  228  deaths  that  occurred 
that  year,  149  were  directly  attributable  to  the  plague.    In 
July  1624  it  appeared  in  Friedeberg  and  carried  away  51 
persons.     In  Lowenberg  it  began  in  September  1624 ;    the 
citizens  fled  from  the  city  and  set  up  tents  in  the  fields,  but 
in  spite  of  this,  from  forty  to  fifty  people  died  every  day, 
and  the  total  number  of  deaths  for  the  year  was  some  3,000. 
In  the  year  1625  the  pestilence  was  very  widespread  in 
Silesia — ^Hirschberg,   Lowenberg,   Herzogswaldau,   Liegnitz, 
Neumarkt,    Waldenburg,    Neisse,    and    other   places    were 
attacked.    In  Breslau  *"  head-disease '  raged  from  June  to 
the  end  of  that  year,  carrying  away  3,000  people  ;  1626  was 
also  a  year  of  pestilence  for  Breslau.    In  Neustadt  (Govern- 
mental District  of  Oppeln)  a  pestilence  raged  with  particular 
fury  from  May  till  September  1625 ;   for  the  years  1624  to 
1627  the  deaths  were  respectively  198,  420,  175,  and  472. 
On  August  21,  1626,  an  army  of  6,000  Imperialists  under 
Count  von  Merode  encamped  at  Goldberg ;    most  of  them 
were  infected  with  disease ;    and  after  their  departure  a 
plague  broke  out  with  such  severity  that  a  large  part  of  the 
population  died. 

During  this  time,  from  1625  to  1630,  when  epidemics  were 
raging  almost  everywhere  in  North  Germany,  South  Germany 
also  suffered,  since  diseases  were  often  brought  there  by 
Imperialist  troops  and  wandering  rabble.  In  the  year  1626 
Wiirttemberg  alone  lost  28,000  people  in  consequence  of 
plagues.*  A  pestilence  in  Augsburg  (1628)  became  very 
widespread  and  caused  9,000  deaths.    In  the  year  1629 

•  K.  Pfaff,  Nachrichten  iiber  Witterung,  Fruchtbarkeit,  merkvcurdige  Natur- 
ereignisse,  Seuchen  u.s.iv.  in  Siiddeutschland,  besonders  in  Wiirttemberg, 
vom  Jahre  807  bis  zum  Jahre  1815.    WUrtt.  Jahrbuch,  1850,  p.  80. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  41 

'  head-disease '  broke  out  in  Wiirttemberg  and  Alsace. 
During  the  isolation  of  the  city  of  Hanau  (from  December  6, 
1629,  to  March  12,  1630)  by  the  Imperialist  commander 
Witzleben,  a  pestilential  disease,  which  the  soldiers  had 
brought  with  them,  broke  out  and  caused  many  deaths 
throughout  the  entire  vicinity. 


III.    The  War  Years  1630-40 
1.    North  Germany  until  the  Peace  of  Prague 

In  the  year  1630  began  in  Saxony — in  the  wake  of  march- 
ing troops — ^that  deadly  pestilence  which  soon  spread  over 
all  Germany  and  was  chiefly  responsible  for  the  enormous 
loss  of  human  life  there  in  the  course  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
War.  We  may  safely  assume  that  bubonic  plague  was  the 
most  common  disease,  although  both  typhus  fever  and 
dysentery  were  of  frequent  occurrence.  In  the  years  1630-1 
the  pestilence  was  confined  for  the  most  part  to  North 
Germany ;  the  Electorate  of  Saxony  suffered  the  worst, 
934,000  people,  according  to  the  reports,  having  died  there 
in  consequence  of  the  war  and  of  diseases.' 

The  pestilence  broke  out  in  Leipzig  in  October  1630,  and 
carried  away  301  persons ;  it  was  borne  there  presumably 
by  two  foreign  orange-pedlars.  In  October  of  the  following 
year  it  broke  out  again,  when  the  Imperialists,  after  besieg- 
ing the  city  for  several  weeks,  on  September  13  had  finally 
captured  it.  The  number  of  deaths  in  the  entire  year  was 
1,754.  In  the  year  1632  Leipzig  was  once  more  the  scene 
of  grave  warlike  events,  and  was  compelled  to  live  through 
a  second  siege  by  Wallenstein ;  the  plague  began  in  June, 
became  very  widespread  in  August,  and  from  then  till 
October  caused  a  great  many  deaths,  the  total  number  for 
the  year  amounting  to  1,390.      In  August  1633,  Leipzig 

'  Lammert,  op.  cit.,  p.  114. 


42  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

was  again  besieged,  and  this  likewise  caused  the  outbreak 
of  a  plague  which  lasted  until  December  and  carried  away 
761  persons ;  in  1634  it  was  apparently  over,  for  of  306 
deaths  that  are  recorded  for  that  year,  only  24  were  attri- 
butable to  the  plague.  In  the  years  1636-7,  however,  it 
reappeared  with  great  severity  throughout  the  entire  city. 
The  country  surrounding  Leipzig  suffered  a  great  deal  in 
the  year  1633,  which  was  the  worst  plague-year  that  Saxony 
passed  through.  In  the  year  1632  Altenburg  was  occupied 
by  the  Swedes,  who  were  infected  with  some  pestilential 
disease,  the  germ  of  which  they  left  behind  them  when  they 
withdrew  on  January  13,  1633.  The  disease  spread  rapidly, 
acquired  a  virulent  character,  and  carried  away  2,104  per- 
sons, among  them  many  foreign  refugees.  Grimma  and 
Boma  were  severely  attacked  in  1633,  while  Wurzen  suffered 
less  severely. 

The  country  north-east  of  Leipzig  suffered  severely  from 
plagues  in  1631.  After  the  battle  of  Breitenfeld  (Septem- 
ber 15, 1631)  most  of  the  wounded  were  brought  to  Eilenburg, 
where  in  a  few  weeks  a  plague  broke  out  and  spread  so 
rapidly  that  300  people  died  in  the  month  of  October  alone. 
After  an  abatement  during  the  winter,  it  reconunenced  in 
1632  ;  the  number  of  deaths  for  that  year  was  670,  although 
only  492  of  them  were  due  to  the  plague,  while  the  disease 
did  not  entirely  disappear  until  1636.  The  city  of  Belgern, 
after  it  was  plundered  by  Hoik's  troops  on  October  1,  1632, 
was  visited  by  a  plague ;  also  Dommitsch,  Oschatz  (where 
563  deaths  occurred  in  1631,  and  many  more  in  1633-4), 
and  Ortrand  (where  there  were  800  deaths  in  the  years  1631-3). 
Plagues  raged  very  frequently  in  Leisnig,  Colditz,  and  Mitt- 
weida,  and  in  the  villages  and  towns  surrounding  them. 
In  February  1631,  Palatinate,  Imperialist,  and  League  troops 
quartered  in  Leisnig,  and  the  result  was  that '  head- disease  ' 
and  bubonic  plague  became  very  widespread ;  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  they  reappeared,  causing  443  deaths,  while  many 
thousands  are  said  to  have  died  in  the  country  districts. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  43 

The  same  was  true  of  the  year  1633.  A  pestilence  broke 
out  in  Colditz  in  the  year  1631,  and  in  the  following  year 
'  soldier's  disease '  (typhus  fever)  was  brought  there  by 
Swedish  troops,  while  in  1633  bubonic  plague  caused  567 
deaths.  Mittweida  suffered  from  plague  in  the  years  1631-4, 
243  persons  dying  there  in  the  year  1634.  In  the  year  1630 
a  very  severe  plague  broke  out  in  Freiberg ;  1,147  people 
died  in  the  course  of  the  year,  1,000  of  them  in  consequence 
of  the  disease.  In  the  following  year  there  were  124  more 
deaths.  In  the  autumn  of  1632  pestilence  raged  so  furiously 
that  several  thousand  people  died  in  a  short  time — about 
one-third  of  the  population.  Most  of  the  bodies  were  buried 
secretly,  only  about  3,000  regular  funerals  taking  place.  In 
the  year  1633  there  were  1,632  interments,  not  including 
those  buried  in  secret.  The  plague  affected  the  entire 
vicinity  of  Freiberg  and  spared  scarcely  a  single  village ; 
many  places  were  left  empty  and  deserted. 

In  Chemnitz  1,234  interments  for  the  year  1632  are  recorded 
in  the  church  register,  and  in  the  following  year  the  plague 
raged  even  more  furiously  :  almost  every  house  was  attacked, 
and  the  number  of  deaths  amounted  to  2,500.  In  Glauchau 
and  vicinity,  as  in  all  Saxony,  1633  was  the  worst  year; 
964  people  died  there  in  that  year.  The  plague  raged  most 
furiously  from  August  to  November,  and  lasted  until  1634 ; 
many  bodies  were  found  in  the  open  fields.  In  the  neigh- 
bourmg  Waldenburg  392  people  died  in  a  few  weeks  in  1633, 
in  Lichtenstein  370,  in  Thurm  400.  In  Marienberg,  a  vil- 
lage lying  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  1,000  people  suc- 
cumbed in  the  year  1633  to  typhus  fever  ;  the  plague  spread 
into  the  Erzgebirge  and  caused  2,300  deaths  in  Schneeberg 
and  157  deaths  in  the  adjacent  Neustadtle.  A  plague  had 
already  broken  out  in  Zwickau  in  1632,  and  in  the  first  part 
of  1633  it  became  so  severe  that  1,500  people  died  in  two 
months  in  the  summer  of  that  year.  The  city  was  full  of 
sick  people  and  dead  bodies,  and  the  number  of  reported 
deaths  for  the  year  1633  was  1,897 ;   but  the  total  number 


44  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

of  deaths,  excluding  the  soldiers,  is  said  to  have  been  no  less 
than  6,000.  Entire  streets  were  devastated.  Many  of  the 
inhabitants  fled  to  near-by  villages,  and  thus  spread  the 
infection.  Crimmitschau  was  visited  by  a  plague  in  1630 
(601  deaths),  and  again  in  1633  (409  deaths);  92  families  in 
the  last-named  year  were  completely  wiped  out.  Many 
neighbouring  places  were  also  attacked ;  there  were  700 
deaths  in  Werdau,  300  in  Steinpleiss,  150  in  Konigswalde,  &c. 

The  invasion  of  Hoik  caused  Vogtland  to  suffer  terribly 
in  August  of  the  year  1632,  while  his  second  invasion  in  the 
summer  of  1633  resulted  in  an  even  worse  outbreak  of  disease. 
In  Reichenbach  and  vicinity,  typhus  fever,  bubonic  plague, 
and  dysentery  prevailed  in  the  year  1633 ;  at  first  it  was 
called  '  soldier's  disease ',  and  later  '  bright  plague '  {helle 
Pest).  Of  904  deaths  that  occurred  that  year,  785  were  due 
to  the  plague.  In  Plauen  the  number  of  deaths  in  1633 
was  1,748,  in  Oelsnitz  325  (217  due  to  the  plague).  Hoik 
himself  succumbed  to  the  plague  in  Adorf  on  August  30, 
1633,  while  1,000  of  his  troops  also  died. 

The  eastern  part  of  Saxony  was  also  attacked.  In  Dresden 
a  plague  broke  out  in  1632  and  carried  away  numerous  people  ; 
it  continued  to  rage  in  the  following  year,  since  the  war  pre- 
vented the  adoption  of  the  usual  measures  of  precaution.  In 
the  year  1632  the  number  of  Protestants  buried  by  the  church 
was  3,129,  and  in  the  following  year  it  was  4,585.  Numerous 
families  were  wiped  out,  and  many  houses  were  rendered 
tenantless.  In  the  year  1634  one  half  of  the  inhabitants  fell 
victims  to  the  pestilence,  while  a  large  part  of  the  city  was 
devastated  in  1635.  Since  the  reports  of  E.  J.  J.  Meyer  and  of 
the  town  council  continually  speak  of  *"  swellings  ',  the  disease 
was  no  doubt  bubonic  plague.^  In  Dippoldiswalde  (south- 
west of  Dresden)  it  raged  so  furiously  in  the  years  1631-3 
that  entire  families  were  wiped  out ;  in  those  years  there 
were  189,  510,  and  250  deaths  respectively.  Pirna  is  said 
to  have  lost  4,000  inhabitants  in  consequence  of  the  plague 

•  E.  J.  J.  Meyer,  op.  cit.,  p.  267. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  45 

in  the  years  1632-4,  while  Dittersdorf  (south  of  Pirna)  lost 
405  inhabitants  in  the  year  1632.  The  pestilence  was  borne 
by  Saxon  troops  to.  Sebnitz  (south-east  of  Dresden).  In 
Stolpen  it  raged  from  1632  to  1634.  In  October  1631  the 
Croats  brought  pestilence  to  Bischofswerda,  and  more  than 
200  persons  died  in  consequence  of  it.  In  March  1632  another 
pestilence  broke  out  there,  carrying  away  660  persons,  so 
that  more  than  one-third  of  the  houses  stood  empty.  In 
the  year  1631  there  were  1,000  deaths  in  Camenz.  In  Bau- 
tzen there  was  a  garrison  of  500  men,  almost  all  of  whom  died 
in  the  year  1631  ;  including  the  residents  that  were  carried 
away  by  the  pestilence,  the  number  of  deaths  there  for  that 
year  was  about  1,000.  Nor  did  the  pestilence  disappear 
from  Bautzen  the  following  year. 

Lusatia  was  also  the  scene  of  pestilence  ;  only  a  few  places 
were  spared,  and  in  Upper  Lusatia  40,000  persons  are  said  to 
have  been  carried  away  by  pestilences  in  the  years  1631-3. 
In  the  last  part  of  September  1631,  dysentery  and  bubonic 
plague  broke  out  in  Gorlitz,  which  had  a  Saxon  garrison, 
and  carried  away  some  400  persons  (excluding  the  soldiers) 
between  then  and  the  end  of  the  year.  In  June  1632  there 
was  a  second  outbreak  of  plague ;  it  reached  its  climax  in 
October,  and  carried  away  6,105  people  (including  106 
soldiers)  in  the  course  of  the  entire  year.  In  the  following 
year  726  inhabitants  and  435  soldiers  succumbed  to  the 
disease.  Zittau  suffered  severely  ;  as  early  as  1633  several 
hundred  soldiers  and  inhabitants  succumbed  to  typhus  fever, 
while  in  the  year  1632  '  burning  fever ',  dysentery,  and 
bubonic  plague  appeared  and  carried  away  1,246  persons 
(according  to  other  reports,  1,642  persons).  Petechial  fever 
and  bubonic  plague,  after  a  period  of  inactivity  in  the  winter, 
reconmienced  in  the  first  part  of  1633 ;  the  latter  disease 
reached  its  climax  in  September,  carrying  away  1,860  inhabi- 
tants in  that  year,  in  addition  to  many  Imperialist  soldiers. 
From  October  to  December,  1634,  Saxon  and  Brandenburg 
soldiers,  after  their  return  from  Bohemia,  encamped  near 


46  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

Zittau,  where  various  diseases  soon  broke  out ;    the  result  was 
that  hundreds  died,  and  the  entire  region  became  infected. 

The  Province  of  Brandenburg  was  severely  attacked  by 
a  plague  in  the  year  1631,  but  in  the  next  year  suffered 
considerably  less  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  scene  of  the  war 
was  transferred  to  other  parts  of  Germany.  In  Berlin  777 
people  succumbed  to  a  plague  in  the  year  1630,  while  in  the 
following  year  it  reappeared  in  a  much  severer  form  and 
carried  away  2,066  persons.  In  Spandau,  after  the  capture 
of  the  city  by  the  Swedes  on  May  6,  1631,  famine  and 
pestilence  broke  out  and  caused  1,500  deaths.  A  plague  in 
Potsdam  caused  457  deaths  between  June  and  December, 
1631.  Neuruppin,  in  February  of  that  year,  after  the  occu- 
pation of  the  District  of  Ruppin  by  Tilly,  suffered  from  a 
severe  pestilence.  Dysentery  and  '  head-disease  '  broke  out 
in  Rathenow  in  1631,  reached  a  climax  in  July,  and  carried 
away  669,  people  (not  including  those  buried  in  secret).  In 
Prenzlau  1,500  persons,  about  one-fourth  of  the  population, 
died  in  the  year  1631,  while  Havelberg  had  227  deaths, 
Lindow  400,  and  Kyritz  (after  the  soldiers  had  quartered 
there)  231.  Frankfurt-on-the-Oder,  which  had  been  occu- 
pied by  the  Imperialists,  on  April  13,  1631,  was  captured 
by  Gustavus  Adolphus,  whereupon  a  severe  epidemic  broke 
out  and  carried  away  entire  families  in  the  course  of  a  few 
days ;  the  alleged  number  of  deaths  was  6,000.  Miinche- 
berg  (north-west  of  Frankfurt),  Quilitz,  Drossen,  and  Guben 
were  also  attacked ;  there  were  365  deaths  in  Quilitz  and 
2,000  in  Drossen.  In  the  year  1634,  when  the  Imperialists 
once  more  devastated  the  Electorate  of  Saxony,  a  severe 
plague  broke  out  in  Luckau,  whither  many  country  people 
had  fled ;  the  spread  of  the  disease  is  said  to  have  been 
favoured  by  the  fact  that  the  soldiers  broke  into  and  robbed 
the  closed  houses  of  the  dead.  In  Seftenberg  (near  Kalau) 
a  plague  broke  out  in  1630  and  carried  away  305  persons 
that  year  ;  it  remained  there  until  1633,  and  spread  to  many 
near-by  villages. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  47 

Silesia,  after  the  devastation  caused  by  the  pestilences 
of  the  years  1624-7,  had  a  few  years  of  rest.  In  the  year 
1632,  however,  infection  was  brought  there  from  Saxony, 
though  only  to  a  limited  extent.  On  August  1, 1632,  Lauban 
was  obliged  to  surrender  to  the  Saxon  garrison,  so  that  for 
ten  days  the  city  and  the  surrounding  country  were  crowded 
with  troops ;  the  result  'was  that  after  their  departure  a 
severe  epidemic  broke  out  and  between  July  and  December 
carried  away  1,400  persons.  In  the  very  next  year  severe 
plagues  broke  out  all  over  Silesia,  when  Wallenstein  appeared 
there  for  the  purpose  of  driving  out  the  Saxons  and  Swedes. 
The  plague  raged  so  furiously  in  Silesia  that  the  armies  were 
almost  entirely  exterminated,  and  whole  communities  were 
wiped  out.  Golgau,  Bunzlau  (and  vicinity),  Greiffenberg, 
and  Friedeberg  were  attacked.  An  epidemic  of  typhus 
fever  carried  away  500  people  in  Hirschberg  in  the  year 
1632,  and  in  the  following  year  it  became  much  more  wide- 
spread and  carried  away  2,600  persons.  '  The  infected  per- 
sons are  said  to  have  looked  very  red,  like  drunkards,  and 
to  have  died  suddenly.'  Almost  the  entire  population  of 
Landshut  died  in  the  year  1633.  Goldberg  (south-west  of 
Liegnitz)  had  been  plundered  by  Wallenstein' s  soldiers  on 
October  4  and  5,  1633,  and  on  October  10  Colonel  Sparre 
quartered  200  '  badly  infected '  soldiers  there ;  the  result 
was  that  a  severe  pestilence  broke  out  in  the  city.  In 
August  of  the  year  1633  such  a  severe  pestilence  broke  out 
in  Liegnitz  that  it  was  impossible  to  bury  the  victims  in  the 
regular  way ;  deep,  broad  ditches  were  dug,  and  from  100 
to  200  bodies  laid  in  them.  From  August  14  to  December  22 
the  number  of  deaths  is  said  to  have  been  5,794.  Breslau, 
which  at  that  time  had  upwards  of  40,000  inhabitants,  was 
visited  by  a  plague  in  September  1633 ;  in  the  Protestant 
parishes  13,231  people  died  in  that  year,  in  the  Catholic 
4,800.  Neumarkt  (north-west  of  Breslau)  had  1,400  deaths 
in  the  same  year,  while  in  Brieg,  which  had  a  Swedish 
garrison,  there  were  3,439  deaths.    The  city  of  Schweidnitz 


48  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

suffered  terribly;  30,000  soldiers  under  Wallenstein  and 
25,000  Swedish  soldiers  were  encamped  there,  and  the  plague 
was  so  severe  that  8,000  of  the  former  and  12,000  of  the 
latter  are  said  to  have  died.  In  the  city  itself,  which  was 
harbouring  innumerable  fugitives  from  the  surrounding 
country,  sick  people  and  dead  bodies  soon  filled  all  the 
streets  ;  on  August  25  alone,  300  people  died.  The  number 
of  the  dead,  including  from  2,000  to  3,000  that  were  buried 
secretly,  and  also  the  outsiders,  was  16,000  to  17,000 ; 
more  than  two-thirds  of  the  population  are  said  to  have 
succumbed.  The  pestilence  was  borne  from  Schweidnitz  to 
Peterswaldau  and  Nimptsch,  where  from  2,000  to  2,400 
persons  died.  On  May  31,  1633,  Wallenstein  came  with  his 
army  to  Glatz,  bringing  pestilence  with  him  ;  in  Glatz  itself 
4,284  people  were  carried  away,  while  many  hundreds  died 
in  the  surrounding  country.  Petschkau  was  almost  com- 
pletely wiped  out.  In  Neisse  the  number  of  victims  is  esti- 
mated at  6,000 ;  5,272  are  recorded  in  the  church  registers. 

Generally  speaking,  Thuringia  was  but  slightly  affected 
by  plagues  in  the  years  1631-3,  but  suffered  terribly  in  the 
years  1634-5 ;  for  in  those  years  there,  as  in  all  Germany, 
a  great  famine  prevailed.  In  Koburg  a  plague  broke  out 
in  the  year  1630 ;  in  1632  there  was  an  epidemic  of  '  head- 
disease  ',  which  carried  away  300  persons  in  October  alone, 
and  in  1634  an  epidemic  of  bubonic  plague,  rendered  even 
more  destructive  by  famine,  carried  away  1,143  victims. 
Several  pestilences  (dysentery  and  '  burning  fever ')  also 
broke  out  in  the  Koburg  region,  caused  by  the  quartering 
and  ravaging  of  Swedish  troops ;  the  inhabitants  died  by 
hundreds.  Hildburghausen  suffered  from  a  plague  from 
June  on ;  whereas  only  106  people  had  died  there  from 
January  to  May,  the  number  of  deaths  in  June  alone  was 
215.  In  the  following  year  534  people  died  there  from  starva- 
tion and  pestilence,  while  169  died  in  near-by  Streufdorf. 
Eisfeld  (west  of  Hildburghausen)  in  1632  had  been  plundered 
by  Swedish  troops,  and  from  that  time  on  suffered  from 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  49 

pestilence.    In  Meiningen,  in  the  latter  part  of  1635  and 
the  first  part  of  1636,  500  people  succumbed  to  a  plague 
(106  in  November  alone).    Suhl,  which  on  October  16  had 
been  burned  by  Isolani's  soldiers,  and  Themar — both  near 
Meiningen — ^had  1,634  deaths.     In  the  following  year  519 
people  died  in  Schmalkalden  and  vicinity — 250  in  Tambach, 
300  in  Vachdorf,  and  1,600  in  Salzungen.     In  the  year  1634 
the  number  of  deaths  in  Eisenach  was  1,800,  and  in  the 
following  year  1,600 ;    in   the  year   1636  there  were  only 
405  deaths  there.    Erfurt  suffered  very  little  in  1635,  while 
Ohrdruf  had  1,065   deaths,   Wechmar  503,   and  Arnstadt 
464.    In  Weimar  1,600  people  died  in  the  year  1635,  among 
them  500  foreigners  from  Franconia  who  had  taken  refuge 
there.    The  cities  lying  further  east  in  Thuringia  had  been 
severely  attacked  in  the  years  1632  and  1633,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  pestilences  in  Saxony  ;    for  example,  Gera, 
which  had  been  infected  in  1633  by  Hoik's  troops,  the  near- 
by village  of  Untermhaus,  which  in  the  two  years  had  211 
and  600  deaths  respectively,  and  also  many  other  villages 
in  the  surrounding  country.    A  plague  in  Schleiz  carried 
away  600  persons  in  the  year  1632. 

In  Rhineland  and  Westphalia  pestilences  broke  out  only 
sporadically  in  the  years  1630-4,  but  in  1635  they  became 
more  general.    In  the  year  1630  Miinster  was  attacked,  in 
1631  Arnsberg,  and  in  1632  a  pestilence  raged  furiously  in 
the    Berg    country — ^in   Lennep,    for    example,    where    the 
Imperialist   troops   were  for   a   long   time   quartered.     In 
Miihlheim-on-the-Rhine  a  pestilential  disease  broke  out  after 
the  departure  of  the  Nassau-Lorraine  garrison  in  1631 .    In  the 
year  1632  the  Imperialist  and  Swedish  armies  stood  facing 
each  other  in  Westphalia  for  six  weeks,  and  the  result  was 
an  outbreak  of  pestilence ;    600  people  succumbed  to  it  in 
Bielefeld.    In  1635  a  pestilence  raged  furiously  along  the 
Rhine ;    in  St.  Goar  200  people  died  in  the  course  of  the 
summer.     In  that  year  Westphalia  was  the  scene  of  warlike 
events  and  pestilences  ;   Arnsberg,  the  villages  on  the  Ruhr, 

1569-13  TZ 


50  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

Soest,  Unna  (near  Hamm),  Horstmar,  and  Kroesfeld  were 
attacked.  The  Governmental  District  of  Diisseldorf  (on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine)  was  severely  attacked  by 
pestilence ;  many  people  died  in  Geldern,  while  there  were 
389  deaths  in  Stralen,  256  in  Nieukert,  and  700  in  Lobberich. 


2.    South  Germany 

[a)   Bavaria  and  Upper  Swabia 

After   the   battle   of   Breitenfeld   (September   17,   1631) 
Gustavus  Adolphus  passed  through  Halle  and  Erfurt  to 
Wiirzburg,    Aschaffenburg,    and    Frankfurt  -  on  -  the  -  Main. 
Tilly  had  marched  through  Halberstadt,  Fulda,  and  Milten- 
berg  to  Wiirzburg,  in  order  to  relieve  that  city,  which  had 
been  captured  by  the  Swedes,  and  then  turned  south.     Thus 
the  principal  scene  of  the  war  was  transferred  to  Bavaria, 
which  from  1631  to  1634  suffered  terribly  from  the  ravages 
of  the  soldiers  passing  back  and  forth.    No  part  of  the 
country  was  spared.     '  The  Thirty  Years'  War ',  says  Lam- 
mert,*  '  was  particularly  fatal  and  disastrous  to  Bavaria 
from  the  year  1632  on ;    it  converted  the  country  into  an 
uninhabited  waste,   especially  because  it  was  followed  by 
pestilence.    Like  the  Imperialist  army  under  Tilly  in  the 
autumn  of  1631,  so  the  Swedish  army  on  its  marches  con- 
sumed everything  it  found,  and  wherever  it  went  in  the 
years  1632-5  it  spread  '  hunger  typhus  '  and  '  war  typhus  ' 
and  bubonic  plague ;    all  the  places  along  the  Main  lost  at 
least  one-half  of  their  population.'    In  September  1632, 
when     Gustavus    Adolphus     withdrew    from    Nuremberg, 
Wallenstein  turned  south,  and  there  on  November  6,  1632, 
Gustavus  Adolphus  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Liitzen.   After 
that  Wallenstein  returned  to  Bohemia,  while   the  Swedes 
under  Bernhard  von  Weimar  marched  back  into  Bavaria. 
The  acme  of  misery  was  reached  here  in  the  year  1634.     It 

*  I^ammert,  op.  cit.,  p.  120. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  51 

is  impossible  to  enumerate  all  the  places  that  were  infected 
by  the  brutalized,  wandering  soldiers  ;  the  most  out-of-the- 
way  and  indigent  regions,  such  as  the  Spessart  and  the 
Odenwald,  were  visited  by  them,  and  inasmuch  as  they 
brought  pestilence  wherever  they  went,  the  unfortunate 
villages  were  subjected  to  merciless  devastation. 

1.  The  region  of  the  Main.  Since  Gustavus  Adolphus 
first  had  Horn  occupy  the  bishopric  of  Bamberg,  and  himself 
marched  through  Aschaffenburg  to  Nuremberg,  while  Tilly 
returned  to  Ingolstadt  and  later  to  Lech,  the  region  of  the 
Main,  and  later  the  region  north  of  the  Danube,  were  the 
first  to  be  attacked  by  typhus  fever  and  bubonic  plague; 
not  until  later,  from  1633  on,  did  the  pestilences  spread 
more  or  less  extensively  in  the  country  south  of  the  Danube. 

In  Aschaffenburg  and  vicinity  a  plague  broke  out  in  the 
summer  of  1632  and  almost  wiped  out  several  villages  ;  the 
city  of  Aschaffenburg  itself,  which  lost  a  large  percentage 
of  its  inhabitants,  was  revisited  in  the  year  1635.  In  Wiirz- 
burg  the  pestilence  began  in  August  1632,  and  in  the  last 
part  of  July  of  the  following  year  another  serious  pestilence 
broke  out  there,  in  consequence  of  which  489  bodies  were 
buried  in  the  cathedral  parish  alone.  The  prolonged  quar- 
tering of  troops,  notwithstanding  all  the  precautionary 
measures  that  were  adopted,  caused  the  pestilence  to  rage 
with  extraordinary  fury ;  not  until  September  did  it  begin 
to  abate.  In  the  year  1635,  when  infected  soldiers  were 
transferred  from  Schweinfurt  to  the  stronghold  of  Marien- 
burg,  it  appeared  once  more.  In  1632  Schweinfurt  lost 
'  several  hundred  people '  in  consequence  of  '  pestilential 
purple-spots '  (typhus  fever).  The  total  number  of  deaths 
was  1,055.  In  December  of  the  following  year  another 
rather  large  pestilence  broke  out,  and  again  in  August  1635  ; 
in  the  latter  year  it  reached  a  climax  in  September  and  came 
to  an  end  in  December.  In  Bamberg  many  people  suc- 
cumbed in  1632  to  Hungarian  disease,  which  the  Swedes  had 
borne  thither  in  the  spring.    This  disease  was  also  very 

E  2 


5a  EPIDEiMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

widespread  throughout  the  entire  vicinity.  In  the  year 
1634  the  Swedes  came  several  times  into  the  region  around 
Bamberg  and  plundered  the  country,  so  that  famine  and 
plague  caused  great  misery.  In  the  summer  of  1635  Bam- 
berg was  once  more  attacked  by  an  infectious  disease  (typhus 
fever),  and  only  two  houses  in  the  city  were  spared.  In 
Kulmbach  the  plague  raged  extensively  in  the  first  part  of 
the  year  1633 ;  the  number  of  the  dead  was  so  large  that 
the  bodies  could  not  all  be  buried  in  Kulmbach,  and  some 
had  to  be  taken  to  the  churchyards  of  near-by  villages.  In 
the  following  year  the  plague  broke  out  anew,  carrying  away 
60  persons  in  a  single  day.  In  Bayreuth  400  persons  suc- 
cumbed to  a  pestilence  in  the  year  1632,  and  in  the  following 
year  360  died ;  it  raged  even  more  furiously  after  the  city 
was  plundered  by  the  Master  of  Ordnance,  von  der  Waal, 
on  August  19,  1634.  From  July  to  October  1,927  out  of 
7,000  inhabitants  died,  while  the  average  number  of  deaths 
amounted  to  only  167  per  annum. 

2.  The  region  between  the  Main  and  the  Danube  suffered 
no  less.  Nuremberg  and  vicinity  was  severely  attacked  by 
pestilence  in  the  year  1632.  In  the  summer  of  that  year 
Wallenstein  encamped  near  Fiirth,  and  Gustavus  Adolphus 
near  Nuremberg ;  they  watched  each  other  for  a  long  time 
without  venturing  a  battle.  The  country  people  had  all 
fled  to  the  city.  In  the  Swedish  army  and  in  the  over^ 
crowded  city,  which  had  some  50,000  inhabitants,  scurvy 
and  typhus  fever  carried  away  many  thousands.^"  Only 
4,522  bodies  were  buried  by  the  Church,  but  many  more 
thousands  died.  Two  weeks  after  his  disastrous  attack  on 
Wallenstein's  camp  on  September  4,  Gustavus  Adolphus 
marched  south,  while  Wallenstein  turned  into  Saxony.  The 
plague  continued  to  rage  in  the  vicinity  of  Nuremberg,  and 

^^  Joannes  Roetenbeck,  Speculum  scorhuticum  oder  Beschreibung  dea 
Scharbocks  in  zweyen  Traktdtlein,  abgefasst  dem  gemeinen  Mann  zum  Besten. 
Nuremberg,  1633. — Caspar  Horn,  Kurzer  Bericht  von  der  fremden,  vordem 
hei  uns  bekanntenjetzt  aber  eingreifenden  Krankheit,  dem  Scharbock.  Nurem- 
berg.   Quoted  from  F.  Schnurrer,  op.  eit.,  vol.  2,  p.  174. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  53 

many  people  contracted  the  disease  by  visiting  the  deserted 
camp  of  the  Imperialist  army  and  appropriating  the  left- 
behind  implements,  weapons,  and  kitchen  utensils.  Scurvy 
was  still  raging  in  Nuremberg  in  the  following  year.  In 
the  year  1634  the  plague  broke  out  and  carried  away  18,000 
persons.  In  December  1631  Forchheim  was  besieged  by 
the  Swedes  under  General  Horn,  and  the  result  was  that 
a  pestilence  broke  out  in  the  year  1632  and  carried  away 
578  inhabitants ;  the  average  number  of  deaths  per  annum 
was  45.  In  March  of  that  year  the  Swedes  had  deserted 
the  city,  and  in  June  1634,  when  they  reappeared  there,  the 
mortality  increased  again.  In  the  years  1631-2  Uffenheim 
suffered  a  great  deal  from  the  predatory  raids  of  the  Swedes 
and  also  from  plague,  which  in  the  year  1634  became  very 
widespread  there  as  in  all  Bavaria,  carrying  away  one-half 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town.  While  the  Swedes  and 
Imperialists  were  establishing  their  camps  near  Nuremberg, 
many  people  from  Ansbach  and  other  places  fled  to  Winds- 
heim,  which  thus  became  greatly  overcrowded ;  the  con- 
sequence was  that  people  died  there  by  the  hundred,  and 
their  bodies  were  buried,  thirty  or  forty  at  a  time,  in  large 
ditches.  When  the  Swedes  left  Nuremberg  and  appeared 
in  Windsheim,  they  left  behind  them  450  men  who  were 
infected  with  disease ;  in  the  entire  year  1,564  bodies  were 
counted.  In  the  following  year  the  city  was  besieged  by 
the  Imperialists  (October  12-23,  1633),  and  during  this  time 
360  persons  succumbed  to  a  pestilential  disease  ;  the  number 
of  deaths  in  the  entire  year,  including  the  outsiders,  was 
1,600.  Windsheim  also  suffered  greatly  in  the  two  follow- 
ing years  ;  at  the  end  of  the  year  1635  there  were  only  50 
inhabitants  left.  In  near-by  Burgbernheim,  where  typhus 
fever  raged  in  the  year  1630,  155  persons  died  in  the  year 
1632,  165  in  1634,  and  107  in  1636.  In  Schwabach,  which 
had  been  plundered  by  the  Imperialists  in  the  latter  part  of 
July,  1632,  various  diseases  broke  out — '  Hungarian  disease, 
dysentery,  and  even  bubonic  plague.'    In  the  year  1633 


64  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

there  were  298  deaths  in  Weissenburg ;  in  1634,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  were  642.  Eichstatt  had  494  deaths  in 
the  year  1632,  827  in  1633,  and  982  in  1634  ;  in  the  last  year 
the  town  was  besieged  and  captured  by  the  Swedes,  and 
for  a  few  days  thereafter  pestilences  raged  furiously.  The 
country  districts  throughout  Central  Franconia,  like  these 
cities,  were  almost  completely  depopulated  by  flight  and 
pestilence. 

The  Upper  Palatinate  was  also  severely  attacked  by 
pestilence  (typhus  fever  and  bubonic  plague),  which  spread 
far  into  the  Bavarian  Forest.  In  Amberg  an  epidemic  of 
tjrphus  fever  and  dysentery  broke  out  in  the  year  1633,  and 
in  April  of  the  following  year  bubonic  plague  appeared ;  the 
latter  disease  carried  away  from  15  to  20  persons  on  many 
days  of  that  month,  while  in  July  and  August  as  many  as 
40  people  died  every  day.  In  the  spring  of  1634  Weiden 
became  infected  with  typhus  fever  and  shortly  after  that  with 
bubonic  plague ;  from  August  17  to  November  6,  some  1,800 
people  died.  The  bodies  were  corded  up  like  piles  of  wood, 
placed  in  ditches  in  groups  of  200  and  300,  and  covered 
with  quick-lime.  In  Schwandorf  (north  of  Regensburg) 
the  Imperialists  had  encamped  in  the  summer  of  1634 ; 
after  their  departure  a  pestilence  characterized  by  '  swellings 
and  large  unknown  spots '  broke  out  and  carried  away 
almost  one-third  of  the  inhabitants.  In  Hemau  (north-west 
of  Regensburg),  after  the  Swedes  had  passed  through  the 
town,  '  the  malignant  pestilence  '  (typhus  fever)  had  broken 
out  in  the  year  1633 ;  and  in  1634,  after  the  devastations 
committed  by  the  troops  of  Bernhard  von  Weimar,  bubonic 
plague  appeared  and  carried  away  one-half  of  the  inhabitants. 

3.  The  cities  on  the  Danube.  In  the  year  1632  Neuburg 
was  occupied  by  the  Swedes ;  after  their  departure,  on 
October  18,  an  epidemic  of  Hungarian  head-disease  broke 
out  and  carried  away  many  soldiers  and  citizens  (more  than 
900  in  eight  months).  Again  in  the  two  following  years 
pestilence  caused  great  devastation.    On  April  29,  1632,  the 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  55 

Swedes  appeared  before  Ingolstadt,  but  in  a  few  dayife 
withdrew  ;  there  was  a  strong  garrison  in  the  city,  however, 
and  many  fugitives  had  gathered  there.  In  this  overcrowded 
population  typhus  fever  broke  out  and  carried  away  large 
numbers  of  people.  In  the  following  year  the  disease  became 
even  more  widespread,  and  1,039  people  succumbed  to  it 
before  the  end  of  November.  In  the  first  part  of  the  year 
1635  the  pestilence  abated.  In  the  second  half  of  the  year 
1634  Regensburg  was  attacked  by  bubonic  plague,  and 
despite  all  measures  of  precaution  it  carried  away  two- 
thirds  of  the  population  (according  to  other  reports  there 
were  3,125  deaths).  The  entire  vicinity  suffered  from  the 
plague.  The  mortality  in  Straubing  during  the  siege  of  the 
Imperialists  (March  1634)  increased  greatly  ;  even  in  the 
year  before  it  had  been  very  high  (294  deaths).  The  total 
number  of  deaths  in  the  year  1634  is  not  known,  but  of  three 
parishes  St.  Jacob's  alone  had  631  burials.  Deggendorf  and 
Passau  fared  similarly. 

4.  Upper  Bavaria  and  Lower  Bavaria  south  of  the  Danube. 
On  May  17,  1632,  Gustavus  Adolphus  had  occupied  Munich, 
and  during  his  short  sojourn  of  three  weeks  apparently  no 
epidemic  diseases  made  their  appearance  among  the  Swedes. 
But  since  typhus  fever  had  broken  out  everywhere  in  the 
vicinity,  strict  measures  of  precaution  were  adopted  by  the 
city  authorities.  According  to  G.  von  Suttner  ^^  124  people 
in  the  quarantine-house  before  the  Schwabinger  Tor  suc- 
cumbed to  '  burning  fever  and  headache  '  between  August 
and  the  end  of  the  year.  According  to  a  report  published 
in  1632  the  poor  people  suffered  in  particular,  while  red  spots, 
continual  headache,  and  later  on  diarrhoea,  characterized 
the  disease.  A  very  severe  pestilence  broke  out  in  Munich 
in  the  year  1634.  '  The  epidemic  was  caused ',  says  Seitz,^^ 
'  by  the  arrival  of  4,000  Spanish  soldiers  in  July  of  the  year 

"  G.  von  Suttner,  Miinchen  wahrend  des  dreissigjdhrigen  Kriegs.  Munich, 
1796.    Quoted  from  F.  Seitz,  op.  cit.,  p.  63. 
"  F.  Seitz,  op.  cit.,  p.  66. 


56  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

1634  ;  they  were  called  there  from  Tolz  and  Weilheim  when 
the  Duke  of  Saxe- Weimar  and  General  Horn  were  threatening 
the  city.     Although  shortly  after  that,  in  August,  a  few 
evidences  of  disease  were  noticed,  it  was  not  regarded  as 
infectious.    Finally,  however,  a  real  plague  broke  out  with 
such  fury  that  four  lazarets  and  a  garden  outside  of  the 
city  had  to  be  made  ready  for  the  care  of  the  sick.    It  raged 
most  furiously  in  the  months  of  October  and  November, 
when  from  200  to  250  dwellings,  among  them  entire  houses, 
were  quarantined  every  week.    Thus  it  went  on  until  the 
end  of  December.'    Unfortunately  there  exists  no  medical 
description  of  the  disease,  the  most  important  characteristics 
of  which  were  chills,  accompanied  by  internal  fever,  violent 
headaches,  great  lassitude,  haemorrhage,  plague-spots,  and 
swellings.     All  told,  some  15,000  persons  are  said  to  have 
died  in  the  year  1634 — about  one-half  of  the  total  population 
of  the  city.    The  bodies  of  victims  became  so  numerous  that 
they  were  piled  up  in  the  streets  and  houses,  without  attempt 
to  keep  a  record  of  the  names,  and  buried  in  ditches  forty  at 
a  time.     Strict  isolation  of  the  patients  by  closing  up  the 
houses  was  enforced,  and  the  use  of  the  clothes  and  bedding 
of  the  dead  was  forbidden  under  severe  penalties ;     such 
effects  were  burned  outside  of  the  gates.     Only  two  gates 
remained  open,  and  in  front  of  one  of  them  a  garden  was 
made  ready  to  receive  strangers  who  were  denied  admittance 
into  the  city.    In  February  1635,  the  pestilence  had  almost 
entirely  ceased,  but  in  September  it  broke  out  anew  and  did 
not  disappear  until  February  1637. 

In  the  years  1633-4  typhus  fever  and  bubonic  plague  were 
spread  throughout  all  Upper  and  Lower  Bavaria  by  the 
continued  marauding  of  the  Swedes.  The  Imperialists,  no 
less  than  the  Swedes,  helped  to  devastate  the  country, 
while  the  Spanish  soldiers  had  the  worst  reputation  of  all. 
Again  in  the  year  1635,  especially  in  the  autumn,  the  pesti- 
lence appeared.  A  plague  broke  out  in  Freising  after  the 
town  was  plundered  by  the  Swedes  on  July  16, 1634  (Landshut 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  57 

had  already  been  captured  by  them  on  May  10,  1632),  and 
after  their  departure  they  left  behind  them  an  infectious 
disease  which  was  diagnosed  by  the  town-physician  as 
Hungarian  fever.  A  pestilence  broke  out  in  the  city  when 
it  was  plundered  by  the  soldiers  imder  Bemhard  von  Weimar, 
on  July  10,  1634,  and  carried  away  one- third  of  the  inhabi- 
tants ;  according  to  a  list  furnished  by  the  court  the  number 
of  deaths  was  738,  but  there  were  many  more  with  whose 
legacies  the  court  had  nothing  to  do.  The  bodies  were  piled 
up  On  wagons  and  conveyed  to  cemeteries,  while  the  dwellings 
of  diseased  persons  were  closed.  In  Dingolfing,  which  was 
occupied  by  the  Swedes  from  July  %%  1633,  to  June  1634, 
a  plague  raged  with  such  fury  that  it  was  thought  the  city 
would  be  completely  wiped  out.  Simbach-on-the-Inn  and 
the  near-by  market-town  of  Thann  suffered  greatly  from 
a  plague  in  the  year  1634.  In  Thann  many  bodies  lay  for 
a  long  time  in  the  houses  unburied,  while  entire  families 
among  the  poorer  population  were  wiped  out  of  existence. 
The  plague  also  raged  in  the  surrounding  localities,  and  many 
bodies  lay  in  the  streets  as  food  for  scavenger  birds.  A  plague 
raged  in  the  years  1633-4  in  Traunstein,  which  had  already 
had  a  few  isolated  cases  of  disease  in  the  previous  year ; 
123  people  died  terrible  deaths  in  the  two  years  mentioned, 
and  also  in  the  years  1635-6.  In  the  year  1634  a  pestilence 
caused  500  deaths  in  Rosenheim,  while  severe  outbreaks  of 
pestilence  were  reported  from  many  surrounding  places— 
Aibling,  Miesbach,  Wasserburg,  and  Tegernsee. 

In  Tolz  twenty-seven  adults  succumbed  in  May  and  June 
1633,  to  Hungarian  disease ;  a  pestilence  also  broke  out  in 
the  spring  of  1634  and  carried  away  hundreds  of  people  in  the 
months  of  May,  June,  and  July.  From  July  on,  the  church- 
registers  contain  no  more  entries ;  the  patients  with  black 
swellings  usually  had  but  a  few  hours  to  live.  In  Oberam- 
mergau  '  wild  headache '  raged  in  the  years  1631  and  1633, 
and  many  people  succumbed  to  it.  In  September  1634,  the 
town  became  infected  with  bubonic  plague,  and    up    to 


58  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

October  28,  eighty-four  people  succumbed  to  the  disease — 
about  one-fifth  of  the  population.  The  epidemic  caused  the 
people  to  vow  that  they  would  produce  the  Passion  Play 
there  every  ten  years.  Murnau,  Weilheim,  and  other  places 
were  severely  attacked  in  the  year  1634.  In  Andechs  the 
mortality  was  increased  in  the  year  1634  by  an  outbreak  of 
dysentery  and  typhus  fever,  and  on  July  27  bubonic  plague 
also  appeared  and  remained  until  November,  carrying  away 
200  of  the  500  inhabitants  of  the  town.  In  Landsberg 
typhus  fever  broke  out  very  seriously  in  the  year  1630.  '  All 
over  the  bodies  of  the  people  who  contracted  the  disease ', 
says  Lammert,^'  '  red  spots  appeared,  and  then  the  victims 
lost  control  of  themselves  and  knocked  their  heads  against 
the  walls.  Many  who  seemed  scarcely  to  have  contracted 
the  disease  died  suddenly.  Dead  bodies  were  found  every- 
where, even  in  public  squares.'  In  the  following  year  the 
disease  spread  even  further ;  the  vicinity  of  Landsberg  was 
infected  by  the  soldiers,  who  were  constantly  marching 
back  and  forth.  After  the  terrible  plundering  of  the  city  in 
April  and  September  of  the  year  1633,  a  plague  broke  out 
and  carried  away  a  large  proportion  of  the  few  inhabitants 
that  were  left. 

5.  The  governmental  district  of  Swabia  fared  no  better 
than  the  aforesaid  Bavarian  countries,  while  the  region  on 
the  northern  side  of  the  Lake  of  Constance  suffered  terribly 
from  the  predatory  raids  of  the  Swedes  and  the  consequent 
epidemics.  In  Augsburg,  which  from  April  1632  to  1635 
was  occupied  by  the  Swedes,  the  suffering  began  when  the 
city  was  besieged  by  the  Imperialists.  During  a  siege  of 
seven  months  (September  1634  to  March  1635)  famine  and 
pestilence  did  a  great  deal  more  damage  among  the  popula- 
tion than  the  bullets  and  swords  of  the  enemies.  Whereas 
this  population  numbered  from  70,000  to  80,000  in  the  year 
1624,  by  October  12,  1635,  it  had  dwindled  to  16,422.  After 
the  city  had  surrendered  to  the  Imperialists,  people  still 
1'  Lammert,  op.  eit.,  p.  110. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  59 

continued  to  die  in  consequence  of  pestilential  diseases  ;  the 
town  council  therefore  gave  orders  on  July  7,  1635,  that  all 
refuse  should  be  removed  from  the  city.  Not  until  the  winter 
did  the  pestilence  disappear.  In  Memmingen  there  were 
1,200  deaths  in  1633,  and  1,400  deaths  in  the  following  year ; 
the  worst  year  was  1635,  when  the  pestilence  is  said  to  have 
carried  away  3,000  persons.  The  towns  surrounding  the 
city  were  also  severely  attacked.  In  Kempten,  which  was 
oppressed  by  the  Swedes  and  Imperialists  in  the  years  1632-3, 
a  pestilence  broke  out  in  the  year  1634  and  lasted  well  into 
the  next  year,  carrying  away  3,000  people.  In  the  surround-* 
ing  country,  pestilence  raged  so  furiously  that  many  places 
were  completely  wiped  out.  In  the  near-by  towns  of  Kauf- 
beuren,  Immenstadt,  Pfronten,  Fiissen,  &c.,  the  pestilence 
was  likewise  very  widespread;  in  1635  there  were  1,600 
deaths  in  Fiissen — about  one-quarter  of  the  inhabitants. 

The  predatory  incursions  of  the  Swedes  extended  even  to 
the  Lake  of  Constance.  In  the  year  1634  the  number  of 
deaths  in  Lindau  was  800  ;  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1633 
Weingarten,  Wangen,  and  Tettnang  were  occupied  by  the 
Swedes,  who  brought  infectious  diseases  with  them  wherever 
they  went.  Tettnang,  which  in  1633  had  more  than  2,500 
inhabitants,  in  1636  had  but  150.  In  Ravensburg  a  plague 
broke  out  in  the  year  1635,  reached  a  climax  in  September, 
and  in  six  months  carried  away  3,100  people.  In  Constance 
Hungarian  disease  raged  in  1633,  and  is  said  to  have  carried 
away  its  victims  within  a  few  hours ;  in  1635  bubonic 
plague  also  broke  out  and  caused  2,000  deaths. 

b.    South-western  Germany 

The  battle  of  Nordlingen  (September  5  and  6,  1634)  was 
an  important  turning-point  in  the  war,  important  for 
Bavaria  for  the  reason  that  it  freed  the  country  from  the 
predatory  incursions  of  the  Swedes,  and  disastrous  to 
Wiirttemberg,  Baden,  Hessen,  and  the  Upper  and  Middle 


60  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

Rhine  region,  whither  the  defeated  Swedish-Protestant  army 
retreated,  and  where  the  fighting  was  now  carried  on  for 
the  next  few  years.  Nordlingen  had  been  besieged  by  the 
Imperialists,  who  were  supported  by  a  Spanish  army; 
Bernhard  von  Weimar  and  Horn  tried  to  reUeve  the  city, 
but  were  completely  defeated  in  the  attempt.  The  Swedes 
turned  and  fled  to  the  Rhine,  and  in  a  few  weeks  the  entire 
south-western  part  of  Germany  was  filled  with  Imperialists 
who  had  followed  in  pursuit. 

The  sufferings  of  the  inhabitants  of  Wiirttemberg,  partly 
on  account  of  the  deeds  of  violence  committed  by  the 
Imperialists,  and  partly  on  account  of  pestilences,  were 
frightful.^*  On  September  10  the  Imperialists  entered 
Stuttgart,  which  they  continued  to  occupy  until  March  30, 
1638.  In  the  year  1631  the  city  had  8,300  inhabitants,  and 
in  the  year  1634  the  number  of  deaths  was  936,  of  which 
672  were  due  to  the  |)estilence.  In  the  following  year  the 
pestilence  became  more  widespread,  being  helped  along  by 
numerous  fugitives  from  the  surrounding  country  and  by 
famine  ;  the  number  of  deaths  was  4,379,  and  it  was  necessary 
to  dig  large  ditches  and  bury  a  hundred  bodies  at  a  time. 
From  January  to  July  1636,  there  were  319  deaths  due  to 
the  pestilence,  which  in  the  following  year  raged  even  more 
furiously  and  carried  away  945  persons.  The  mortality  was 
equally  high  in  the  year  1638,  when  the  city  was  occupied 
alternately  by  the  Swedes  and  Imperialists ;  the  latter, 
when  they  departed  in  October,  left  behind  them  6,000 
diseased  and  wounded  men.  In  near-by  Cannstatt  1,300 
people  died  in  1635.  In  Esslingen  a  plague  broke  out  in 
1634  and  in  1635  became  more  and  more  widespread  in 
consequence  of  the  continual  marching  back  and  forth  of 
the  soldiers.  It  made  havoc  especially  among  the  12,000 
fugitives  from  the  surrounding  country,  who  were  packed 
together  in  stables  and  barns,  and  in  many  cases  under  the 

"  Th.  Schon,  Bilder  aus  WurtiembergsLeidensgeschichtenach  der  Schlacht 
bei  Nordlingen.    Blatter  fiir  wiirtt.  Kirchengeschichte.    1891.    P.  14. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  61 

open  sky.     Owing  to  the  incipient  famine  the  pestilence 
spread  with  great  rapidity  ;   12,000  people  are  said  to  have 
died,  among  them  600  out  of  1,000  citizens,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  various  measures  of  precaution  were  adopted 
(removal  of  refuse,  fumigations  on  a  large  scale,  &c.).     In 
Goppingen,   which   was    occupied    by   Imperialist    soldiers 
a  few  weeks  after  the  battle  of  Nordlingen,  pestilence  soon 
broke  out  and  carried  away  656  persons  between  October  1 
and  the  end  of  the  year  (1634) ;   in  the  following  year  there 
were  904  deaths.     In  the  year  1636  Gmiind  had  a  very 
severe  pestilence,  which  on  many  days  carried  away  from 
thirty  to  forty  persons ;    large  graves  were  dug  and  from 
forty  to  fifty  bodies  buried  at  a  time.    Aalen,  in  consequence 
of  the  continual  marching  back  and  forth  of  the  soldiers,  of 
quartering,  and  of  extortions,  suffered  severely ;   there,  and 
in  the  country  round  about,  a  plague  raged  furiously  in  the 
year  1634.     Krailsheim  and  Hall,  comparatively  speaking, 
fared  well.    In  Hall,  the  parish  of  St.  Michael,  in  which  the 
average  number  of  deaths  for  the  years  1621-30  was  112,  in 
the  year  1634  had  1,116  deaths  (999  in  the  months  of  August- 
December),  while  there  were  372  deaths  in  the  year  1635.^** 
The  fugitives  in  the  city  and  the  people  who  died  there  are 
not  included.    In  Oehringen,  after  the  town  was  plundered 
by  the  Imperialists  from  September  13  to  18,  a  very  severe 
pestilence  broke  out  and  carried  away  1,131  persons.    The 
neighbouring  towns  and  villages  also  had  a  great  many 
deaths  due  to  pestilence — ^Neuenstein  1,100,  Waldenburg  452, 
and  Kiinzelsau  900.     The  entire  Hohenlohe  Plateau  was 
severely  attacked  by  pestilence  ;  in  the  little  town  of  Gross- 
bottwar,first  'head-disease'  broke  out  in  1635,  then  dysentery, 
and  finally  bubonic  plague ;    between  the  months  of  July 
and  December  692  persons  succumbed  to  these  three  diseases. 
In  June  1635,   there  were  775   deaths  in  Lauffen-on-the 
Neckar,  1,609  in  Heilbronn,  646  in  Weinsberg  (out  of  1,416 

1*  J.  Gmelin,  Bevolkerungsbewegung  im  Hdllischen  seit  Mitte  des  16.  Jahr- 
hunderts.    G.  von  Mayr's  Allg.  statist.  Arch.   Vol.  vi,  p.  240.    1902. 


62  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

inhabitants),  1,802  in  Vaihingen  (only  48  in  1631),  and  1,019 
in  Bonnigheim  (among  them  many  outsiders). 

In  the  towns  on  the  Upper  Neckar  and  on  the  northern 
border  of  the  Swabian  Alp  a  very  severe  pestilence  likewise 
broke  out.  Niirtingen  was  devastated  by  the  Imperialists 
after  the  battle  of  Nordlingen,  and  in  the  years  1634-5  there 
were  1,154  deaths  in  consequence  of  a  pestilence.  The 
surrounding  country  also  fared  badly ;  for  example,  Urach 
and  the  near-by  Alp  villages.  In  the  year  1634  a  plague  broke 
out  in  Tubingen,  and  in  the  following  year  it  spread  widely 
in  consequence  of  famine,  compelling  the  university  faculty 
to  leave  the  city.  The  highest  mortaUty  was  reached  in 
October  (386  deaths),  while  the  total  number  of  deaths  for 
the  entire  year  was  1,485.  The  plague  raged  no  less  furiously 
in  Rottenburg-on-the-Neckar.  Nor  was  the  Swabian  Alp 
spared ;  in  the  village  of  Gruibingen  there  were  90  deaths 
in  1634  and  eighty-six  deaths  in  the  year  1635.  Bohmenkirch 
was  almost  completely  wiped  out.  In  Gussenstadt,  whither 
many  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding  country  had  fled,  the 
usual  mortality  per  annum  was  12  or  14 ;  in  the  year  1634 
there  were  313  deaths  up  to  December  7,  while  in  the  year 
1635  there  were  137  deaths  up  to  September  23.  In  the  months 
of  November  and  December  (1634)  alone  there  were  157 
deaths,  and  the  inhabitants  frequently  died  at  the  rate  of 
4-6  per  diem.^* 

After  the  battle  of  Nordlingen  thousands  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  surrounding  country  fled  to  Ulm,  where  epidemics 
had  broken  out  in  the  year  1634  and  carried  away  1,871 
persons.  In  Jrnie  1635,  the  general  misery  caused  a  plague 
to  break  out  there ;  in  the  morning  many  dead  bodies  would 
be  found  lying  in  the  streets  and  in  front  of  houses.  In  the 
course  of  eight  months  15,000  persons  were  carried  away, 
among  them  4,033  fugitives  and  5,672  beggars ;  in  the 
following  year  only  496  persons  died,  all  told.     Even  the 

^*  G.  Thierer,  Ortsgeschichte  von  Gussenstadt  auf  der  Sckwdbischen  Alb. 
Stuttgart,  1912.    Vol.  i,  p.  207. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  63 

Black  Forest  district  of  Wiirttemberg  suffered  in  consequence 
of  the  war  and  of  pestilence ;  Tuttlingen  in  the  year  1635 
had  546  deaths,  Calw  772,  and  Freudenstadt  434  ;  Neuenburg, 
Nagold,  Sulz,  and  other  places  were  also  attacked. 

How  terrible  was  the  loss  of  human  life  in  Wiirttemberg  in 
consequence  of  the  war  and  of  pestilence  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  the  population  of  the  city  decreased  from  444,800 
in  the  year  1622  to  97,300  in  the  year  1639  ;  the  population 
in  1634  was  414,536.  In  the  short  period  of  five  years 
(1634-9),  in  consequence  of  the  invasion  of  the  Imperialists 
after  the  battle  of  Nordlingen,  and  of  the  pestilence  and  famine 
caused  thereby,  the  country  lost  300,000  inhabitants,  or 
about  three-fourths  of  its  population. 

The  northern  part  of  Baden  suffered  severely  in  the  years 
1634-6 ;  Pforzheim  lost  at  least  one- third  of  its  inhabitants 
in  consequence  of  famine  and  pestilence,  while  Durlach  and 
Mannheim  are  also  reported  to  have  been  attacked. 

That  part  of  Hessen  lying  on  the  right  side  of  the  Rhine 
was  likewise  visited  by  pestilence.  In  Wimpfen-on-the- 
Neckar  a  plague  broke  out  in  August,  1635,  and  in  the  period 
between  August  12  and  December  31  there  were  494  deaths 
there.  Bensheim,  Zwingenberg,  Gernsheim,  Babenhausen, 
and  Seligenstadt  fared  no  better.  Darmstadt,  with  212 
deaths  in  1633  and  220  deaths  in  1634,  had  an  increased 
mortality,  but  in  1635  some  2,200  bodies  are  said  to  have 
been  buried  there  ;  at  first  it  was  '  head-disease  ',  and  after- 
wards '  a  poisonous  pestilence  '. 

The  Lower  Main  region  suffered  terribly  in  the  year  1635 
from  famine  and  pestilence ;  the  Wetterau,  the  Palatinate, 
and  Alsace-Lorraine  were  all  attacked.  Frankfurt- on- the- 
Main  had  been  occupied  by  the  Swedes  in  the  latter  part  of 
1631,  and  after  that  the  mortality  increased;  whereas  in 
the  years  1630-2  the  average  number  of  deaths  was  1,598,  in 
1633  it  increased  to  3,512,  in  1634  to  3,421,  and  in  1635  to 
6,943.  This  includes  all  the  Protestant  population,  only 
a  part  of  the  Catholic  population,  and  none  of  the  Jews. 


64  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

The  large  number  of  country-people  who  had  fled  to  the  city 
rendered  the  general  condition  worse  and  helped  to  spread 
the  pestilence.  The  worst  month  was  September  1635,  in 
which  1,112  persons  died.  According  to  a  Frankfurt  physician, 
Homigk,  the  crisis  came  on  the  fifth  or  sixth  day,  while 
many  people  contracted  the  disease  not  only  once,  but  as 
many  as  seven  times.^'  We  see  from  this  last  observation 
that  the  various  infectious  diseases  at  that  time  were  not 
distinguished,  but  were  regarded  as  different  stages  of  one 
and  the  same  disease. 

In  near-by  Hanau,  after  it  was  occupied  by  the  Swedes 
and  Hessians  on  October  %  1634,  famine  and  pestilence 
appeared ;  in  June  1635,  an  epidemic  of  bubonic  plague 
broke  out  there,  reaching  a  climax  in  August,  and  gradually 
disappearing  with  the  beginning  of  the  cold  weather.  The 
mortality  among  the  citizens  and  fugitives  was  very  great, 
but  the  statement  that  21,000  people  died  in  Hanau  is 
perhaps  an  exaggeration. '  Upper  Hesse  was  devastated  in 
1635  by  famine  and  pestilence ;  in  Giessen,  for  example, 
1,503  people  died  (according  to  the  grave-diggers'  records), 
and  in  Lich,  a  small  fortified  town,  there  were  1,225  deaths, 
including  22  soldiers  and  549  fugitives  from  the  surrounding 
country. 

In  the  Rhenish  Palatinate,  after  it  was  occupied  by  the 
Imperialists,  conditions  were  terrible  ;  famine  and  pestilence 
lasted  from  1635  to  1639.  In  the  year  1635  General  Gallas 
retreated  from  Dieuze  to  the  Rhine,  and  in  the  same  year 
serious  diseases  broke  out  there  (dysentery,  typhus  fever,  &c.), 
so  that  the  streets  and  fields  were  covered  with  the  bodies 
of  his  soldiers.  Wherever  he  went  these  diseases  were  trans- 
mitted to  the  local  inhabitants,  so  that  many  places  lost 
more  than  half  of  their  population.  Pestilence  was  also 
transmitted  to  other  cities  and  towns  in  the  Palatinate ; 
in  Zweibriicken,  which  had  3,000  inhabitants,  250  married 

1'  Hornigk,  Wiirgengel.  P.  195.  Quoted  from  Lammert,  op.  cit., 
p.  201. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  66 

persons  died  between  August  1,  1635,  and  April  1,  1636 ; 
many  villages  in  the  vicinity  were  entirely  depopulated. 
In  Kaiserslautem,  which  on  August  17,  1635,  was  stormed 
by  the  Imperalists  under  General  Hatzf  eld,  and  was  thereafter 
subjected  to  an  inhuman  sacking,  a  severe  plague  broke  out 
in  the  year  1636  and  carried  away  large  numbers  of  people. 
In  Worms  numerous  people  succumbed  that  year  to  dysentery. 

In  Alsace  an  epidemic  of  bubonic  plague  broke  out  in 
August  1636 ;  it  had  been  brought  there  by  the  troops  of 
the  Count-Palatine  von  Birkenfeld  and  became  very  wide- 
spread among  the  fugitives  in  the  overcrowded  city  of 
Strassburg.  From  thirty  to  forty  bodies  were  buried  in 
a  single  day,  and  in  the  entire  year  there  were  5,546  deaths, 
including  1,000  fugitives  and  soldiers.  The  disease  continued 
to  reveal  its  presence  until  the  next  spring,  and  by  that  time 
8,000  persons  are  said  to  have  died  in  Strassburg.  In  the 
year  1635-6,  owing  to  the  perpetual  condition  of  war,  which 
made  it  impossible  to  cultivate  the  fields,  there  ensued 
a  terrible  famine,  and  this  did  a  great  deal  to  further  the 
dissemination  of  pestilence.  Zabern,  where  there  was  a  strong 
garrison,  and  where  many  soldiers  were  quartered,  suffered 
terribly  in  the  year  1634,  and  again  in  the  years  1635-6 
widespread  pestilences  broke  out ;  in  1636  the  Imperalists 
died  there  '  like  cattle  '. 

Lorraine  also  suffered  terribly.  In  the  year  1635  Bernhard 
von  Weimar  and  Cardinal  La  Valette  were  obliged  to  retreat 
before  Gallas  to  the  vicinity  of  Metz,  where  they  arrived  on 
October  1  ;  the  troops  brought  fever,  dysentery,  and '  Swedish 
plague '  with  them ;  the  last-named  disease,  which  has 
been  held  to  be  t3rphus  fever,  became  more  widespread  in 
Metz  in  the  year  1636  than  it  had  ever  been  before — ^it  was 
la  plus  meurtriere  et  la  plus  desastreuse  des  temps  modernes 
dans  noire  pays}^  The  precautionary  measures  of  the  city 
administration — cleaning  of  the  streets,  isolation  of  the 
patients,  closing  of  infected  houses — ^were  of  no  avail.    Many 

^*  Marechal  et  Didion,  op.  cit.,  p.  185. 
1569.13  F 


66  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

bodies  were  cast  into  the  Mosel,  and  before  the  gates  of  the 
city  the  streets  and  fields  were  covered  with  dead  men  and 
horses.  Also  in  the  neighbouring  cities,  especially  in  Verdun 
and  Nancy,  the  losses  in  consequence  of  the  pestilence  were 
great. 

Conditions  were  equally  bad  in  the  adjacent  Luxemburg. 
'  The  French  as  enemies,'  says  Lammert,^*  '  the  Croats, 
Hungarians,  and  Poles  as  defenders,  committed  the  most 
terrible  devastations  in  the  country  through  which  they 
passed.  Famine,  poverty,  and  a  furious  pestilence  completed 
the  misery.  Entire  villages  were  wiped  out ;  in  the  city 
of  Luxemburg  the  churchyards  no  longer  had  room  for  the 
bodies,  and  places  for  burial  had  to  be  prepared  within  the 
fortifications.  Throughout  the  entire  province  1 1 ,000  persons, 
one-third  of  the  inhabitants,  lost  their  lives.' 

In  the  year  1637  Count  Bernhard  von  Weimar  transferred 
the  scene  of  the  war  into  southern  Baden,  where,  during  the 
siege  of  Breisach,  from  July  5  to  December  18,  1638,  an 
epidemic  of  scurvy  caused  increased  misery.  In  the  year 
1639  large  numbers  of  people  in  the  Lorrach  district  were 
carried  away  by  the  pestilence,  among  them  Count  Bernhard 
himself. 

3.    North  Germany  (1636-40) 

In  North  Germany  the  war  against  the  Imperialists  was 
continued  by  the  Swedes  under  Banner.  On  October  4, 1636, 
the  Imperialists  were  defeated  at  Wittstock  (province  of 
Brandenburg,  district  of  East  Priednitz),  whereupon  the 
Swedes  in  that  very  same  year  overran  Saxony  and  Thuringia. 
In  1637,  to  be  sure,  they  were  thrown  back  into  Pomerania 
by  Gallas,  but  in  1638  they  reappeared  in  Saxony,  and  in 
1639  won  a  brilliant  victory  at  Chemnitz.  Thereupon 
Banner  undertook  a  campaign  into  Bohemia,  whence,  in 
1641,  he  was  forced  to  retire.  Shortly  afterwards  (May  10, 
1641)  he  died  in  Halberstadt. 

^*  Lammert,  op.  cit.,  p.  218. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  67 

These  campaigns  spread  severe  pestilences  throughout  the 
above-mentioned  regions  of  North  Germany,  particularly 
the  southern  part  of  Brandenburg  and  the  modern  province 
of  Saxony.  The  largest  part  of  the  Altmark  resembled 
a  '  large  lazaret ' ;  in  Wittstock  itself  there  were  305  deaths 
in  the  year  1636,  in  Bismark  163,  and  in  Salzwedel  193 ; 
in  Werben  a  plague  broke  out  after  the  soldiers  had  been 
quartered  there  and  lasted  well  into  the  next  year.  In 
Stendal  it  began  in  June  1636,  and  carried  away  1,992 
persons  in  that  year,  as  compared  with  an  average  annual 
mortality  of  120-30 ;  nor  does  the  number  include  the 
peasants  that  had  fled  to  the  city,  3,000  of  whom  died. 
The  pestilence  spread  over  the  entire  vicinity  and  wiped  out 
whole  villages.  In  Tangermiinde  a  pestilence  broke  out 
even  before  the  battle  of  Wittstock  ;  it  was  borne  thither  by 
Imperialists  and  Saxon  artillerymen.  In  Gardelegen,  where 
Banner  had  his  head-quarters,  500  people  in  the  parish  of 
St.  Nicholas,  and  1,205  in  the  parish  of  St.  Mary,  succumbed 
in  the  year  1636  to  bubonic  plague  and  other  diseases, 
among  the  dead  being  195  soldiers.  In  Neuhaldensleben, 
whither  many  country-people  had  fled,  a  plague  broke  out 
in  May  1636,  and  spread  throughout  the  entire  vicinity ; 
in  many  days  in  September,  thirty  and  more  bodies  were 
counted,  while  the  incomplete  church  register  records  778 
deaths.  The  total  number  of  deaths  is  said  to  have  been 
2,560. 

Typhus  fever  and  other  infectious  diseases  raged  furiously 
in  Magdeburg,  and,  as  before,  the  country  south-west  of 
Magdeburg  also  suffered.  In  Gross-Salze,  which  had  received 
many  fugitives,  701  persons  succumbed  in  the  year  1636  to 
dysentery  and  bubonic  plague,  among  them  329  outsiders ; 
the  climax  of  the  pestilence  occurred  in  July,  when  there 
were  162  deaths.  In  Egeln,  as  in  Gross-Salze,  a  plague  broke 
out  in  May  1636,  carrying  away  164  persons  (134  of  them 
outsiders)  in  June,  63  natives  and  84  outsiders  in  July.  In 
Wolmirsleben  a  pestilence  raged  from  April  to  the  middle  of 

F2 


68  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

September  1636,  and  carried  away  130  people.  In  Atzendorf 
typhus  fever  and  bubonic  plague  broke  out  in  the  spring 
of  the  year  1636  and  carried  away  617  persons,  inclusive  of 
outsiders.  In  Wanzleben  600  persons  succumbed  in  the  year 
1636  to  bubonic  plague,  and  300  to  other  diseases  and  starva- 
tion. In  Aschersleben  a  pestilence  broke  out  on  April  2, 1636, 
reached  a  cHmax  in  November  with  217  deaths,  and  carried 
away,  all  told,  1,125  persons  in  that  year  (including  499  out- 
siders and  soldiers).  In  Zerbst,  where  infected  soldiers  were 
quartered,  the  epidemic  was  particularly  widespread ;  of 
the  fugitives  in  the  city  1,500  succumbed.  In  Wittenberg 
and  vicinity  dysentery  and  typhus  fever  broke  out  in  the 
year  1636,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  bubonic  plague  also 
made  its  appearance  and  lasted  well  into  the  following  year, 
carrying  away  thousands  of  people.  In  Merseburg,  in  the 
parish  of  St.  Maximus  alone,  there  were  942  deaths  in 
the  years  1636-7,  and  in  Eisleben  there  were  1,598  deaths 
(including  the  outsiders)  in  the  year  1636.  Halle  and 
vicinity,  in  the  summer  of  1636,  had  an  outbreak  of  '  spotted 
fever  with  dysentery  '  and  bubonic  plague ;  the  number  of 
deaths  was  not  less  than  3,440. 

In  Thuringia  a  plague  raged  extensively  in  the  years  1636-7. 
In  Hildburghausen  there  were  648  deaths  due  to  a  plague 
in  the  year  1636,  in  Jena  691  (not  including  the  outsiders), 
while  in  the  year  1637  there  were  307  deaths  in  Arnstadt  and 
525  in  Zeitz.  In  many  smaller  places  dysentery  and  bubonic 
plague  broke  out,  having  been  borne  there  by  soldiers  and 
wandering  beggars. 

In  Saxony  (present  kingdom)  pestilences  reappeared  after 
the  invasion  of  Banner  in  the  year  1637.  In  Leipzig  a  great 
many  homeless  people  took  refuge;  within  three  months 
2,500  persons  died  there,  and  in  the  entire  year  4,229  out 
of  15,000  inhabitants  succumbed  to  various  diseases.  Pesti- 
lences also  broke  out  with  renewed  strength  in  near-by 
cities  and  towns;  by  September  1,000  natives  and  2,000 
outsiders  died  in  Grimma.    In  Leisnig,  fever, '  head- disease  ', 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  69 

and  diarrhoea  appeared.  After  the  burning  of  the  city  by 
the  Swedes,  a  plague  broke  out  and  carried  away  2,200 
persons  in  six  months,  including  the  outsiders.  Colditz, 
which  had  suffered  great  losses  in  the  last  six  years,  had  352 
deaths ;  the  population  so  dwindled  away  that  in  the  year 
1638  it  amounted  to  only  28.  In  Dobeln  there  were  674 
deaths,  in  Oschatz  2,000  (including  the  outsiders),  and  in 
Miigeln  more  than  1,000.  The  near-by  cities,  belonging  to 
the  governmental  district  of  Merseburg,  also  had  a  very 
high  mortaUty  ;  in  Belgern  there  were  765  deaths,  in  DeHtsch 
881  deaths,  while  in  Eilenburg  8,000  natives  and  outsiders 
are  said  to  have  died.  In  Dresden,  where  in  the  year  1635 
only  79  persons  had  died  in  consequence  of  plague,  there 
were  1,097  deaths  in  the  year  1637.  In  the  following  years, 
moreover,  cases  of  plague  continued  to  appear.  A  high 
mortaUty  prevailed  even  in  the  Saxon  Erzgebirge,  caused  for 
the  most  part  by  typhus  fever. 

In  Brandenburg  a  severe  pestilence  raged  in  the  years 
1637-8.  BerHn  was  repeatedly  attacked  in  1637  and  again 
in  1639.  In  Spandau  it  raged  very  extensively,  and  lasted 
well  into  the  following  year.  In  Luckau  500  inhabitants 
died  in  the  year  1637.  The  pestilence  was  conveyed  to  Neu- 
Ruppin  by  an  infected  soldier,  and  in  the  church  register 
of  that  town  600  deaths  are  recorded.  In  Gransee  a  pestilence 
broke  out  in  May  1638,  and  in  a  short  time  carried  away 
1,000  persons.  Four  neighbouring  villages  were  completely 
wiped  out.  In  Wittstock  1,599  persons  succumbed  in  the 
year  1638  to  bubonic  plague  and  other  diseases,  and  in  Pritz- 
walk  1,500  people  died  (not  including  the  soldiers  and 
fugitive  country-people).  In  Lychen  (district  of  Temphn) 
numerous  fugitives  and  two-thirds  of  the  native  inhabitants 
died.  In  Angermiinde,  but  40  out  of  700  famiUes  were  left, 
and  in  Prenzlau  a  pestilence  hkewise  raged  furiously. 

Pomerania,  while  the  war  was  going  on  between  the 
Swedes  and  ImperiaHsts,  fared  no  better.  In  Massow  400 
persons  succumbed  to  a  plague.    In  Ueckermiinde,  in  conse- 


70  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

quence  of  a  plague  caused  by  the  capture  of  the  city  by 
the  Swedes,  only  eight  men  and  seven  widows  are  said  to 
have  survived  the  year  1638. 

Mecklenburg  suffered  terribly  in  the  years  1637-8  from  the 
quartering  of  Swedish  troops  there.  Thousands  succumbed 
in  a  short  time  to  dysentery  and  bubonic  plague,  especially 
in  the  months  of  August  and  September  1638.  Giistrow, 
in  the  year  1637,  is  said  to  have  lost  2,000  persons  (most  of 
them  doubtless  fugitive  country-people).  Sternberg,  the 
population  of  which  was  completely  wiped  out  by  the 
pestilence,  stood  empty  for  half  a  year.  In  New  Branden- 
burg, where  many  country- people  had  taken  refuge, 
8,000  people  died  in  the  year  1638,  according  to  the  church 
register.    Biitzow  had  261  deaths. 

IV.   The  War  Years  (1641-8) 

After  the  death  of  Bernhard  von  Weimar  and  of  Banner, 
all  centralized  warfare  in  Germany  ceased,  and  there  began 
an  endless  series  of  futile  marches  across  the  country. 
The  great  depopulation  of  Geraiany,  the  difficulty  of  properly 
nourishing  the  few  that  had  survived,  and  the  wide  prevalence 
of  camp-fever,  made  it  impossible  to  carry  out  any  more 
large  enterprises.  Severe  pestilences  scarcely  ever  occurred, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  there  were  so  few  people  to  contract 
and  spread  diseases.  Typhus  fever  had  become  epidemic 
everywhere.  '  In  Germany,'  says  Schnurrer,-" '  where  fighting 
had  been  going  on  for  twenty-two  years,  and  where  soldier- 
life  had  almost  supplanted  civil  and  rural  life,  a  certain  war- 
plague  revealed  itself  in  places  where  there  were  soldiers, 
and  where  the  war  had  left  its  vestiges.  This  war-plague  was 
characterized  by  a  mucous  fever,  began  with  a  chill,  accom- 
panied by  coughing,  diarrhoea,  and,  in  the  case  of  women, 
by  increased  and  irregular  menstruation ;  at  the  same  time 
the  tongue  became  dry,  headache  and  insomnia  ensued, 

^  F.  Schnurrer,  op.  cit.,  vol.  ii,  p.  181. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  71 

and  at  the  crisis  either  the  brain  or  the  throat  became 
inflamed,  or  else  petechiae  or  purpura  (then  for  the  first 
time  observed  in  Lower  Saxony)  broke  out.  Moreover,  this 
war-plague,  if  it  appeared  to  have  passed  a  crisis  on  the 
fourteenth  or  twenty-first  day,  manifested  a  remarkable 
tendency  to  relapse.  It  was  quite  as  infectious  as  bubonic 
plague,  and  was  called  by  several  names — Hungarian  fever, 
head-disease,  and  soldiers'  disease.'  We  distinctly  see  in 
this  description  a  mixture  of  various  diseases  (especially 
typhoid  fever,  typhus  fever,  and  others).  Schnurrer's 
authority  was  Lotichius,  a  Frankfurt  physician. 

The  continuation  of  the  war  was  disastrous  to  Austria, 
for  the  reason  that  the  Swedish  general,  Torstensen,  pressed 
on  to  Moravia  and  Lower  Austria.  As  early  as  the  year 
1642  he  had  undertaken  an  expedition  through  Silesia  to 
Moravia  and  Bohemia  ;  in  the  year  1644  he  advanced  again, 
defeated  the  ImperiaHsts  at  Jankau  in  Bohemia  in  the  spring 
of  the  year  1645,  and  besieged  (unsuccessfully)  both  Vienna 
and  Briinn.  In  the  year  1645  he  was  hard  pressed  by  the 
Austrians  and  compelled  to  evacuate  Moravia  and  Bohemia. 
Torstensen's  campaigns  resulted  in  the  outbreak  of  severe 
pestilences  throughout  all  Austria. 

Bohemia  had  suffered  as  much  as  Germany  from  the  hard- 
ships of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  while  Austrian  Silesia,  and 
at  times  those  parts  of  Austria  which  bordered  on  Bavaria, 
had  not  been  spared.  Only  in  the  year  1634  was  Austria 
itself  attacked  by  pestilences,  obvious  consequence  of  the  fact 
that  both  Saxony  and  Bavaria  were  badly  infected.  The 
incursion  of  Banner  into  Bohemia,  in  the  year  1639,  had 
likewise  caused  a  widespread  epidemic. 

As  far  back  as  the  year  1644,  and  hence  before  Torstensen's 
invasion  of  Austria,  severe  plagues  broke  out  in  Hungary, 
Croatia,  Upper  and  Lower  Austria,  Styria,  Carinthia,  and 
Gorz.  People  who  contracted  the  disease  usually  died  in 
the  first  three  days.  Torstensen's  invasion  caused  the 
pestilence  to  spread  very  extensively.    In  Vienna  it  broke 


72  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

out  in  August  1645,  having  been  borne  thither  by  Rakoczi's 
troops,  and  carried  away  from  thirty  to  forty  people  daily. 
Tuln,  St.  Polten,  and  New  Vienna  are  also  mentioned  as 
places  that  were  attacked.  Styria  was  particularly  afflicted 
in  the  year  1646 ;  the  district  of  CiUi  is  said  to  have  lost 
10,000  inhabitants,  while  the  city  of  CilU  alone  had  some 
400  deaths.  In  Graz,  as  in  all  Upper  Styria,  the  loss  of  human 
life  was  not  so  great. 

V.    War  Pestilences  in  non-German  States  during 
THE  Thirty  Years'  War 

1.  The  Netherlands.  In  the  summer  of  the  year  1623 
there  raged  in  Mansf  eld's  camp  in  East  Friesland  an  epidemic 
of  typhus  fever,  which  soon  spread  among  the  Netherlandish 
troops  and  over  the  Netherlands.  Antwerp,  Brussels,  Ypres, 
Ley  den.  Delft,  and  Amsterdam  were  all  severely  attacked. 
In  Ley  den  9,897  persons  died  between  October  1623  and 
October  1624.  In  Amsterdam  32,532  people  died  in  the 
year  1624,  11,795  of  them  in  consequence  of  the  pestilence. 
In  the  year  1625,  Breda,  which  for  eight  months  had  been 
defended  by  Flemish  and  Walloon  troops  in  conjunction 
with  the  English  and  French,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Spaniards ;  famine,  pestilence,  and  scurvy  had  raged  so 
furiously  in  the  besieged  city  that  8,000  people  died  there, 
whereas  the  well-nourished  Spaniards  did  not  suffer  at  all 
from  pestilence.^^ 

In  the  years  1635-7  typhus  fever  and  bubonic  plague 
again  made  their  appearance  in  the  Netherlands.  An 
epidemic  of  the  latter  occurred  in  Leyden  in  the  months 
August-November  1635,  and  carried  away  20,000  people  in 
the  course  of  the  entire  year.  The  pestilence  caused  great 
devastation  in  Nimeguen  during  the  siege  of  the  city  by  the 
French  and  Dutch ;  in  the  summer  of  1635  dysentery  and 
typhus  fever  broke  out  there,  and  in  November  bubonic 

^  Lammert,  op.  cit.,  p.  214. — H.  Haser,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iii,  p.  410. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  73 

plague  appeared  and  slowly  extended  its  area  in  the  course  of 
the  winter.  From  April  to  October  1636  it  raged  furiously, 
and  spared  scarcely  a  single  house  ;  from  August  1,  1635,  to 
August  1,  1636,  some  6,000  persons  died  in  the  city,  and  the 
pestilence  did  not  come  to  an  end  until  February  1637.  It 
also  spread  to  the  country  around  Nimeguen,  especially 
to  Montfort,  where  half  of  the  inhabitants  succumbed 
to  it.22 

2.  France.  In  the  years  1620-30  a  large  part  of  the  country 
was  visited  by  pestilence,  especially  the  southern  provinces 
during  the  war  of  extermination  that  was  carried  on  against 
the  Calvinists.  In  MontpeUier,  after  the  siege  in  1623, 
a  virulent  fever  {febris  maligna  pestilens)  raged  for  eight 
months,  and  carried  away  one-third  of  the  people  who  con- 
tracted it.  According  to  Lazarus  Riverius  the  skin  became 
covered  with  red,  Hvid,  or  black  spots,  similar  to  flea-bites;  they 
appeared  between  the  sixth  and  ninth  days,  and  developed 
for  the  most  part  on  the  loins,  breast,  and  neck.^^  In  the 
years  1628-33  France  experienced  some  very  severe  outbreaks 
of  pestilence,  which  undoubtedly  involved  bubonic  plague 
as  well  as  typhus  fever.  Lyons  had  50,000  deaths,  Limoges 
25,000,  while  Paris,  Angers,  Chalons,  Aix,  MontpelHer, 
Avignon,  Marseilles,  Agen,  Dijon,  Vienne,  Villefranche,  and 
Toulouse  were  also  attacked.  In  MontpeUier,  whither  the 
pestilence  had  been  borne  from  Toulouse,  5,000  people 
died  between  October  1630  and  April  1631 — almost  one-half 
of  the  entire  population.  The  city  of  Digne,  where  a  plague 
broke  out  in  1629,  had  a  terrible  fate ;  it  was  completely 
surrounded  by  soldiers,  in  order  to  prevent  the  plague  from 
spreading  further,  and  by  April  1630  some  8,500  out  of 
10,000  inhabitants  had  died. 

3.  Switzerland.    The  proximity  of  the  scene  of  the  war, 

2*  Diemerbroeck,  Peste  de  Nimigue.  Amsterdam,  1665.  Quoted  from 
A.  Laveran,  op.  cit. 

23  Ch.  Murchison,  A  Treatise  on  the  Continued  Fevers  of  Great  Britain, 
Quoted  from  the  German  translation  by  W.  Ziilzer.  Brunswick,  1867. 
P.  25. — Ozanam,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iv,  p.  173. 


74  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

which  brought  numerous  fugitives  into  the  country,  and 
the  marching  back  and  forth  of  troops  through  the  Grisons, 
resulted  in  numerous  outbreaks  of  pestilence  in  Switzerland. 
In  the  year  1622  some  3,000  soldiers  were  carried  away  by 
an  epidemic  of  typhus  fever  in  the  county  of  Mayenfeld, 
Pestilences  raged  extensively  in  Switzerland  in  the  years 
1628-9.  On  August  5,  1628,  a  plague  broke  out  in  Schaff- 
hausen,  reached  its  climax  in  October  of  that  year,  and  carried 
away,  all  told,  2,595  persons ;  2,000  people  died  in  the 
country  around  Schaffhausen.  In  Zug  a  pestilence  broke 
out  in  September  1628  and  lasted  until  December  1629, 
carrying  away  468  persons  ;  in  Sursee  there  were  600  deaths, 
in  Sempach  100,  in  Frauenfeld  400.  In  Basel  the  mmiber 
of  deaths  in  the  year  1629  was  2,656.  In  the  same  year 
St.  Gall,  Toggenburg,  and  Altdorf  were  severely  attacked. 
In  the  year  1635  another  pestilence  broke  out ;  the  constant 
misery  caused  by  the  war,  and  the  consequent  famine, 
brought  swarms  of  beggars  and  vagabonds  from  South 
Germany  into  Switzerland,  which  they  infected  with  various 
diseases.  The  city  of  Zurich,  for  example,  on  June  14  of 
one  year  was  compelled  to  drive  out  7,400  beggars.  All 
Switzerland  was  attacked  by  pestilence  at  that  time,  even 
the  most  out  of  the  way  valleys. 

4.  Italy  was  the  scene  of  severe  pestilences  in  the  years 
1629-31  ;  according  to  Ozanam  they  were  borne  there  by 
German  troops,  and  according  to  Haser  by  French  troops. 
At  aU  events  the  outbreak  occurred  in  connexion  with  the 
war  which  France  was  waging  in  Mantua  against  Austria 
and  Spain  over  the  succession.  According  to  a  Venetian 
physician,  Grossi,  the  specific  disease  was  not  bubonic 
plague ;  Haser,^  however,  assumes  that  both  typhus  fever 
and  bubonic  plague  occurred.  Lammert  seems  to  think 
that  camp-fever  in  Upper  Italy  had  little  to  do  with  the 
high  mortality.  Ozanam  mentions  buboes,  plague- sores, 
inflammation  of  the  salivary  glands,  and  black  and  violet 
**  H.  Haser,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iii,  p.  404. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  75 

petechiae.  Death  is  said  to  have  occurred  in  from  one  to 
seven  days.  Brescia  was  first  attacked ;  after  the  battle 
of  Villabona  (May  26,  1629),  the  pestilence,  conveyed  by 
retreating  Venetian  troops,  spread  throughout  Upper  and 
Central  Italy.  In  Verona  the  number  of  deaths  was  32,895, 
in  Milan  86,000,  in  Venice  (1630)  45,489,  (1631)  94,164,  in 
Mantua  25,000.  In  the  territory  of  the  Venetian  RepubHc 
500,000  persons  are  said  to  have  succumbed  to  various 
pestilential  diseases.  Genoa,  Turin,  Padua,  Bologna,  Lucca, 
Florence,  Parma,  and  other  cities  were  also  attacked. 
Regarding  the  outbreak  of  pestilence  in  Milan,  Ozanam 
gives  us  no  further  information.^^  In  October  and  Novem- 
ber isolated  instances  of  disease  occurred  among  people  who 
had  acquired  articles  from  German  soldiers.  Strict  measures 
of  precaution  (burning  of  all  effects,  and  quarantining 
of  all  persons  who  had  come  in  contact  with  infected 
people)  prevented  the  pestilence  from  spreading.  But 
during  the  Carnival  these  measures  were  carried  out  less 
vigorously,  and  the  result  was  that  in  the  latter  part  of 
March  1630  a  pestilence  broke  out  in  various  quarters  of  the 
city.  Accordingly,  two  more  lazarets  and  800  straw  huts 
were  erected  outside  the  city,  and  shelter  for  relatives  of 
the  sick  was  provided.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  pestilence 
spread  to  such  an  extent  that  some  3,500  persons  died 
every  day.  In  Florence,  Grand  Duke  Ferdinand  II  adopted 
energetic  measures  against  the  dissemination  of  the  disease ; 
infected  people,  with  or  against  their  will,  were  taken  to 
the  Hospital  of  San  Bonifacio,  where  the  physicians  them- 
selves were  obliged  to  remain.  Recovered  patients  were 
held  in  quarantine,  and  their  clothes  and  other  effects  were 
burned.  Some  9,000  persons  are  said  to  have  succumbed 
to  the  pestilence  in  Florence. 

5.  In  England  typhus  fever  repeatedly  broke  out  after 
the  year  1622.  In  the  spring  of  the  year  1643  it  appeared  in 
the  parHamentary  army  and  in  the  royal  garrison  during 

"  Ozanam,  op.  cit.,  vol.  v,  p.  18  ff. 


76         EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

the  siege  of  Reading.  The  disease,  which  is  described  by 
Thomas  Willis,  spread  from  there  to  Oxford  and  the  sur- 
rounding country.^* 

VI.    A  General  Review  of  the  Loss  of  Human  Life 
IN  Germany  during  the  Thirty  Years'  War 

Even  if  it  is  impossible  to  give  an  accurate  numerical 
account  of  the  losses  due  to  pestilence  in  the  course  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War,  we  have  seen  in  a  general  way  how 
epidemics  of  dysentery,  typhus  fever,  and  bubonic  plague 
followed  at  the  heels  of  armies,  how  they  were  borne  from 
place  to  place,  and  how  the  devastation  of  the  country 
caused  by  the  war  led  to  an  absolute  dearth  of  the  necessaries 
of  life,  and  thereby  helped  the  pestilences  to  spread.  We 
have  mentioned  only  those  places  regarding  which  we  have 
specific  information,  and  they  can  be  regarded  only  as 
examples  of  how  these  pestilences  appeared ;  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  however,  conditions  were  very  much  the  same  in 
all  parts  of  the  country.  At  the  same  time  these  examples 
show  satisfactorily  that  the  great  depopulation  of  Germany 
during  the  Thirty  Years'  War  was  chiefly  caused  by  severe 
epidemics  of  typhus  fever  and  bubonic  plague. 

It  will  be  of  interest  to  assemble  the  figures  such  as  have 
been  recorded)  relating  to  the  number  of  deaths  that  occurred 
in  a  few  of  the  larger  cities  during  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 
We  include  Basel  among  those  cities,  since,  being  situated 
close  to  the  border  of  that  part  of  Germany  where  the  war 
was  carried  on  during  two  rather  long  periods,  it  was  neces- 
sarily attacked  by  the  prevalent  pestilences.  At  the  same 
time  Basel  affords  an  example  of  how  quickly  these  pesti- 
lences disappeared  from  the  cities,  even  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  if  external  conditions  permitted  the  authorities 
to  take  the  necessary  measures  of  prevention  and  precaution, 
and  if  the  cities  were  not  constantly  being  reinfected.    We 

*•  Ch.  Murchison,  op.  cit.,  p.  26. 


THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  77 

give  the  total  number  of  deaths,  and  merely  remark  that 
the  population  in  all  German  cities  in  the  course  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  decreased  considerably.  In  the  case  of 
Leipzig,  Dresden,  and  Frankf urt-on-the-Main  the  still-births 
are  included,  but  not  in  the  case  of  Augsburg,  Basel,  and 
Strassburg.  As  a  rule  the  country-people  who  fled  to  the 
cities  are  not  included  among  the  dead ;  only  in  the  case  of 
Strassburg,  and  perhaps  also  in  that  of  Breslau  for  the  year 
1633,  are  they  included. 

The  total  loss  of  human  life  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War  can 
be  estimated  only  approximately.  The  statement  attributed 
to  Lammert,  that  the  population  of  Germany,  which  amounted 
to  sixteen  or  seventeen  millions  before  the  war,  had  dwindled 
down  to  four  millions  after  the  war,  is  perhaps  an  exaggera- 
tion. Other  estimates  state  that  Germany  lost  one-half 
of  its  population.  In  the  case  of  a  few  states  we  have  more 
exact  figures,  which  probably  approach  more  closely  to  the 
actual  loss.  Thus  the  electorate  of  Saxony,  which  was  much 
larger  in  area  than  the  modern  kingdom  of  Saxony,  in  the 
years  1631-2  is  said  to  have  lost  some  934,000  persons.  The 
population  of  Bohemia  is  said  to  have  decreased  during  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  from  three  millions  to  780,000.  In  Bavaria 
80,000  families  are  said  to  have  been  wiped  out.  The 
population  of  Wiirttemberg  decreased  from  444,800  in  the 
year  1622  to  97,300.  The  population  of  Hesse  decreased 
by  about  one-quarter.  So  much,  however,  is  sure  :  that  in 
the  regions  where  the  war  was  carried  on  for  several  years 
the  population  decreased  by  far  more  than  one-half.  The 
most  positive  proof  of  this  is  afforded  by  the  hundreds  of 
burned- down  and  unrebuilt  houses  found  in  so  many 
German  cities,  and  the  numerous  unpeopled,  or  almost 
unpeopled,  places  which  Germany  had  to  show  at  the  end 
of  the  war. 


78 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


Deaths 

Year. 

Leipzig.^'' 

Dresden.^ 

Breslau. 

1618 

422 

400 

1,205 

1619 

569 

332 

1.313 

1620 

477 

472 

1,456 

1621 

613 

491 

1,652 

1622 

580 

381 

1,045 

1623 

500 

421 

1,050 

1624 

812 

411 

1,260 

1625 

718 

481 

3,000 

1626 

1,268 

740 

1,874 

1627 

537 

412 

1,227 

1628 

388 

469 

1,020 

1629 

506 

398 

1,116 

J  630 

881 

480 

1,156 

1631 

1.754 

844 

1,795 

1632 

2,789 

3.129 

1,395 

1633 

1.445 

4,585 

13.231 

1634 

306 

721 

1,010 

1635 

603 

597 

949 

1636 

1,218 

594 

873 

1637 

4,229 

1,897 

1,060 

1638 

552 

531 

863 

1639 

955 

1.845 

928 

1640 

469 

935 

1,273 

1 641 

482 

525 

1,088 

1642 

1,080 

601 

1,343 

1643 

1.034 

1,041 

1.332 

1644 

604 

489 

1.570 

1645 

458 

532 

1,133 

1646 

331 

481 

1,042 

1647 

403 

471 

1,273 

1648 

469 

606 

1,111 

(1618-48). 

29  Augs- 

Frank- 

Strass- 

Basel.^ 

burg.^ 

furt.^^ 

hurg.^^ 

1,354 

625 

1.343 

535 

1,485 

544 

1,258 

257 

1,667 

670 

996 

259 

1,517 

674 

1,019 

352 

1,959 

1.785 

4,388 

450 

1,875 

725 

1,738 

336 

1.370 

955 

1,491 

297 

1,392 

1,871 

1,350 

297 

2,440 

963 

2,590 

330 

2,494 

773 

1,669 

266 

3.61 1 

680 

1,513 

527 

1,265 

832 

1,786 

2,656 

909 

927 

1.425 

220 

859 

1,132 

1.383 

221 

3.485 

2,900 

2,675 

284 

3.364 

762 

5.546 

456 

4,664 

3,512 

— 

2,115 

6,243 

6,943 

— 

560 

790 

2,301 

— 

600 

823 

3.152 

— 

424 

638 

1,079 

— 

527 

674 

948 

1,923 

515 

586 

1.034 

— 

239 

887 

735 

713 

195 

593 

883 

680 

242 

638 

523 

— 

532 

659 

491 

707 

337 

758 

678 

— 

220 

1,488 

774 

651 

205 

1,338 

662 

573 

238 

1,208 

575 

643 

235 

"  Figures  published  by  the  Leipzig  Bureau  of  Statistics  in  1872  ;  prior  to 
1629  they  cover  the  governmental  years  of  the  successive  burgomasters,  but 
from  1630  on,  they  cover  the  calendar  years. 

**  Only  the  Protestant  population,  including  sixteen  villages  annexed  to 
Dresden,  Stat.  Jahrbuch  der  Stadt  Dresden,  Jahrgang  1902.    P.  15. 

*•  Dr.  J.  Gratzer,  E.  Halley  und  C.  Neumann.  Breslau,  1888.  P.  89. 
Including  only  the  deceased  supporters  of  the  Augsburg  Confession. 

*•  According  to  a  written  compilation  made  out  by  Dr.  E.  R6sle  in  Dresden. 
Taken  from  the  reference  material  in  the  Augsburg  Archives. 

31  A.  Dietz,  Frankfurter  Biirgerbu^h.  Frankfurt -on-the-Main,  1897.  The 
Catholics  are  only  partially  included,  the  Jews  not  at  all. 

»*  Ch.  Boersch,  op.  cit.,  p.  167. — Krieger,  Beitrdge  zur  Geschichte  der  Volks- 
seuchen.    Stat.  Mitteilungen  iiber  Elsass-Lothringen,  fascicle  10. 

^  A.  Burckhardt,  Demographic  und  Epidemiologie  der  Stadt  Basel  wdfirend 
der  letzten  drei  Jahrhunderte,  1601-1900.    Leipzig,  1908. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  PERIOD  BETWEEN  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA 
AND  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

(a)  Central  Europe 

The  Thirty  Years'  War  left  Germany  for  several  decades 
in  such  a  weakened  condition  that  Louis  XIV  was  able  to 
perpetrate  all  sorts  of  outrages  upon  the  unfortunate  country. 
The  result  was  a  series  of  protracted  confhcts  in  the  countries 
on  the  Rhine.  The  German  Emperor,  however,  was  unable 
to  fight  with  much  vigour,  partly  because  of  disruption  in 
the  interior  of  the  German  Empire,  and  partly  because  the 
advancing  Turks  were  gravely  menacing  its  eastern  boundary. 
After  Louis  XIV  had  come  to  terms  with  Holland  in  the 
Peace  of  Nimeguen  (1679),  in  order  to  secure  for  his  protege 
the  Archbishopric  of  Cologne,  which  was  then  vacant,  he 
invaded  Germany  without  declaring  war,  and  his  troops 
committed  horrible  devastations  in  the  Palatinate  and  in 
northern  Baden.  A  German  army  was  organized  to  oppose 
the  French,  but  it  accompHshed  very  little.  Regarding  the 
pestilences  of  that  time  not  much  is  known,  although  it  is 
certain  that  typhus  fever  was  present  in  the  armies.  Thus 
we  learn  from  a  physician  named  R.  Lentilius  ^  that  in 
November  1689,  '  burning  head-disease '  or  '  Hungarian 
disease '  was  disseminated  by  Bavarian  soldiers  who,  under 
Max  Emanuel,  had  taken  part  in  the  successful  siege  of 
Mayence  (ending  on  September  11),  and  who  afterwards 
returned  home  to  pass  the  winter.  Typhus  fever  was  con- 
veyed by  them  to  Gundelfingen,  Lauingen,  Hochstadt, 
Donauworth,  and  Wendingen  (all  of  them  places  on  the 
Danube  between  Ulm  and  Ingolstadt),  causing  a  great  many 

^  Rosini  Lentilii  Miscellanea  medico-practica  tripartita.  Ulmae,  1698. 
Vol.  ii,  p.  435  ff. 


80  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

deaths.     In  many  places — for  example,  in  Gundelfingen — ^the 
epidemic  lasted  well  into  the  following  year. 

In  the  very  first  year  of  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession 
(1702-14)  Augsburg  suffered  terribly  from  camp-pestilences, 
which  also  spread  among  the  non-beUigerent  population. 
In  the  year  1703  the  city  was  occupied  by  the  French  and 
Bavarians  fighting  as  aUies,  and  was  afterwards  besieged 
by  the  Imperialists  and  the  English.^  The  number  of  deaths 
in  Augsburg  (excluding  the  still-births)  was  : 

1701 906 

1702  .....        w  900 

1703 1,24s 

1704 S^^'^S 

1705 748 

1706         ......        842 

Seitz  reports  that  the  troops  along  the  Rhine  were  again 
infected  with  petechial  fever  in  the  year  1712  ;  Metz,  on  the 
other  hand,  expressly  says  that  no  pestilences  occurred  at 
that  time. 

In  the  year  1733  a  conflict  again  broke  out  between  France 
and  Germany  over  the  PoHsh  succession.  In  the  year  1734 
typhus  fever  appeared  along  the  Rhine ;  in  the  spring  and 
summer  the  outbreaks  were  sporadic,  but  in  the  fall,  when 
troops  were  stationed  along  both  sides  of  the  Rhine,  a  viru- 
lent typhus  broke  out  in  many  places,  as  in  Heidelberg, 
Heilbronn,  and  Germersheim ;  the  disease  was  borne  even 
to  Lorraine  by  French  troops  returning  from  the  siege  of 
Philippsburg.^ 

In  connexion  with  the  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession 
(1741-8),  which  Maria  Theresa  waged  in  conjunction  with 
England  and  Hanover  against  Prussia,  Bavaria,  Saxony, 
France,  and  Spain,  we  know  of  several  outbreaks  of  pes- 
tilence. In  the  year  1742  Bavaria  was  overrun  by  Austrian 
troops  ;  a  severe  pestilence  broke  out  in  that  year  in  Ingol- 
stadt   and  carried  away  several  thousand  of  the   strong 

«  F.  Seitz,  op.  cit.,  p.  85.  '  Ibid.,  p.  105. 


BEFORE  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION    81 

French  garrison  there.  A  large  number  of  civilians  also 
died.*  It  is  stated  that  the  French  garrison  at  Amberg 
lost  1,200  men,  and  that  400  of  the  inhabitants  perished ; 
it  is  very  probable  that  the  specific  disease  was  typhus 
fever. 

An  unusually  severe  epidemic  broke  out  in  the  year  1742 
in  Prague ;  on  November  26,  1741,  the  city  was  stormed 
by  the  Bavarians  and  French,  and  shortly  afterwards  it  was 
besieged  by  the  Austrians  under  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany. 
The  number  of  men  in  the  French  garrison  was  13,000,  and 
the  siege  lasted  until  December  25,  1742.  Almost  all  the 
French  physicians  and  surgeons  died ;  on  the  bodies  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  city  appeared  petechiae,  which,  it  is  stated, 
were  not  observed  among  the  French.  All  told,  30,000 
people  are  said  to  have  been  carried  away  by  the  epidemic 
in  Prague.  The  high  mortaHty  was  due  to  the  wrong  treat- 
ment of  the  disease  by  the  French  physicians,  who  held  it 
to  be  inflammatory  and  sought  to  cure  it  by  means  of  drastic 
phlebotomy.  '  Cette  grande  mortahte,'  says  Ozanam,  '  fut 
attribuee  au  traitement  suivi  par  les  medecins  fran9ais,  qui, 
malgre  I'avis  de  ceux  du  pays,  saignaient  les  malades  jusqu'a 
ce  qu'ils  expirassent  sous  la  lancette,  et  par  I'abus  qu'ils 
firent  de  I'emetique  qu'ils  administrerent  jusqu'au  7%  8*^,  9^ 
et  lOe  jour.'  ^  (The  high  mortality  was  due  to  the  treatment 
given  by  the  French  physicians,  who,  despite  the  advice  of 
the  local  physicians,  bled  the  patients  until  they  expired 
under  the  lancet,  and  overdosed  them  with  emetics  as  far 
along  as  the  seventh,  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  day.)  The 
Prussian  army  in  Silesia  was  also  infected  with  typhus  fever, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  all  the  corps  and  the  native 
population  were  attacked.^ 

The  Austrian  and  EngKsh  army,  the  so-called  Pragmatic 
army,  which  in  the  year  1743  operated  in  the  region  of  the 

«  F.  Seitz,  op.  cit.,  p.  110. 

'  Ozanam,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iv,   p.  206. — ^Haser,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iii,  p.  478. 
•  Ozanam,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iv,  p.  207. 
156913  G 


82 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


Main,  and  which  on  July  27,  1743,  won  a  victory  at  Det- 
tingen  (near  Aschaffenburg),  suffered  severely,  according  to 
Pringle ',  from  dysentery  and  hospital  fever.  The  hospital 
for  the  EngUsh  army  was  situated  in  the  village  of  Fechenheini 
(near  Hanau) ;  all  the  patients  sent  there,  even  those  who 
had  some  mild  form  of  sickness,  were  infected  with  a  camp- 
fever,  which  according  to  the  description  must  have  been 
typhus  fever,  and  almost  one-half  of  them  died.  The  inhabi- 
tants of  the  village  were  also  attacked,  and  nearly  aU  of  them 
succumbed.  According  to  Neuwied,  the  disease  was  brought 
there  in  the  evacuations  of  the  sick  and  carried  even  to 
England  by  returning  EngHsh  soldiers. 

The  Seven  Years'  War  was  attended  by  several  epidemic!> 
of  typhus  fever.  Notwithstanding  the  long  duration  of  the 
war,  they  did  not  become  very  widespread,  inasmuch  as 
the  armies  were  comparatively  small,  and  as  the  scene  of  the 
fighting,  in  accordance  with  the  miUtary  tactics  of  Frederick 
the  Great,  who  opposed  first  one  and  then  another  Power, 
kept  changing,  and  thus  caused  no  one  region  to  suffer  for 
any  great  length  of  time.  A  severe  epidemic  of  typhus 
fever  broke  out  in  Silesia  in  the  year  1758  ;  it  raged  in  both 
the  Austrian  and  Prussian  armies,  and  spread  to  many 
places,  for  example,  to  Breslau,  Schweidnitz,  and  Landshut, 
where  the  civil  inhabitants  also  became  infected.  In  Breslau, 
according  to  Gratzer,®  the  number  of  deaths  among  the 
evangelical  population  was  : 


1756 

1.375 

1757 

I.S54 

1758 

4,088 

1759 

1,697 

1760 

1,590 

1761 

1,724 

1762 

2,373 

1763 

• 

1,808 

'  J.  Pringle,  loc.  cit. 

•  Dr. 

J.  Gr 

atzer, 

loc.  c 

it. 

BEFORE  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 


83 


According  to  Siissmilch,®  the  number  of  deaths  among 
the  Catholics  in  the  year  1758  was  5,135;  thus  the  total 
number  of  deaths  in  the  entire  civil  population  was  9,223. 
In  addition,  the  following  mihtary  persons  were  buried : 
5,470  Prussian  soldiers,  2,153  Austrian  soldiers,  18  Swedish 
soldiers ;  also  755  wives  and  children  of  soldiers,  and  953 
paupers  and  outsiders.  The  total  number  of  interments  in 
Breslau  in  that  year  was  18,572.  The  great  mortaUty  lasted 
from  January  to  June ;  of  9,349  military  persons  buried,  there 
died  in : 


January   . 

February 

March 

1,346 
1,709 
1,246 

April 

May 

June 

940 

1,287 

818 

July 
August 
September 
October    . 

457 
578 
383 
201 

November 

164 

December 

220 

In  the  year  1757,  in  which  there  was  a  high  mortaHty  in 
a  large  part  of  North  Germany  that  was  unaffected  by  the 
war,  there  was  an  unusually  large  number  of  deaths  in 
Dresden ;  in  the  year  1760,  when  the  city  was  beleaguered 
by  Frederick  the  Great,  a  '  virulent  epidemic  fever '  broke 
out  and  again  caused  a  great  increase  in  the  death-rate. 
The  number  of  deaths  in  Dresden  (excluding  the  still-births) 


was  : 


10 


1756 
1757 
1758 
1759 
1760 
1761 
1762 
1763 


2,432 

4,454 

2,603 

2,631 

3,514 

2,127 

.  2,008 
1,975 

•  J.  P.  Siissmilch,  Die  gottliche  Ordnung  u.  s.  w.    Vol.  i,  p.  316. 
edition.    Berlin,  1788.) 
"  Statistisches  Jahrbuch  fiir  die  Stadt  Dresden^  Jahrgang  1902. 

G2 


(Fourth 


84 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


The  increased  number  of  deaths  during  the  Seven  Years' 
War  in  the  countries  where  the  fighting  took  place  is  shown 
by  the  following  figures  (which  include  the  still-births)  for 
Berhn  and  Leipzig  : 

Berlin  " 
{deaths per  i,ooo). 

34-5 
42*0 
49-2 
56-4 
43-5 
41-6 
38-2 
48-0 
SO-3 
30-3 

Typhus  fever  also  appeared  in  the  western  scene  of  the 
war,  where  the  ImperiaHst  and  French  troops  were  fighting 
against  the  Prussians.  When  the  united  ImperiaHst  and 
French  armies  besieged  Eisenach  for  two  weeks,  the  disease 
broke  out  in  both  miHtary  hospitals  in  the  city  and  after- 
wards spread  among  the  inhabitants,  causing  many  deaths. 


Leipzig  ^^ 

Year.                           (total  no.  deaths). 

1755          •         .         •         1. 150 

1756 

1,286 

1757 

2,600 

1758 

2,824 

I7S9 

1,408 

1760 

2,025 

1761 

2,048 

1762 

2,160 

^7^3 

1,614 

1764 

1         < 

1,052 

{b)   Eastern  Europe 

During  the  numerous  wars  that  were  waged  in  eastern 
Europe  in  the  course  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries,  epidemic  diseases  frequently  made  their  appear- 
ance. After  the  siege  of  Vienna  (1683),  typhus  fever  broke 
out  in  various  parts  of  Hungary,  particularly  in  Pressburg, 
where  many  soldiers  were  congregated.  The  disease  spread 
from  the  soldiers  to  the  civilians,  and  the  pestilence  lasted 
from  November  1683  to  the  spring  of  1684.  After  the 
return  of  the  Prussian  troops  from  Hungary,  typhus  fever 
broke  out  in  many  parts  of  Germany ;  for  example,  in 
Minden.^* 

"  Figures  published  by  the  Leipzig  Bureau  of  Statistics  in  1872. 
"  Year-book  of  Statistics  for  the  City  of  Berlin. 
"  Ozanam,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iv,  p.  181  ff. 


BEFORE  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION    85 

At  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  bubonic  plague 
broke  out  in  Constantinople  and  spread  from  there  to  the 
Lower  Danube  countries  and  to  Russia,  particularly  to 
Ukraine.  According  to  Hecker,^*  this  dissemination  was 
greatly  furthered  by  the  adventurous  campaign  of  Charles  XII 
of  Sweden,  so  that  the  epidemic  included  all  eastern  Europe 
and  gradually  embraced  north-western  Germany  and  Sweden. 
Fleeing  Swedish  and  PoHsh  soldiers,  after  the  battle  of  Pul- 
towa  (July  8,  1707),  conveyed  the  disease  to  Silesia.  Danzig 
was  severely  attacked  in  that  year,  and  a  few  cases  occurred 
there  in  the  year  1708 ;  but  in  the  following  year  a  very 
severe  pestilence  broke  out,  reached  its  cKmax  in  September, 
and  between  January  5  and  December  7,  1709,  carried  away 
32,599  persons.  From  Danzig  the  plague  spread  to  Cour- 
land,  Livonia,  Pomerania,  Denmark,  and  Sweden.  In 
Copenhagen  20,822  persons  died  in  the  year  1710,  in  Stock- 
hohn  40,000,  in  Karlskrona  16,000. 

In  the  years  1716-18,  when  Austria  and  Turkey  once  more 
came  to  blows  over  the  Turkish  occupation  of  Morea,  which 
belonged  to  the  Venetians,  bubonic  plague  broke  out  in 
Constantinople  and  also  among  the  Turks  who  were  shut 
up  in  Belgrade.  The  Austrian  army,  which  was  encamped 
outside  of  Belgrade,  was  apparently  not  attacked  by  that 
disease,  although  some  4,000  men  succumbed  to  intermit- 
ting fever,  head-disease,  and  dysentery.^* 

During  the  war  waged  by  Russia  and  Austria  against 
Turkey  (1736-9),  bubonic  plague  appeared  along  the  Lower 
Danube.  '  It  broke  out  there,'  says  Haser,^*  '  first  during 
the  war  waged  by  Austria  and  Russia  against  Turkey,  and 
the  result  was  that  the  war  was  terminated  unexpectedly, 
and  in  a  manner  unfavourable  to  the  Christian  arms.  At 
the  time  of  its  appearance  in  Ukraine  (July  1738)  the  disease 

"  Haser,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iii,  p.  454. 

"  Ibid.,  vol.  iii,  p.  459. 

^^  Ibid.,  vol.  iii,  p.  481. — ^Hammer,  Geschichte  der  Pest,  die  vomJahre  1738 
bis  1740  im  Temesvarer  Banate  herrschte.  Temesvar,  1839.  (Quoted  from 
Haser.) 


86         EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

was  conveyed  by  Austrian  troops  to  Temesvar ;  from  there 
it  gradually  spread  over  all  Hungary,  mostly  along  the  banks 
of  the  Theiss  to  the  boundaries  of  Carniola,  Moravia,  and 
Austria,  and  also  along  the  Carpathian  Mountains  to  Poland 
and  Bukowina.  The  devastation  caused  by  the  pestilence 
continued  for  seven  years,  and  the  measures  adopted  by  the 
authorities  proved  of  httle  or  no  avail. 

The  severe  epidemic  of  bubonic  plague  during  the  Russo- 
Turkish  War  of  1769-72  has  been  carefully  investigated  by 
Hecker.^'  The  Turkish  army,  in  consequence  of  inferior 
nourishment,  was  badly  infected  with  intermittent  fever, 
dysentery,  and  typhus  fever  when  it  set  out  from  Constan- 
tinople in  March  1769.  When  the  Russian  troops  advanced, 
the  Turks  retreated  after  an  engagement  near  Galatz.  Since 
the  disease  had  been  conveyed  on  ships  from  Constantinople 
to  Galatz,  where  many  Russians  succumbed  to  it,  the  city 
was  evacuated.  On  the  way  to  Jassy  every  trace  of  the 
pestilence  disappeared,  and  in  Jassy  the  soldiers  were  quar- 
tered in  the  houses  of  the  citizens.  Since  patients  suffering 
from  contagious  diseases  had  not  been  isolated  in  the  military 
hospitals  there,  in  the  middle  of  January  typhus  fever  broke 
out  in  them,  accompanied  by  glandular  sweUings  in  the 
groin.  Four  weeks  later  a  Jew  and  his  two  children  were 
taken  sick  in  the  city  and  died,  the  Jew  having  bought 
a  fur  coat  in  the  hospital.  Since  the  Russian  commander-in- 
chief  did  not  hold  the  disease  to  be  bubonic  plague  and  did 
nothing  to  prevent  it  from  spreading,  in  March  1770  it  spread 
far  and  wide  in  Moldavia  and  WaUachia.  Not  until  the  end 
of  April  was  the  presence  of  bubonic  plague  officially  admitted; 
and  then  the  well-qualified  physician  Orraeus  was  commis- 
sioned to  make  an  investigation. 

From  Jassy  the  disease  was  conveyed  to  Botoshany,  which 
also  lies  in  northern  Moldavia,  and  there  it  soon  developed 
into  a  severe  epidemic  and  carried  away  more  than  800  out 
the  town's  2,500  inhabitants;    the  rest  fled  to  Carpathia. 

"  J.  F.  C.  Hecker,  Geschichte  der  neueren  HeiUcunde,    Berlin,  1839. 


BEFORE  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION    87 

'The  patients,'  says  Hecker,^®  'lay  in  tents,  and  without 
care  or  medical  help  awaited  an  almost  certain  death.  The 
city  itself  afforded  a  sight  of  complete  disorder ;  the  houses 
were  deserted  and  stood  with  open  windows  and  doors,  the 
air  was  poisoned  with  the  odour  of  accumulated  refuse, 
and  the  general  devastation  bore  silent  witness  to  the  most 
extreme  misery.  In  addition  to  that,  there  were  multitudes 
of  savage,  ravenous  dogs,  which  dug  up  the  dead  and  menaced 
the  sick.' 

Conditions  were  just  as  bad  in  Jassy  when  Orraeus  arrived 
there  on  May  10 ;  of  the  inhabitants  and  of  the  Russian 
garrison  more  than  half  had  died,  while  many  streets  were 
entirely  depopulated.  Since  the  persons  infected  with  the 
disease  were  placed  out  in  a  near-by  forest,  where  they  were 
left  without  care,  many  patients  were  concealed  inside  the 
houses  and  their  bodies  afterwards  secretly  buried  in  gardens 
and  cellars.  There  was  no  medical  help,  since  both  of  the 
Greek  physicians  had  fled  from  the  city.  On  May  20  the 
Russian  troops,  at  the  instigation  of  Orraeus,  withdrew  from 
Jassy ;  a  convent  was  converted  into  a  hospital,  and  soon 
after  that  the  pestilence  began  to  subside.  By  June  22  it 
had  disappeared. 

In  Wallachia  the  disease  broke  out  somewhat  later  than 
in  Moldavia,  and  with  considerably  less  severity.  In  Bucha- 
rest it  lasted  until  May. 

In  Bender,  situated  in  Bessarabia  on  the  Dniester,  there 
was  a  mild  epidemic  of  bubonic  plague  after  the  city  had 
been  stormed  on  September  16,  1770.  The  carrying-off  of 
war-booty  caused  new  pestilences  in  the  army  and  in  the 
population  of  PodoKa  and  Little  Russia.  For  a  short  time 
in  the  last  part  of  September  the  main  army  also  suffered 
from  plague  in  its  fixed  quarters  on  the  Pruth. 

The  Turkish  army,  which  passed  the  winter  in  Bulgaria, 
was  severely  attacked  by  plague,  but  no  further  information 
about  this  outbreak  is  available. 

'*  J.  F.  C.  Hecker,  Geschichte  der  neueren  Heilkunde.    Berlin,  1839,  p.  11. 


88  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

In  February  1771,  Moldavia  and  Wallachia  suffered  very 
little  from  plague,  although  there  were  occasional  outbreaks 
here  and  there  (for  example,  in  Bucharest)  until  the  year 
1773  ;  but  these  were  always  of  short  duration. 

The  transplantation  of  this  disease  into  neighbouring 
countries,  especially  Russia  and  its  capital,  was  of  particular 
importance.  In  consequence  of  the  widespread  occurrence 
of  bubonic  plague  in  Moldavia  and  Wallachia  when  the  war 
broke  out  in  the  spring  of  1770,  large  numbers  of  fugitives 
from  those  parts  gathered  along  the  border  of  Transylvania, 
where  a  quarantine  estabUshment  was  opened  at  Torzburg 
(south-west  of  Kronstadt).  In  Rukur,  a  border-village  of 
Wallachia,  whither  large  numbers  of  people  fled  daily,  a 
Jewess  succumbed  at  the  end  of  April  to  bubonic  plague, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  next  eight  weeks  60  more  people 
died.  From  there  the  pestilence  spread  to  neighbouring 
locahties,  in  which  615  out  of  3,000  inhabitants  (including 
31  outsiders)  died.  The  cHmax  of  the  plague  was  in  Sep- 
tember. It  gradually  spread  throughout  the  border-towns 
of  Transylvania,  but  only  in  occasional  instances  did  it 
reach  the  interior  of  the  country  ;  all  told,  there  were  1,024 
deaths  from  the  pestilence  in  Transylvania  in  the  year 
1770. 

Since  all  the  supphes  of  the  Russian  army  were  conveyed 
to  it  on  PoKsh  wagons,  PoHsh  peasants  contracted  the  disease 
in  the  infected  countries,  and  then  spread  it  throughout 
Poland.  Jewish  pedlars,  who  purchased  clothes,  furs,  and 
war-booty  in  the  Russian  camp,  Hkewise  helped  to  spread 
the  disease.  In  Poland  the  plague  became  unusually  wide- 
spread, particularly  in  PodoHa,  Volhynia,  and  in  the  eastern 
part  of  Gahcia ;  47  cities  and  580  villages,  according  to 
Chenot,  were  attacked,  and  275  of  the  latter  were  almost 
completely  wiped  out.  The  total  loss  in  these  regions  is 
estimated  at  250,000.  But  the  disease  penetrated  no  further 
into  Poland,  and  Warsaw  did  not  suffer  at  all. 

Southern  Russia  was  attacked  later  than  Poland — not 


BEFORE  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION    89 

until  August  1770.  Kiev  was  the  first  of  several  cities  in 
which  the  plague  broke  out ;  the  disease,  which  was  borne 
there  on  infected  wares  from  PodoHa,  carried  away  20,000 
people,  about  one-fifth  of  the  population  of  the  city.  Fugi- 
tives from  Kiev  conveyed  the  pestilence  to  many  cities  and 
villages  in  Little  Russia,  while  troops  returning  from  Bender 
helped  to  spread  it  in  the  north.  In  Nieskin,  a  city  in 
Ukraine,  the  plague  caused  horrible  devastation ;  it  broke 
out  there  for  the  second  time  in  the  year  1771,  and  carried 
away  from  8,000  to  10,000  people. 

It  was  generally  beheved  that  the  severe  epidemic  of 
bubonic  plague  which  raged  in  Moscow  in  the  year  1771  was 
directly  connected  with  the  expedition  against  the  Turks. 
At  that  time  the  city  had  some  230,000  inhabitants ;  the 
streets,  full  of  filth,  were  narrow,  and  the  houses,  most 
of  which  were  one-story  wooden  structures,  stood  close 
together.  According  to  Hecker,  the  beginning  of  the  plague 
is  obscure ;  fugitives  from  the  scene  of  the  war,  and  wool 
imported  from  Poland  or  Ukraine  are  both  given  as  the 
original  means  of  dissemination,  but  inasmuch  as  the  disease 
was  so  widespread  in  the  south,  it  is  probable  that  it  was 
conveyed  to  the  north  in  various  ways.  Schaf onsky,  writing 
in  Russian,  described  the  plague  in  an  excellent  book,  of 
which  Hecker  made  use  ;  the  description  by  a  surgeon  named 
Samoilowitz,^*  who  did  good  service  during  the  plague, 
contracted  the  disease  himself,  and  was  roughly  treated  in 
a  revolt,  according  to  Hecker  lacks  scientific  merit  and  is 
unreliable.  In  November  and  December,  1770,  there  were 
a  few  suspected  cases  in  a  hospital  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  city ;  Schafonsky  diagnosed  the  disease  as  bubonic 
plague,  while  the  medical  officer  of  the  city  called  it  typhus 
fever.  By  means  of  strict  isolation  and  other  measures 
this    outbreak   was    soon   entirely   checked.    As    early   as 

"  D.  Samoilowitz,  M^moire  sur  la  pesie  qui,  en  1771,  ravagea  Vempire  de 
Russie,  surtout  Moscou.  Paris,  1783.  (A  German  translation  appeared  in 
Leipzig  in  1785.) 


90  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

January  and  February,  however,  indubitable  cases  of  plague 
had  occurred,  but  they  were  kept  secret.  The  epidemic 
really  began  in  the  Imperial  cloth-manufactory,  where  3,000 
working-men  were  employed  ;  not  until  130  people  had  died 
within  eight  weeks,  was  this  fact  made  known  on  March  9, 
1771.  Since  many  of  the  working-men  Hved  in  the  city  and 
had  meanwhile  conveyed  the  disease  to  their  homes,  the 
measures  of  prevention  came  too  late.  The  patients  were 
now  taken  to  a  convent  in  Ukresh  (near  Moscow),  while  all 
the  rest  of  the  employees  were  quarantined.  But  these 
measures  merely  helped  to  spread  the  disease,  since  many 
of  the  working-men,  in  order  to  escape  being  quarantined, 
fled  and  concealed  themselves  in  the  city.  When  it  became 
known  that  bubonic  plague  was  present  in  Moscow,  the 
nobiHty  fled  to  the  country.  The  people  themselves  refused 
to  Hsten  to  any  advice ;  nobody  beUeved  in  contagion,  and 
in  September  there  was  actually  a  revolt  in  the  city  against 
the  measures  that  had  been  adopted  to  check  the  epidemic. 
The  compulsory  confinement  in  hospitals  of  infected  people 
and  the  quarantining  of  their  famihes  led  to  numerous  con- 
cealments. In  July  the  pestilence  had  already  become  very 
widespread ;  many  houses  in  the  suburbs  were  empty,  the 
courts  of  justice  and  workshops  were  closed,  and,  since  nurses 
and  grave-diggers  were  dying  off  rapidly,  convicts  were 
employed  to  do  their  work.  In  the  southern  part  of  the  city 
a  convent  was  converted  into  a  hospital,  and  at  the  end  of 
July  only  one  attendant  was  on  hand  there  to  take  care  of 
1,000  patients.  The  epidemic  reached  its  cUmax  in  Sep- 
tember, when  from  600  to  1,000  persons  died  every  day. 
By  January  1772,  the  pestilence  had  disappeared.  From 
the  month  of  April  1771  on,  the  number  of  people  that  con- 
tracted the  disease  and  the  nmnber  that  died  were  officially 
recorded  ;  the  niunber  of  deaths  (excluding  the  bodies  buried 
in  secret)  was : 


BEFORE  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 


91 


Months. 

Total  no.  deaths. 

Deaths  in  Hospitals 

April  (1771) 

778 

— 

May  . 

878 

56 

June 

1,099 

105 

July 

1,708 

298 

August 

7,268 

845 

September 

21,401 

1,640 

October 

17.561 

2,626 

November 

5.235 

1,769 

December  . 

805 

456 

Januarj'  (1772)   . 

330 

— 

The  number  of  deaths,  which  at  that  time  averaged  7,000 
per  annum  in  Moscow,  thus  increased  to  58,000  (including 
some  1,000  secret  bm-ials),  and  at  least  52,000  were  directly 
due  to  the  epidemic.  About  150  priests  were  victims  of 
their  calHng. 

During  the  pestilence  there  was  constant  intercourse 
between  Moscow  and  the  surrounding  country,  since  the 
necessaries  of  life  had  to  be  brought  to  the  city,  where  clothes 
and  household  goods  were  to  be  bought  very  cheaply.  Thus 
most  of  the  villages  and  cities  in  the  surrounding  country 
were  infected.  Some  of  the  latter  were  almost  completely 
depopulated,  while  the  estate-owners  found  protection  by 
shutting  themselves  up  in  their  manors.  Of  the  more  dis- 
tant cities  Jaroslav-on-the- Volga  was  very  severely  attacked, 
while  Borowsk,  Kaluga,  and  Tula  suffered  somewhat  less. 
St.  Petersburg  was  the  only  city  to  prohibit  outsiders  from 
entering,  and  it  was  consequently  spared. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  PERIOD  BETWEEN  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 
AND  NAPOLEON'S  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN 

The  twenty  years  of  fighting  that  followed  the  French 
Revolution,  and  into  which  all  Europe  was  drawn,  were  every- 
where accompanied  by  outbreaks  of  pestilence,  many  of  which 
were  very  serious.  At  the  very  beginning  of  the  first  Coali- 
tion War  (1792-7)  they  played  an  important  role.  A  severe 
epidemic  of  dysentery  broke  out  among  the  Prussian  troops 
when  they  were  advancing  into  Champagne,  and  this  was 
chiefly  responsible  for  the  failure  of  the  invasion.  Typhus 
fever  had  also  appeared  and  caused  a  great  many  deaths 
among  the  Prussians,  as  well  as  among  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Departments  of  Meuse,  Moselle,  Meurthe,  and  Ardennes.^ 
When  the  badly  infected  army  of  the  Allies  retreated,  after 
the  engagement  at  Valmy  (September  20,  1792),  it  left 
behind  its  sick  in  various  cities  and  villages,  and  thus 
infected  the  French  army  that  followed  in  pursuit.  In 
Longwy  itself  (which  had  remained  in  the  power  of  the  Allies 
until  October  22),  and  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  the  streets 
were  filled  with  the  bodies  of  soldiers  who  had  succumbed, 
partly  to  exhaustion,  and  partly  to  dysentery.^ 

Verdun  suffered  terribly  during  the  siege  of  the  Allies,  and 
at  the  end  of  August  was  obHged  to  surrender.  The  chief 
cause  of  the  widespread  occurrence  of  disease  there  was  the 
fearful  lack  of  sanitation ;  '  a  Verdun,'  say  Marechal  and 
Didion  ^ '  une  des  causes  les  plus  puissantes  d'infection  etait 
le  depavement  de  la  ville  au  moment  du  siege.  Tons  les 
jours  on  j etait  de  chaque  maison  au  milieu  de  la  rue  des 

^  H.  Haser,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iii,  p.  588. 

2  Marechal  et  Didion,  op.  cit.,  p.  284. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  287. 


BEFORE  NAPOLEON'S  CAMPAIGN  IN  RUSSIA     93 

immondices  de  toute  espece,  des  dejections  humaines  et 
animales,  des  debris,  des  vegetaux,  qui  se  melant  a  la  boue 
se  liquefiaient  et  se  putrefiaient  par  Taction  des  pluies.  Les 
agents  de  la  ferme  des  boues  ne  pouvaient  rien  contre  tel 
foyer.  II  s'en  echappait  une  odeur  infecte,  quand  quelque 
voiture  venait  a  passer,  et  Ton  voyait  souvent  des  personnes 
frappees  de  spasmes,  prises  de  vomissements  et  meme 
asphyxiees  en  traversant  les  rues.'  (One  of  the  most  potent 
causes  of  the  infection  at  Verdun  was  the  unpaved  state  of 
the  town  at  the  time  of  the  siege.  Every  day  refuse  of  all 
kinds  was  thrown  from  each  house  out  into  the  street — ^the 
evacuations  of  men  and  animals,  rubbish,  and  garbage — ^and 
there  it  mixed  with  the  mud,  liquefied  and  rotted  through 
the  action  of  the  rain.  The  officials  in  charge  of  street 
sanitation  were  powerless.  All  this  filth  emitted  a  foul 
odour  when  a  carriage  drove  through  it,  and  one  often  saw 
people  seized  with  convulsions  and  sickness,  or  even 
suffocated  while  crossing  the  streets.)  There  was  no  more 
thought  of  taking  proper  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded 
in  Verdun  at  that  time,  than  there  was  in  the  later  French 
wars ;  they  lay  in  numbers  on  rotten  straw,  in  their 
own  excrement,  two  or  three  of  them  sharing  a  single 
blanket.  The  result  was  that  two-thirds  of  the  patients 
died. 

Pont-a-Mousson,  where  three  miUtary  hospitals  were 
erected,  also  had  a  severe  epidemic,  as  did  Metz ;  the 
hospitals  could  not  accommodate  the  many  patients  that 
came  streaming  in  from  all  directions.  Typhus  fever  con- 
tinued to  appear  sporadically  in  the  next  two  years ;  from 
1792  to  1795  as  many  as  64,413  patients  were  received  into 
the  Metz  hospitals,  and  of  that  number  4,870  died. 

In  the  years  1793-4  typhus  fever  was  frequently  conveyed 
into  Germany  in  consequence  of  the  warfare  along  the  Upper 
Rhine.  In  May  1793,  it  was  brought  to  Frankfurt-on-the- 
Main  by  French  prisoners-of-war,  whom  the  Austrians  on 
their  march  through  the  country  had  left  behind.    In  addition 


94         EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

to  the  cases  of  '  putrid  fever '  in  the  miKtary  hospitals,  a  few 
cases  were  also  observed  in  the  city ;  until  November  the 
disease  raged  extensively,  but  in  the  winter  it  increased  in 
fury  and  did  not  disappear  until  the  summer  of  1794.  '  The 
descriptions  of  putrid  fever,'  says  L.  Wilbrandt,*  '  while 
they  make  no  mention  of  exanthema,  nevertheless  positively 
prove  that  the  disease  was  none  other  than  exanthematic 
typhus,  war-typhus.  The  facts  that  the  disease  described 
was  highly  infectious,  and  that  it  is  expressly  stated  that 
diarrhoea  was  not  observed,  lead  us  to  this  conclusion.'  In 
the  report  of  the  health-ofl&cer,  issued  at  the  end  of  July 
1793,  it  is  nevertheless  asserted  that  '  the  disease  was  of  a 
putrescent  nature,  involving  spots  and  purpura  '.  The  trans- 
portation of  French  prisoners  caused  the  epidemic  to  spread 
to  Giinthersburg  and  from  there  to  Bornheim,  but  only  in 
a  mild  form. 

A  short  article  by  Canz  ^  informs  us  about  the  spreading 
of  typhus  fever  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Black  Forest.  The 
disease  was  borne  by  French  prisoners  to  Hornberg  near 
Triberg),  where  in  the  autumn  of  1793  they  spent  four  weeks. 
Owing  to  numerous  outbreaks  of  '  infectious  nerve-fever ', 
a  war-hospital  for  such  patients  was  established  at  Hornberg, 
which  had  some  1,000  inhabitants.  In  November  the  first 
patients  appeared  in  the  town,  and  the  epidemic  lasted  until 
the  beginning  of  June  of  the  following  year  ;  scarcely  a  single 
house  was  spared,  especially  among  the  poor,  and  often 
entire  families  contracted  the  disease.  All  told,  sixty  people 
died,  including  eight  outsiders  who  had  been  brought  to  the 
hospital.  According  to  Canz,  infectious  nerve-fever  also 
made  its  appearance  in  Kinzigtal,  in  the  Rhine  region,  and 
in  several  parts  of    Swabia.     '  In  some  cases,'  he    says, 

*  L.  Wilbrandt,  Die  Kriegslazareite  von  1792-1815  und  der  Kriegsiyphus 
zu Frankfurt  am  Main.  Arch,  fiir Frankfurts  Geschichte  undKunst,  N.F., 
Vol.xi,  p.  29.    1884. 

•  G.  E.  F.  Canz,  Beschreibung  einer  Schleim-,  Faul-,  und  Nervenfieber- 
epidemic,  die  im  Winter  und  Fruhjahr  1793-4  in  der  Rheingegcnd  und  auf 
dem  Schwarzwald  untcr  dcm  Landvolk  geivUtet.    Tubingen,  1795. 


BEFORE  NAPOLEON'S  CAMPAIGN  IN  RUSSIA     95 

'  petechiae  appeared  between  the  fifth  and  eighth  days  on 
the  breast,  arms,  and  back  ;  at  first  they  were  very  small 
and  rose-red,  but  later  they  turned  yellow,  brown,  and 
finally  blue  and  black,  occasionally  taking  the  form  of  large 
blue  blotches,  like  suggilations.' 

French  prisoners  also  conveyed  typhus  fever  to  Bavaria. 
According  to  Seitz,®  this  was  the  case,  for  example  in 
Regensburg,  where  the  disease  raged  furiously  in  December 
1793.  '  There  is  no  doubt,'  he  says,  '  that  the  germ  of  this 
disease  was  brought  there  by  French  captives,  since  many 
contracted  the  disease  and  succumbed  to  it  on  the  transport- 
ships  on  which  they  were  carried  ;  and  Schaffer  (a  physician 
in  Regensburg)  also  saw  many  people  contract  the  fever 
who  had  come  in  contact  with  them.'  Typhus  fever  was 
disseminated  all  along  the  Danube — ^Donauworth,  Neuburg, 
Ingolstadt,  Vohburg,  Kehlheim,  Donaustauf,  Pfatter,  Strau- 
bing,  Deggendorf,  and  other  places.  Kulmbach  was  also 
infected  by  the  French  soldiers. 

During  the  Coalition  War  violent  conflicts  took  place  in 
western  France  in  the  Vendee,  where  the  Royalist  population 
had  risen  against  the  new  potentates.  When  Nantes  was 
besieged  by  the  Royalists  in  1793,  a  furious  outbreak  of 
typhus  fever  occurred  in  that  city.'  The  prisons  and 
hospitals  were  greatly  overcrowded,  the  city  was  filled  with 
dirt  which  nobody  took  the  trouble  to  remove,  and  many 
carcasses  were  left  unburied.  In  the  latter  part  of  September 
the  disease  broke  out  in  the  prison  of  Saintes-Claires,  where 
the  prisoners  were  very  closely  packed  together.  According 
to  le  Borgne,  the  official  inspector  said  of  this  prison :  '  Tout 
manquait  dans  cette  maison — I'air,  I'eau,  les  aliments,  les 
remedes,  tout  jusqu'aux  moyens  d'ensevelir  et  d'enterrer  les 
morts.'  (Everything  was  lacking  in  the  building — ^air,  water, 
food,  remedies,  and  even  the  means  for  covering  and  burying 

«  F.  Seitz,  op.  cit.,  p.  125. 

'  G.  le  Borne,  Reciter ches  historiques  sur  les  grandes  dpiddmies  qui  ont  r6gni 
a  Nantes  depuis  le  6*  jusqu'au  19"  siecle.    Nantes,  1852. 


96  EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

the  dead.)  Without  beds,  without  even  straw,  the  prisoners 
had  to  lie  on  the  damp  ground  and  be  scantily  fed  on  bad 
bread  and  water.  Regarding  the  Le  Bouff ay  Prison,  we  read  : 
*  Des  morts,  des  mourants,  et  des  prisonniers  nouvellement 
infectes  gisent  sur  le  meme  grabat !  Les  cachots  repandent 
des  miasmes  putrides,  et  les  lumieres  s'eteignent  lorsqu'on 
entre  dans  ces  cloaques  empestes !'  (Dead,  dying,  and  recently 
infected  prisoners  lie  on  the  same  pallet !  The  cells  reek 
with  putrid  miasma,  and  the  lights  go  out  when  one  enters 
these  pestilential  sewers.)  And  regarding  the  L'Entrepot 
Prison  we  read  :  '  La  maladie  etait  si  intense  k  L'Entrepot 
que,  de  22  sentinelles  qui  y  monterent  la  garde,  21  perirent 
en  tres  peu  de  jours,  et  que  les  membres  du  Conseil  de 
salubrite,  qui  eurent  le  triste  courage  d'y  aller,  en  furent 
presque  tous  les  victimes.'  (The  disease  was  so  intense  at 
L'Entrepot,  that  twenty-one  out  of  twenty-two  sentinels 
who  went  on  duty  there  died  within  a  very  few  days,  and 
almost  all  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Health  who  had 
the  sad  courage  to  go  there  fell  victims  to  it.)  The  hospitals 
were  so  crowded  that  three  or  four  persons  were  obliged  to 
occupy  the  same  bed.  After  December  the  disease  also 
spread  to  the  city ;  of  300  grave-diggers  employed  by  the 
Revolutionary  Committee,  the  majority  were  taken  sick  and 
many  died.  The  total  number  of  deaths  in  the  city  and  in 
the  prisons  was  estimated  at  10,000. 

In  Italy  very  severe  pestilences  spread  in  a  very  short  time 
over  the  entire  peninsula,  and  even  to  Sicily,  in  consequence 
of  the  war  that  had  been  going  on  there  since  1796.  These 
pestilences  were  unusually  severe  in  both  camps  during  the 
siege  of  Mantua  (1796-7).  (We  shall  learn  more  about  this 
in  the  tenth  chapter.)  In  the  year  1799  the  French  troops 
under  Scherer  were  forced  to  retreat  in  disorder  before  the 
victorious  advance  of  Suvarov  and  the  Austrians,  and  they 
took  refuge  in  Nice.  There,  in  the  autumn  of  1799,  a  severe 
epidemic  of  typhus  fever  broke  out  in  the  French  army  and 
soon  spread  to  the  non-belligerent  population,  one-third  of 


BEFORE  NAPOLEON'S  CAMPAIGN  IN  RUSSIA     97 


which  was  carried  away  by  it.®  In  consequence  of  the  removal 
of  the  patients  the  disease  was  conveyed  into  southern 
France,  infecting  Aix,  Frejus,  Marseilles,  Toulon,  and  even 
Grenoble.* 

The  disease  spread  much  more  widely  in  the  direction 
of  Italy,  where  it  soon  attacked  the  entire  coast  of  Liguria. 
A  terrible  epidemic  of  typhus  fever  occurred  in  Genoa  in 
1799-1800,  when  14,000  people  succumbed  within  six 
months.^"  Rasori  had  noted  the  first  cases  as  early  as  the 
summer  of  1799;  the  patients  were  fugitives  from  Upper 
Italy,  commercial  travellers  and  military  persons.  Not  until 
the  end  of  the  winter  and  in  the  spring  did  the  disease  become 
very  widespread ;  it  attacked  principally  the  poorer  people. 
Rasori  held  the  disease  to  be  '  nosocomial  fever '  (typhus 
fever),  and  his  description  of  it  makes  this  diagnosis  seem 
undoubtedly  correct.  Regarding  the  increased  prevalence 
of  typhus  fever  during  war-times,  we  are  informed  by  the 
following  table  of  deaths,  compiled  by  Ozanam ;  ^^ 


Year. 

Deaths  in  Hospital. 

Deaths  in  City 

1794  ....     392 

812 

1795 

477 

911 

1796 

761 

1,000 

1797 

1,038 

900 

1798 

549 

803 

1799 

489 

809 

1800 

705 

1,100 

1801 

929 

1,200 

1802 

519 

1,006 

1803 

404 

1,036 

1804 

418 

1,087 

We  note  the  increase  in  the  year  1796,  then  the  decrease 
when  the  war  was  interrupted  in  the  year  1798,  and  the 
renewed  increase  when  it  began  again. 

^  Haser,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iii,  p.  536. 
*  Ozanam,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iv,  p.  251. 

1"  G.  Rasori,  Geschichte  des  epidemischen  Fiebers,  das  in  den  Jahren 
1799-1800  zu  Genua  geherrscht  hat.    Translated  from  the  Italian.     Vienna, 
1803. 
"  Ozanam,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iv,  p.  291. 

1569.13  H 


m 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


Likewise  in  southern  Germany  various  epidemics  of  typhus 
fever  broke  out  during  the  second  Coalition  War  (1799-1802), 
and  they  too  were  caused  by  the  war  and  the  constant 
marching  back  and  forth  of  soldiers.  Many  places  in  Bavaria 
and  Swabia  were  also  attacked  in  the  year  1799.^^ 

A  very  severe  epidemic  of  typhus  fever  broke  out  in 
connexion  with  the  war  between  France  and  Austria  in  1805  ; 
it  devastated  all  Moravia,  Bohemia,  Upper  and  Lower 
Austria,  Galicia,  and  Hungary.  After  the  battle  of  Austerlitz 
(December  2,  1805)  hospital  fever  appeared  among  the 
wounded  in  Briinn,  and  carried  away  hundreds  of  French, 
Russian,  and  Austrian  soldiers.  The  pestilence  soon  spread 
among  the  non-belligerent  population,  which  in  the  months 
January-May  1806,  suffered  terribly.  According  to  Hain, 
the  number  of  deaths  in  Austrian  Silesia  was  : 


13 


July  (1805) 

3,965 

August 

3.945 

September 

4,204 

October 

4,735 

November 

4,410 

December  . 

4,501 

January  (1806) 

16,399 

February    . 

14.588 

March 

14,140 

April 

10,971 

May 

9,087 

June 

6,292 

In  Vienna,  which  on  November  13, 1805,  had  been  occupied 
by  the  French,  a  severe  epidemic  of  typhus  fever  soon  broke 
out  in  consequence  of  the  overcrowded  condition  of  the 
hospitals.  The  transportation  of  so  many  prisoners  of  war, 
particularly  Russians,  along  the  military  roads  to  Strassburg, 
caused  the  germ  of  typhus  fever  to  be  scattered  along  the 
entire  route;    Landshut,  Munich,  and  Augsburg  are  three 


^*  Seitz,  loc.  cit. — J.  N.  Feichtmayer,  Beitrag  zur  Geschichte  des  in  eineni 
Teile  von  Schwaben  und  auch  in  unserer  Gegend  hdufiger  als  sonst  gewohnlich 
fierrschenden  Nervenfiebers.    Ulm,  1800. 

^3  J.  Hain,  Handbuch  der  Statistik  des  osterreichischen  Kaiserstaats. 
Vienna,  1852.    Vol.  i,  p.  78. 


BEFORE  NAPOLEON'S  CAMPAIGN  IN  RUSSIA     99 

Bavarian  cities  that  are  said  to  have  been  attacked.^*    In 
Augsburg  the  number  of  deaths  was  : 

1805 1,189 

1806 1,840 

1807 1,165 

Epidemics  also  broke  out  away  from  the  miUtary  roads,  as 
in  Ingolstadt,  Hof,  and  Nuremberg.^^ 

In  Wiirttemberg,  infected  prisoners  were  also  transported 
through  Goppingen,  Cannstatt,  and  Vaihingen.  In  the 
months  of  November  and  December  1806  the  number  of 
deaths  in  the  French  military  hospital  at  Solitude  was  rather 
small,  but  in  January  1807  serious  diseases  were  brought 
there  by  Russian  and  Austrian  prisoners.^*  Regarding 
Pforzheim,  a  town  in  Baden  with  upwards  of  5,000  inhabi- 
tants, we  have  more  detailed  information ;  ^'  in  December 
and  January  transports  of  Russian  prisoners  arrived  there, 
bringing  with  them  '  putrid  fever  '.  '  Curiosity,  pity,  a  sense 
of  duty,  and  the  distribution  of  food  brought  many  citizens 
and  servants  in  contact  with  them,  and  they  were  almost 
all  infected.'  Military  hospitals  were  erected  inside  and 
outside  the  city ;  and  it  is  stated  that  those  who  were 
directly  infected  by  the  Russians  suffered  much  more 
severely  than  those  who  contracted  the  disease  later  on. 
Diarrhoea  was  rare,  but  on  the  skin  appeared  '  red  spots 
of  varying  size  and  shape,  usually  like  flea-bites ;  they 
developed  first  on  the  neck  and  breast.'  The  climax  of  the 
epidemic  was  in  the  last  part  of  January  and  the  first  part 
of  February ;  in  May  it  disappeared.  Of  183  patients 
treated,  Roller  lost  26  by  death.  The  total  number  of  deaths 
in  Pforzheim  due  to  the  pestilence  was  130  (civilians),  77  of 

"  Seitz,  op.  cit.,  p.  150. 

1*  P.  G.  Joerdens,  Semiotische  Bemerkungen  uber  die  auch  zu  Hof  im  Jahre 
1806  herrschend  gewesenen  Nervenfieber.  Huf elands  Journal  der  prakt. 
Heilkunde.    Vol.  xxv.    1807.    Third  section.    P.  58. 

i«  E.  Gurlt,  op.  cit.,  p.  151. 

1'  J .  Ch .  Roller,  Geschichte  und  Beschreibung  der  Stadt  Pforzheim .  Heidel- 
berg, 1816.    P.  247  ff. 

H  2 


100        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

them  being  between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  sixty.  The  total 
number  of  deaths,  which  in  the  years  1801-5  had  averaged 
163,  in  the  year  1806  was  346;  in  the  years  1807-10  the 
average  number  of  deaths  was  196. 

Typhus  fever  also  appeared  in  France  in  the  winter  of 
1805-6,  having  been  brought  there  by  prisoners  of  war; 
Autun,  Semur,  and  Langres  were  attacked.^* 

In  Napoleon's  war  against  Prussia  (1806-7)  typhus  fever 
broke  out  in  the  provinces  of  East  Prussia,  where  the  second 
half  of  the  war  was  waged.  According  to  Hufeland,^®  the 
disease  appeared  wherever  the  soldiers  went  in  the  fall, 
winter,  and  following  spring ;  he  diagnosed  it  as  putrid 
fever,  nerve  fever,  and  typhus  fever.  Hufeland,  to  be  sure, 
often  points  to  the  fact  that  the  disease  of  1806-7  was  in 
several  respects  different  from  that  of  1803 ;  in  particular, 
the  disease  of  1806-7  was  characterized  by  a  long  period  of 
incubation,  lasting  diarrhoea,  meteorism,  blood  in  the  evacua- 
tions of  the  bowels,  and  a  long  convalescence.  But  since 
Hufeland  expressly  says  that  the  disease  lasted  twenty-one 
days,  and  at  the  same  time  mentions  petechiae  and  the  fact 
that  the  disease  often  broke  out  suddenly,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  was  typhus  fever.  The  peculiar  mixed  char- 
acter of  his  description  can  be  explained  only  by  the  assump- 
tion .  that  epidemics  of  typhus  fever  and  typhoid  fever 
appeared  simultaneously,  and  that  the  two  diseases  were 
regarded  as  one  and  the  same.  Gilbert  ^^  expressly  mentions 
'  eruptions  petechiales  '  in  his  description  of  these  epidemics 
in  the  military  hospitals.  In  Konigsberg  typhus  fever  raged 
in  the  hospitals  and  among  the  inhabitants,  6,392  of  whom 

"  A.  Laveran,  op.  cit.,  p.  254. 

"  Hufeland,  Bemerkungen  iiber  die  Nervenfieber,  die  im  Winter  1806-7  in 
Preussen  herrschten.  Hufelands  Journal  der  prakt.  Heilkunde.  Vol.  xxvi. 
1807.    Third  section.    P.  120. 

'*  N.  P.  Gilbert,  Tableau  historique  des  maladies  internes  de  mauvais 
caract^e,  qui  ont  affiigd  la  grande  armie  dans  la  campagne  de  Prusse  et  de 
Pohgne  et  notamment  de  celles  qui  ont  ^t6  observdes  dans  les  hdpitaux  militaires 
et  les  villes  de  Thorn,  Bromberg,  Fordon  et  Culm  dans  Vhiver  de  1806  a  1807, 
le  printemps  et  Viti  de  1S07.    Berlin,  1808. 


BEFORE  NAPOLEON'S  CAMPAIGN  IN  RUSSIA    101 

died.  In  Thorn,  Bromberg,  and  Culm,  all  of  which  had 
military  lazarets,  the  disease  spread  from  them  to  the  civil 
population.  In  Danzig,  which  in  the  spring  of  1807  passed 
through  a  siege  of  seventy-six  days,  the  condition  of  health 
was  good,  whereas  typhus  fever  raged  among  the  French 
besiegers.  In  1805-6  the  disease  was  conveyed  by  Russian 
troops  to  Silesia,  where  it  broke  out  in  Trachenberg,  Adel- 
nau,  Ostrowo,  Wohlau,  Neisse,  and  Leobschiitz.^^  German 
prisoners  brought  typhus  fever  with  them  to  France,  where 
it  broke  out  in  the  first  part  of  January  1807,  in  the  Depart- 
ments of  Aube  and  Yonne.^^ 

Typhus  fever  raged  less  furiously  during  Napoleon's  war 
with  Austria  in  1809.  After  the  battle  of  Wagram  it 
appeared  in  the  overcrowded  hospitals  of  Vienna,  and  also 
in  Tyrol.  Since  the  war  had  first  been  waged  in  Bavaria,  the 
disease  had  also  broken  out  there  (in  Landshut  and  Augsburg), 
but  had  nowhere  become  very  widespread. 

Typhus  fever  broke  out  in  the  form  of  very  severe  epi- 
demics during  the  long  struggle  of  the  French  in  Spain  and 
Portugal  in  the  years  1808-14,  since  here  the  French  army 
suffered  terribly  in  consequence  of  unremitting  hardships, 
the  scanty  supply  of  food,  and  the  poor  hospital  arrange- 
ments. While  in  the  Spanish  Peninsula  the  French  army 
is  said  to  have  lost  300,000  men  in  consequence  of  disease, 
and  100,000  men  in  consequence  of  the  enemy's  arms.  A 
particularly  severe  epidemic  raged  in  Saragossa  when  that 
city  was  besieged  by  the  French  in  the  months  of  June, 
July,  and  August  1808,  and  again  in  the  months  of  December 
-February,  1808  and  1809 ;  of  100,000  inhabitants  54,000 
succumbed  to  typhus  fever,  and  of  30,000  soldiers  18,000 
fell  victims  to  the  same  disease,  so  that  the  city  was  forced 
to  capitulate.^^    In  the  year  1810  yellow  fever  caused  great 

21  Gurlt,  op.  cit.,  p.  177. 

22  Ozanam,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iv,  p.  266. 

23  von  Linstow,  op.  cit.,  vol.  xxix,  p.  204.  Compare  also  Der  Feldzug 
von  Portugal  in  den  Jahren  1811  und  1812  in  historischer  und  medizinischer 


102        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

devastation  in  the  southern  part  of  Spain,  attacking  Cadiz, 
Cartagena,  and  Gibraltar ;  in  1811  it  raged  furiously  in  the 
provinces  of  Murcia  and  Valencia,-*  but  the  epidemic,  was 
confined  to  the  coast. 

From  Spain  typhus  fever  was  frequently  conveyed  by 
transports  of  prisoners  to  France ;  the  border  districts 
through  which  the  prisoners  passed  were  the  first  to  be 
attacked,  as,  for  instance,  the  town  of  Dax  (near  Bayonne). 
Ozanam  says  : -^  'La  France  en  ressentit  les  effets  depuis 
les  Pyrenees  jusqu'aux  environs  de  Paris,  sur  toutes  les 
routes  suivies  par  les  prisonniers  espagnols,  et  I'Angleterre 
en  fut  infestee  au  retour  des  debris  de  ses  troupes  du  meme 
pays.  En  France  la  ville  de  Dax,  frontiere  de  I'Espagne, 
fut  une  des  premieres  a  eprouver  les  ravages  des  maladies 
epidemiques,  qui  accompagnent  tou jours  les  armees.  La 
situation  basse  et  marecageuse,  jointe  a  I'encombrement  de 
son  hopital  par  des  miUtaires  atteints  du  typhus  nosocomial, 
ne  tarda  pas  a  favoriser  la  propagation  de  la  contagion,  et 
eUe  fut  bientot  transmise  aux  environs.  Les  prisonniers 
espagnols  y  contribuerent  encore,  et  le  caractere  contagieux 
de  la  maladie  ne  fut  pas  plus  douteux,  lorsqu'on  vit  les 
employes  au  service  des  hopitaux  et  a  celui  du  transport 
de  ces  militaires  en  etre  tous  atteints.'  (France  felt  the 
effects  (of  the  disease)  all  along  the  routes  followed  by  the 
Spanish  prisoners — ^from  the  Pyrenees  to  the  environs  of 
Paris,  while  England  was  infected  by  the  remnants  of  its 
troops  when  they  returned  from  France.  The  town  of  Dax, 
situated  near  the  border  between  France  and  Spain,  was 
one  of  the  first  places  to  experience  the  ravages  of  the 
epidemic  diseases  which  always  accompanied  the  armies. 
Its  low,  marshy  situation,  together  with  the  fact  that  its 
hospital  was  overcrowded  with  soldiers  infected  with  noso- 

HinsicM.  Beschr.  von  einem  Arzt  der  franzosischen  Armee  von  Portugal. 
Stuttgart  und  Tubingen,  1816. 

**  A.  Hirsch,  op.  cit.,  vol.  i,  p.  238. — Kopp,  Jahrbuch  der  Staaisarzney- 
kunde.    6.  Jahrgang.    Frankfurt-on-the-Main,  1813.    P.  246. 

^  Ozunani,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iv,  p.  269. 


BEFORE  NAPOLEON'S  CAMPAIGN  IN  RUSSIA    lOS 

comial  typhus,  greatly  favoured  the  propagation  of  the 
contagion,  which  soon  spread  throughout  the  vicinity.  The 
Spanish  prisoners  also  helped  to  spread  it,  and  the  contagious 
character  of  the  disease  was  no  longer  questionable  when  the 
attendants  at  the  hospitals,  as  well  as  the  men  who  had 
charge  of  transporting  the  sick,  were  seen  to  contract  it.) 

The  Spanish  prisoners  were  sent  far  into  the  interior,  and 
caused  outbreaks  of  pestilence  wherever  they  went.  In 
consequence  of  the  strain  and  exertion  involved  in  their 
transportation,  and  also  of  the  inferior  food,  typhus  fever 
soon  became  very  widespread  among  them.  Diseased  and 
wounded  men  were  always  carried  in  the  same  wagons, 
while  it  was  often  necessary  to  remain  for  a  considerable 
length  of  time  in  camps,  where  sick  and  healthy  men  lay 
side  by  side  on  straw ;  thus  many  died  on  the  way.  In 
order  to  prevent  the  disease  from  spreading  to  the  civil 
population,  it  was  arranged  that  the  buildings  designated 
for  the  prisoners  should  He  away  from  the  town  where  the 
soldiers  were  quartered,  or  that  the  prisoners  should  be 
sheltered  in  barracks.  All  intercourse  between  the  prisoners 
and  the  inhabitants  was  forbidden,  and  after  their  depar- 
ture the  straw  used  by  them  was  burned,  and  the  buildings 
they  had  occupied  were  fumigated.^^ 

Since,  however,  it  finally  became  necessary  to  house  the 
sick  in  hospitals,  it  was  absolutely  impossible  to  prevent 
the  disease  from  spreading.  The  result  was  that  the  fol- 
lowing places  in  Central  France  were  attacked :  Limoges, 
Gueret,  Chateauroux,  Issoudun,  MouUns,  Nevers,  La  Charite, 
and  Bourges."  As  people  everywhere  were  afraid  of  con- 
tracting the  disease,  the  prisoners  were  transferred  as 
soon  as  possible  to  near-by  districts,  and  this  merely  helped 
to  spread  the  disease.    According  to  Boin,  Bourges,  in  the 

2'  Hufeland.  Journal  der  prakt.  Heilkunde,  vol.  xxxvi,  1813,  May  vol.' 
p.  120. 

2'  A.  Boin,  Memoire  sur  la  maladie  qui  regna  en  1809  chez  les  Espagnols 
prisonniers  de  guerre  a  Bourges.    Paris,  1815. 


104        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

year  1809,  became  the  rendezvous  of  all  Spanish  prisoners, 
who  were  housed  there  in  barracks  and  in  public  hospitals  ; 
of  653  prisoners  of  war  received  in  the  public  hospitals,  103 
died.  In  the  city  itself  only  a  few  cases  of  typhus  fever 
were  observed.  The  highly  contagious  nature  of  the  disease 
was  well  known  to  Boin,  who  says  : 

'  Les  dames  reHgieuses  de  la  Charite,  chargees  du  service 
des  salles,  les  eleves  en  chirurgie,  les  servans,  les  gardes  de 
nuit,  le  casernier,  les  gendarmes  qui  escortaient  les  voitures 
remplies  de  prisonniers  malades,  le  chapelain,  le  secretaire 
du  commissaire  des  guerres,  les  personnes  que  la  charite 
evangelique  a  fait  imprudemment  entrer  dans  les  salles,  ont 
^te  frappes  jje  la  maladie.  Tous  ont  couru  des  risques,  quel- 
ques-uns  Oiil  succombe.'  (The  nuns  who  had  charge  of  the 
rooms  (in  the  hospital)  at  La  Charite,  the  medical  students, 
the  attendants,  the  night-watchmen,  the  porter,  the  gendarmes 
who  escorted  the  carriages  conveying  sick  prisoners,  the 
chaplain,  the  secretary  of  the  War  Commissioner,  and  the 
persons  who  imprudently  allowed  a  sense  of  duty  and  charity 
to  induce  them  to  enter  the  rooms — all  contracted  the  disease. 
They  all  ran  risks,  and  some  of  them  died.)  Nevertheless, 
Boin  did  not  hold  the  disease  in  Bourges  to  be  typhus  fever, 
but  a  '  fievre  maHgne  putride  ' ;  he  also  adds  that  he  failed 
to  observe  petechiae  in  a  single  instance.  The  physicians  sent 
by  the  Government,  on  the  other  hand,  diagnosed  the  disease 
as  '  hospital  fever  '.  Inasmuch  as  there  is  no  doubt  expressed 
anywhere  else  regarding  the  appearance  of  tj^hus  fever 
among  the  Spanish  prisoners  (Ozanam  speaks  expressly  of 
the  appearance  of  petechiae  on  the  second,  third,  or  fourth 
day),  it  was  undoubtedly  that  disease  which  broke  out  in 
Bourges. 

Not  only  the  French,  but  also  the  EngUsh  troops  were 
attacked  by  typhus  fever  in  Spain  and  Portugal ;  they  are 
said  to  have  lost  24,930  men  in  consequence  of  diseases,  and 
8,889  men  in  consequence  of  battles  and  skirmishes.  The 
disease  was  conveyed  to  England  by  returning  soldiers,  but 


BEFORE  NAPOLEON'S  CAMPAIGN  IN  RUSSIA   105 

was  confined  there  to  a  few  houses.  After  the  battles  of 
the  year  1808,  which  went  against  the  EngKsh,  the  badly 
infected  English  troops  were  transported  on  ships  in  stormy 
weather  to  Plymouth,  where  from  January  24,  1808,  to 
January  24,  1809,  some  2,427  of  them  were  received  into 
the  hospitals.  Of  that  number  824  were  suffering  from 
typhus  fever,  and  1,503  from  dysentery ;  all  told,  405  died.^* 

2*  Ozanam,  op,  cit.,  vol.  iv,  p.  275. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  EPIDEMICS  OF  TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 
FOLLOWING  UPON  THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  AND 
DURING  THE  WARS  OF  LIBERATION    (1812-14) 

1.  General  Observations  regarding  Typhus  Fever 

Typhus  fever,  as  a  specific  disease,  was  well  known  to 
the  military  physicians  during  the  age  of  Napoleon,  since, 
as  set  forth  in  the  previous  chapter,  it  regularly  appeared 
during  the  numerous  Napoleonic  wars  in  the  form  of  wide- 
spread epidemics.  In  France  the  simple  word  '  typhus  ' 
was  often  used  to  denote  the  disease,  and  the  custom  still 
prevails  there.  In  Germany  the  disease  was  called  infectious 
nerve  fever,  war  plague,  lazaret  fever,  &c. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  it  was 
generally  believed  that  great  hardships,  colds,  lack  of  the 
necessaries  of  life,  and  the  consequent  consumption  of  spoiled 
foodstuffs  give  rise  to  fevers,  and  that  these  fevers,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  epidemic  character  of  the  year  and  of  the 
season,  and  also  in  accordance  with  the  severity  of  the  hard- 
ships undergone,  might  develop  into  dysentery  and  typhus 
fever.  At  all  events,  even  the  eminent  physicians  of  the 
day,  men  Uke  Hildenbrand  of  Vienna  ^  and  Huf eland  of 
Berlin,  who  in  the  course  of  two  decades  had  abundant 
opportunity  to  study  the  disease,  assumed  that  it  is  pos- 
sible for  typhus  fever  to  break  out  spontaneously.  It  was 
believed  that  this  fever,  originating  spontaneously,  gradu- 
ally developed  the  power  of  infection.  Hufeland's  position 
was  seK- contradictory,  for  he  assumes  that  the  disease  can 
break  out  spontaneously  and  yet  that  it  can  be  warded  off 
by  means  of  isolation.^    He  says :    '  A  proof  of  the  fact 

^  J.  V.  von  HUdenbrand,  liber  den  ansieckenden  Typhus.   Vienna,  1810. 
*  C.  W.  Hufeland,  Uber  die  Kriegspest  alter  und  nener  Zeit,  mit  besonderer 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)   107 

that  this  disease  can  spread  only  through  infection  is  offered 
by  the  stronghold  of  Kustrin,  which,  being  closed  up  tightly 
during  the  entire  year  of  1813,  was  free  from  disease,  whereas 
all  the  surrounding  country,  even  the  army  of  the  besiegers, 
suffered  terribly.'  Whereupon  Huf eland  inmiediately  adds  : 
'  The  war  carried  on  among  us  and  by  us  with  such  unheard-of 
exertion  and  hardship  caused  the  disease  to  break  out  several 
times  anew  throughout  our  country,  and  hence  it  could  but 
become  general.'  That  it  is  possible  for  typhus  fever  to 
break  out  spontaneously  and  subsequently  spread  by  infec- 
tion was  everywhere  believed,  even  by  French  physicians. 
It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  however,  that  the  theory  of 
the  spontaneous  origination  of  the  disease  does  not  accord 
with  modern  views.  The  severe  hardships  undergone,  the 
hunger  and  cold,  the  effluvium  of  gangrenous  wounds,  the 
moral  depression,  and  the  many  other  bad  effects  which 
characterized  this  war  more  than  any  other,  necessarily 
decreased  the  soldiers'  power  of  resistance  and  increased 
their  susceptibility  to  infection.  Incidentally,  all  sorts  of 
telluric  and  meteorological  phenomena,  volcam'c  eruptions, 
earthquakes,  the  great  heat  and  dryness  of  the  year  1811, 
the  meteors  of  that  year — all  these  things  were  at  the  time 
brought  into  causal  connexion  Avith  the  war  pestilences  of 
the  years  1813-14. 

'  Many  people  stated  positively ',  says  Huf eland,^  '  that 
they  contracted  the  disease  almost  immediately  after  they 
had  occupied  small,  narrow  rooms  in  company  with  infected 
French  soldiers,  or  after  they  had  washed  their  clothes  or 
waited  upon  them.  This  frequently  happened  in  small 
houses  that  undertook,  for  a  small  profit,  to  shelter  invalid 

Riicksicht  aufdas  Aderlassen  in  derselben.  Huf  elands  Journal  der  praktischen 
Heilkunde,  vol.  xxxviii,  1814,  June  vol.,  p.  55.  See  also  special  copy  with 
the  title,  Ueber  die  Kriegspest  alter  und  neuerZeit,  mil  besonderer  Riicksicht 
auf  die  Epidemie  des  Jahres  1813  in  Deutschland.    Berlin,  1814. 

"  Hufeland,  Erster  Bericht  iiber  das  epidemische  und  ansteckende  Nerven- 
fieber  und  dessen  Behandlung  im  kgl.  ChariU- Krankenhaus  zu  Berlin. 
Hufelands  Journal,  vol.  xxxvi,  1813,  June  vol.,  p.  3. 


108        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

soldiers  quartered  upon  the  wealthier  citizens.  Many  asserted 
that  they  contracted  the  disease  by  passing  the  night  in 
small  inns  in  the  towns  and  villages  around  BerHn,  and  on 
the  roads  from  Konigsberg,  Danzig,  and  Frankfurt,  and  by 
sleeping  on  beds  or  straw  which  had  shortly  before  been 
used  by  infected  Frenchmen  or  Russians.  A  certain  number 
of  men  contracted  typhus  fever  by  serving  as  attendants, 
in  order  to  earn  a  little  money,  in  the  local  French 
mihtary  hospital.  In  this  way  many  of  the  servants  and 
attendants  employed  there,  as  well  as  nmnerous  surgeons 
and  apothecaries,  contracted  the  disease  and  subsequently 
infected  the  members  of  their  families  who  brought  them 
home  and  took  care  of  them,  and  who,  in  turn,  infected  the 
other  inhabitants  of  the  house  and  of  the  neighbouring 
houses.'  Further  on,  Hufeland  adds  that  only  those  inmates 
of  the  hospital  contracted  the  disease  who,  as  servants  and 
attendants,  had  been  in  close  and  constant  contact  with 
the  patients. 

In  the  years  1813-14  a  large  number  of  physicians  were 
carried  away  by  typhus  fever;  it  was  estimated  at  that 
time  that  some  500  of  them  throughout  Germany  (excluding 
the  surgeons)  fell  victims  to  the  disease — ^in  Silesia  alone 
63  physicians  died,  in  Leipzig  17,  in  Wiirttemberg  17,  and 
in  Baden  35.* 

Emphasis  was  always  laid  upon  the  fact  that  the  clothes 
and  other  effects  of  people  who  had  succumbed  to  typhus 
fever  were  highly  infectious.  The  wide  prevalence  of  the 
disease  among  the  Jewish  inhabitants  of  Vilna  was  attri- 
buted to  ignorance  or  disregard  of  this  fact ;  for  when  orders 
were  issued  to  destroy  such  clothing,  the  Jews,  out  of  sheer 
avarice,  disobeyed  them.  The  persons  who  acquired  such 
effects  in  this  cheap  and  illicit  manner  usually  paid  the 
penalty  themselves ;  in  addition,  they  did  a  great  deal 
toward  spreading  the  disease. 

The  military  hospitals  were  also  largely  responsible  for 

*  J.  H.  Kopp,  Jahrbuch  der  Staatsarzneykunde.    1814.    Vol.  vii,  p.  280. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)    109 

the  dissemination  of  typhus  fever  ;  Parenteau-Desgranges  ^ 
called  them  outright  '  centres  de  contagion '.  The  cities  in 
which  miUtary  hospitals  were  erected  were  always  severely 
attacked  by  the  disease.  It  was  generally  complained,  even 
by  the  French  physicians,  that  the  French  hospitals  were 
poorly  arranged  and  badly  managed — even  simple  clean- 
liness and  competent  attendants  were  lacking.  Patients 
suffering  from  infectious  disease  were  placed  together  with 
others  suffering  from  some  mild  form  of  sickness  or  from 
a  wound,  thus  giving  the  infection  the  best  conceivable 
chance  to  spread.  Let  us  read  how  a  French  physician 
describes  the  conditions  in  Verdun  during  the  severe 
epidemic  of  typhus  fever  that  raged  there  in  the  years 
1792-5  : « 

'The  disease  spread  with  no  less  severity  from  other 
sources  of  infection,  such  as  the  temporary  hospitals  estab- 
lished in  the  Convent  of  Canons  of  Saint  Nicholas,  in  the 
Monastery  of  Saint  Vannes,  and  in  the  barracks.  The  un- 
fortunate patients,  thrown  in  heaps  on  the  damp  stone  and 
earth  floors,  scarcely  having  under  them  a  few  mats,  or 
perhaps  some  dirty  straw,  filthy  with  their  excrement,  three 
of  them  often  sharing  a  single  blanket  of  coarse  wool,  pre- 
sented the  most  dismal  picture  one  could  possibly  imagine. 
At  least  three-quarters  of  the  patients  died.  They  were 
buried  in  huge  ditches  dug  in  the  vicinity  of  the  ramparts, 
and  in  the  gardens  surrounding  the  abbeys  of  Saint  Vannes 
and  of  Saint  Nicholas.' 

The  German  Central  Hospital  Management,  which  was 
founded  in  the  latter  part  of  November  1813,  and  from 
which  Bavaria  and  Wiirttemberg  held  aloof,  sought  to  intro- 
duce certain  improvements  into  the  military  lazaret  system, 
but  it  was  unable  to  accomplish  a  great  deal,  owing  to  the 

^  J.  Parenteau-Desgranges,  Hommage  a  la  viriti ;  precis  historique  des 
dvdnements  les  plus  remarquables  survenus  depuis  la  rentrie  de  la  Russie 
jusqu'au  passage  du  Rhin.  Paris,  1814. — Journ.  de  mdd.,  chir.,  pharm.,  etc., 
1814,    Vol.  xxix,  p.  407. 

^  Marechal  et  Didion,  op.  cit.,  p.  287  ff. 


110        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

lack  of  hospitals,  physicians,  and  all  the  means  necessary  for 
the  treatment  of  sick  and  injured  people. 

Very  dangerous  for  the  dissemination  of  the  disease  was 
the  belief  that  the  placing  of  typhus  fever  patients  together 
with  other  invahds  did  no  harm,  but  rather  that  the  con- 
gregating of  numerous  typhus  fever  patients  by  themselves 
caused  the  contagion  to  develop  with  especial  severity. 
The  Saxon  staff  surgeon  Neumann,  for  example,  writes  in 
regard  to  this  question  : '  '  Anybody  who  Hes  in  a  bed  to 
which  the  poison  is  still  cHnging  will  without  fail  contract 
the  disease ;  on  the  other  hand,  I  have  often  seen  people 
suffering  from  other  forms  of  sickness  he  alongside  of  typhus- 
fever  patients  and  escape  infection,  provided  they  had  nothing 
in  common,  did  not  touch  one  another,  or  make  use  of  one 
another's  Hnen.  Hence  I  draw  the  conclusion  that  the 
poison  of  typhus  fever,  Hke  the  poison  of  bubonic  plague 
and  small-pox,  cannot  enter  the  system  from  a  distance, 
not  even  from  a  very  short  distance,  and  can  be  commu- 
nicated only  by  close  and  direct  contact.  This  seems  to 
contradict  our  experience  that  the  intensity  of  the  poison  is 
greatly  increased  when  several  patients  he  side  by  side. 
Accordingly,  I  warn  all  mihtary  physicians  not  to  congre- 
gate all  their  typhus  fever  patients  in  a  single  room  by  them- 
selves ;  for  few  would  come  forth  from  such  a  room  ahve, 
while  the  poisoned  atmosphere  of  the  room  would  pervade 
the  entire  lazaret,  infect  the  physicians  and  attendants,  and 
finally  spread  throughout  the  immediate  neighbourhood. 
People  think  that  they  can  prevent  the  disease  from  spread- 
ing by  congregating  and  isolating  the  patients,  but  as  a 
matter  of  fact  this  has  the  opposite  effect.  This  is  clear 
when  we  consider  that  the  mere  being  together  of  imhealthy 
people  causes  the  poison  to  develop,  and  that  not  only  the 
people  themselves,  but  also  the  very  exhalations  from  their 
bodies,  are  sufficient  to  spread  the  infection.    For  example, 

'  Neumann,  Ein  Wort  iiber  die  Fieber,  die  in  Lagern  und  MilitdrlazareUen 
auszubrechcn  pflegen.  Huf  elands  Journal,  vol.  xxxiv,  1812,  April  vol.,  p.  70. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)    111 

if  a  considerable  quantity  of  dirty  clothes  or  linen  is  allowed 
to  accumulate  in  a  pile,  and  after  a  short  time  is  picked  up, 
the  usual  result  is  that  the  people  who  do  the  work  experience 
a  severe  attack  of  typhus  fever.' 

Very  often  conditions  made  segregation  impossible,  even 
when  it  was  desired,  or  else  the  French  generals  refused  to 
permit  it.  Consequently,  infection  was  so  frequent  in  the 
hospitals  that  the  disease  at  a  very  early  date  acquired  the 
name  '  hopital  fever  '  (fievre  d'hopital). 

The  fact  that  the  weather  conditions  exerted  some  influ- 
ence was  not  to  be  overlooked  ;  in  the  year  1813,  when  the 
warm  weather  began,  the  disease  abated  a  httle,  whereas 
in  the  year  1814  it  ceased  altogether  at  the  beginning  of  the 
warm  weather.  The  reason  for  this  was  that  the  cold 
weather  forced  people  to  huddle  together  in  houses,  and 
that  bathing  and  washing,  particularly  among  the  soldiers 
and  poor  people,  was  less  frequently  and  profusely  indulged 
in ;  another  reason  was  that  the  heavier  clothing  worn  in 
winter  faciUtated  the  breeding  of  vermin. 

Failure  to  take  measures  of  precaution,  if  the  disease 
once  broke  out  in  a  neighbouring  place,  also  contributed 
greatly  toward  the  dissemination  of  it.  '  If  tj^hus  fever 
was  present  in  any  miHtary  halting-place,  frequently  nothing 
was  done  to  prevent  it  from  infecting  the  next  place,  where 
it  had  not  yet  made  its  appearance ;  or,  if  anything  was 
done,  it  was  often  merely  to  issue  an  order  which  was  not 
complied  with.'  ^  At  the  same  time,  to  be  sure,  one  must 
take  into  account  the  fact  that  sheer  ignorance  rendered 
useful  measures  impossible.  If  this  ignorance  prevailed  in 
the  highest  places,  nothing  better  was  to  be  expected  of  the 
small  cities  and  towns. 

That  the  '  contagious  typhus '  prevalent  during  the  Napo- 
leonic wars  was  the  same  disease  which  we  call  typhus  fever 
is  very  certain.  The  physicians  of  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  when  views  of  typhus  and  typhoid  fever 

8  Kopp,  op.  cit.,  vol.  vii,  p.  292. 


112        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

had  cleared  up  somewhat,  have  confirmed  this  fact.*  The 
descriptions  of  the  disease  are  ahnost  invariably  reproduc- 
tions of  the  same  picture,  the  sole  difference  being  that  it 
was  much  more  severe  and  fatal  among  the  half-starved 
soldiers  on  their  return  from  Russia,  and  among  soldiers 
packed  together  in  strongholds,  than  it  was  among  people 
who  were  less  afflicted  by  the  war  and  who  Uved  at  a  distance 
from  the  mihtary  routes. 

As  a  rule,  the  disease  broke  out  eight  or  nine  days  after 
infection.  It  began  with  a  general  indisposition,  which 
lasted  several  days,  or,  if  this  indisposition  failed  to  appear, 
with  a  chill,  great  languor,  loss  of  appetite,  and  weakness  in 
the  limbs  ;  frequently  brain  disorders  also  manifested  them- 
selves, at  first  in  the  form  of  a  mild  stupefaction,  singing  in 
the  ears,  violent  headache,  somnolence,  or  wild  deUrium. 
The  exanthema  usually  appeared  between  the  fourth  and 
the  seventh  day.  Huf  eland  describes  it  as  '  an  outbreak  of 
red  spots,  covering  most  of  the  body ;  they  were  mostly 
of  a  violet  tinge,  but  were  not  sharply  defined,  and  often 
gradually  merged  into  the  colour  of  the  rest  of  the  skin '. 
It  was  frequently  asserted  that  the  petechiae  now  and  then 
failed  to  appear  at  all,  even  in  severe  cases.  Jorg  says 
expressly ;  ^°  '  Sometimes  they  broke  out  sparsely,  one  here 
and  one  there,  and  in  such  cases  it  was  easy  to  overlook 
them.'  After  the  disease  had  progressed  for  two  or  three 
weeks  the  patient's  temperature  went  down,  and  there  were 
few  fataUties  after  the  twenty-first  day.  Convalescence 
was  of  short  duration,  provided  the  outbreak  had  not  been 
preceded  by  exhaustion  due  to  hardships.  In  regard  to 
abdominal  and  intestinal  symptoms,  great  dissimilarity  was 
observed ;  Huf  eland  states  that  when  there  were  no  compU- 
cations,  an  autopsy  revealed  not  the  slightest  change  in 

'  C.  Carmstatt,  Handbuch  der  medizinischen  Klinik,  vol.  ii,  p.  578  ff.  1847. 
— Ch.  Murchison,  Die  typhoiden  Krankheiten.  Translated  by  W.  Zulzer. 
P.  34.    Brunswick,  1867. 

^^  J.  Ch.  G.  Jorg,  Das  Newenfieber  im  Jahre  1813  und  eine  zvoeckmdssige 
Behandlung  desselben.    Leipzig  and  Berlin,  1814.    P.  27. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-^14)    113 

the  intestinal  organs,  and  Horn  says  that  '  the  colour  of 
the  intestines  was  often  almost  natural.'  The  severity 
of  the  disease  varied  greatly ;  it  was  particularly  fatal 
among  the  soldiers  homeward-bound  from  Russia,  more  than 
half  of  whom  died.  It  is  frequently  asserted  that  the 
majority  of  those  who  were  thus  directly  infected  succumbed 
to  the  disease,  and  that  it  carried  away  some  ten  per  cent 
of  the  civil  inhabitants  who  contracted  it. 

Of  course  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  say  that  all  the  epidemics 
of  that  time  were  epidemics  of  typhus  fever ;  undoubtedly 
typhoid  fever  carried  away  large  numbers  of  people,  since 
it  is  to  be  assumed  that  the  disease  was  endemic  in  many 
cities.  But  owing  to  the  inaccuracy  of  the  descriptions  and 
the  lack  of  autopsies,  it  is  usually  impossible  to  distinguish 
the  diseases  with  certainty.  Even  when  the  results  of 
autopsies  were  made  known,  the  condition  of  the  intestines 
was  often  described  so  inaccurately  that  we  cannot  even 
make  out  whether  or  not  there  were  intestinal  ulcers,  which 
are  the  most  important  pathological-anatomical  symptoms  of 
typhoid  fever.  But  the  initial  chill,  the  short  duration  of 
the  disease  (three  weeks),  the  presence  of  petechiae,  the  rapid 
fall  of  temperature,  and  the  shorter  convalescence,  all  of 
which  are  ever-recurring  symptoms,  enable  us  to  distinguish 
the  epidemic  of  the  years  1812-14  with  certainty  from  typhoid 
fever. 

Through  the  influence  of  the  works  of  Hildenbrand  and 
Hufeland  the  larger  part  of  the  medical  world  of  that  time 
came  to  look  upon  contagious  typhus  as  a  specific  disease  ; 
other  views,  however,  were  vigorously  supported,  for  example, 
by  Markus  of  Bamberg,  who  held  it  to  be  an  inflammation 
of  the  brain.  The  difference  of  opinion  regarding  the  character 
of  the  disease  was  important,  not  only  theoretically,  but  also 
practically,  in  view  of  the  therapeutic  practice  of  the  time ; 
for  those  who  regarded  the  disease  as  an  inflammation  of 
the  brain  had  naturally,  in  accordance  with  the  methods 
then  in  vogue,  to  resort  to  bleeding.    But  all  unprejudiced 

1569.13  T 


114        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

observers  came  to  the  conclusion  that  bleeding  was  harmful, 
and  that  it  killed  aU  the  patients  upon  whom  it  was  frequently 
practised.  Very  soon  the  beneficial  influence  of  fresh  air 
and  cold  came  to  be  recognized,  and  the  latter  was  often 
provided  by  means  of  cold-water  baths  and  douches.  *It 
was  a  universally  confirmed  principle,  derived  from  experience, 
that  the  warmer  the  patients  were  kept,  the  more  severe 
was  the  disease,  and  the  colder  they  were  kept,  the  milder 
the  disease.'  How  beneficial  fresh  air  was  for  the  patients 
was  shown  by  the  fact  that  those  who  were  kept  out  in  the 
open  air  withstood  the  disease  much  more  easily  than  those 
who  were  kept  shut  up  in  houses  and  hospitals,  and  that  it 
was  much  less  dangerous  to  transport  patients  from  place 
to  place  in  the  open  air,  than  to  keep  them  shut  up  in  over- 
crowded hospitals.  '  Thousands  of  patients ',  says  H.  Haser," 
'  survived  even  the  most  severe  forms  of  the  disease  without 
human  help  of  any  kind.  Many,  especially  physicians, 
attributed  their  recovery  to  the  fact  that  for  weeks  at  a  time 
they  were  constantly  being  transported  in  the  cold  winter 
from  one  halting-place  to  another,  and  were  not  compelled 
to  lie  in  overcrowded  hospitals,  where  typhus  fever  and 
dysentery  raged  most  terribly.' 

In  dealing  with  the  epidemic  of  typhus  fever  of  the  years 
1812-14  we  have  a  double  epidemic  to  consider.  The  one 
was  disseminated  directly  by  the  returning  remnants  of  the 
*  Grand  Army ',  and  after  causing  terrible  devastation  in 
East  Prussia  it  spread,  in  a  relatively  milder  form,  to  other 
parts  of  Germany.  The  other  epidemic  broke  out  during 
the  great  battles  in  Saxony,  which  lasted  several  months, 
and  from  there  spread  virulently  over  a  large  part  of  Germany. 
In  order  to  avoid  repetition,  the  following  account  will 
treat  of  the  dissemination  of  the  two  epidemics  jointly. 

^^  II.  Haser,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iii,  p.  613. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)    115 


2.    The  Russian  Campaign  and  Typhus  Fever  in  Russia  ^* 

Napoleon  began  to  make  preparations  for  his  Russian 
campaign  as  early  as  the  year  1811  ;  troops  were  assembled 
in  Westphalia,  Hamburg,  Saxony,  Holland,  on  the  Rhine, 
and  near  Verona,  and  several  hospitals  were  founded,  as  in 
Danzig.  An  army  of  550,000  men  was  organized  to  take 
part  in  the  expedition  into  Russia  ;  it  consisted  of  French- 
men, Germans,  Italians,  Spaniards,  and  Poles.  How  this 
army  was  destroyed  on  its  march  to  and  from  Moscow,  and 
in  what  a  pitiable  condition  the  remnants  of  it  arrived  in 
Germany,  is  well  known.  Since  it  is  our  purpose  to  point  out 
here  how  that  severe  epidemic  of  typhus  fever  spread  abroad 
from  those  remnants,  we  can  deal  but  briefly  with  the 
prevalence  of  the  disease  in  the  army  itself. 

In  consequence  of  the  great  heat,  of  the  lack  of  drinking- 
water  and  good  food,  and  of  the  continual  bivouacking  (the 
peasants  burned  and  deserted  all  the  villages  along  the  way), 

^*  J,  R.  L.  Kerckhoffs,  Observations  m^dicales  faites pendant  Us  campagnea 
de  Russie  en  1812  et  d'Allemagne  en  1813.  First  edition,  1814.  Third 
edition,  1836.  Reproduced  in  epitome  by  W.  Strieker  in  his  Historische 
Sttidien  tiber  Heereskrankheiten  und  Militarkrankenpflege,  1743-1814. 
Virchow's  Archiv  fiir  pathologische  Anatomie  m.*.«j.,  vol.  liii,  p.  383.  1871. 
(The  spelling  '  Kerkhove '  is  incorrect.) — J.  D.  Larrey,  M^oires  de 
chirurgie  militaire,  vols.  i-iv.  Paris,  1812-17.  (Kerckhoffs  and  Larrey 
give  only  indefinite  information  regarding  the  nature  of  the  diseases  ; 
Larrey,  in  particular,  who  served  as  a  surgeon  and  general  inspector  on 
the  Health  Staff,  had  very  little  understanding  for  the  infectious  character 
of  typhus  fever  or  for  the  energetic  measures  that  have  to  be  adopted  to 
prevent  its  dissemination.) — ^M.  J.  Lemazurier,  De  la  campagne  de  Russie 
in  Recueil  de  memoires  de  mededne,  chirurgie^  etpharmacie  militaires,  vol.  iii, 
p.  161.  Paris,  1817.  Translated  from  the  French  by  C.  F.  Heusinger, 
Medizinische  Geschichte  des  Rtissischen  Feldzugs  von  1812.  Jena,  1823. 
(This  book,  owing  to  the  clarity  of  its  descriptions,  constitutes  the  best 
source  of  information  regarding  the  diseases  that  broke  out  during  the 
Russian  campaign.) — Ch.  J.  Scheerer,  Historia  niorborum,  qui  in  expeditione 
contra  Ru^siam  anno  1812  facta  legiones  Wurttembergicas  invaserunt ; 
praesertim  eorum  qui  frigore  orti  sunt.  Tubingae,  1819. — ^R.  Virchow, 
Kriegstyphus  und  Ruhr.  Virch.  Archiv,  vol.  Hi,  p.  1.  1871. — E.  Gurlt 
16c.  cit. — ^W.  Ebstein,  Die  Krankheiten  im  Feldzug  gegen  Russland.  Stutt- 
gart, 1902. 

12 


116         EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

the  army  suffered  greatly  even  on  the  march  to  Moscow. 
After  crossing  the  PoUsh  border  the  soldiers  were  severely 
attacked  by  dysentery  and  diarrhoea  ;  Kerckhoffs  estimates 
that  no  less  than  80,000  men  were  suffering  from  dysentery 
at  the  beginning  of  August  1812.  Typhus  fever  broke  out, 
very  sparsely,  to  be  sure,  as  early  as  the  latter  part  of  July, 
when  the  army  arrived  at  Vilna ;  there  were  also  cases  in 
the  hospitals  at  Minsk,  Vilkomir,  Globokie,  and  Mittau,  but 
the  disease  was  not  yet  so  infectious  as  it  proved  to  be  later. 
After  the  battle  of  Smolensk  (August  14-18)  large  numbers 
of  wounded  soldiers  (between  6,000  and  10,000  according 
to  various  reports)  were  brought  to  that  city,  and  from  that 
time  on,  typhus  fever  and  other  diseases  (hospital  fever, 
diarrhoea,  dysentery,  gastric  fever,  &c.)  continued  to  spread 
throughout  the  army.  On  September  14,  Moscow  was 
entered,  and  on  September  15  the  city  was  in  flames.  The 
army  then  had  peace  until  October  19,  when  the  return 
march  began.  During  their  sojourn  in  Moscow  the  soldiers 
were  very  improperly  nourished,  eating  almost  nothing  but 
salted  meat  and  fish,  and  drinking  large  quantities  of  wine 
and  spirits.  According  to  Lemazurier,  the  number  of  sick 
and  wounded  soldiers  in  Moscow  was  15,000.  The  most 
common  disease  even  in  Moscow  was  typhus  fever ;  according 
to  Scheerer,  when  Napoleon's  army  withdrew  from  the  city 
it  left  behind  several  thousand  typhus-fever  patients,  almost 
all  of  whom  died — only  the  stronger  patients  were  taken 
along  on  wagons. 

The  horrors  of  the  return  march  are  wellknown.  Thousands 
froze  to  death  in  the  extreme  cold  of  November,  horse-meat 
and  melted  snow  were  the  sole  means  of  nourishment,  and 
any  soldier  who  lay  down  was  irretrievably  lost.  Between 
Moscow  and  Smolensk,  which  was  reached  on  November  9, 
one-half  of  the  soldiers  who  had  started  out  from  Moscow 
died ;  the  number  of  sick  soldiers  was  enormous,  and  typhus 
fever  raged  more  and  more  extensively.  On  December  8 
Vilna  was  reached,  but  there  the  army  was   not  given 


I 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)    117 

a  moment's  rest ;  two  days  later  the  Russians  advanced 
and  captured  30,000  of  Napoleon's  soldiers  who  could  go 
no  further. 

In  pursuing  the  French  army  the  Russians  also  suffered 
severely  from  diseases  ;  according  to  Ebstein,*^  between 
October  20  and  December  14,  1812,  they  lost  61,964  men, 
most  of  whom  died  of  '  nerve  fever  '  (typhus  fever). 

In  Vilna,  which  was  greatly  overcrowded,  typhus  fever 
raged  furiously.  The  large  number  of  sick  and  exhausted 
soldiers  that  were  left  behind,  owing  to  the  extreme  cold 
(the  thermometer  went  down  as  low  as  -  28°  Reaumur)  sought 
shelter,  partly  in  private  houses,  and  partly  in  hospitals. 
The  latter,  for  the  first  few  days  after  the  arrival  of  the 
Russians^  were  in  a  terrible  condition ;  sick  men  and  dead 
men  were  packed  together  in  the  cold,  unheated  rooms, 
the  former  lying  on  rotten  straw,  completely  deserted, 
and  without  care  or  nourishment.  The  corridors  and  courts 
were  filled  with  dead  bodies  and  with  refuse  of  all  kinds, 
while  in  the  rooms  themselves  there  was  no  less  filth,  since 
nobody  removed  the  excrements.  '  The  courts  and  corridors 
of  the  hospitals ',  says  Gasc,  an  eye-witness,^* '  were  so  covered 
with  dead  bodies  that  it  was  necessary  to  walk  over  heaps 
of  them  in  order  to  enter  the  rooms.' 

Not  until  after  the  Emperor  of  Russia  arrived  in  Vilna 
was  some  semblance  of  order  restored.  But  it  was  then 
too  late ;  almost  all  the  patients  in  the  hospitals  were 
infected  with  typhus  fever,  and  according  to  Gasc  and 
Lemazurier  the  great  majority  of  the  30,000  French  prisoners 
died.  For  owing  to  the  long  series  of  extreme  hardships 
which  the  soldiers  had  undergone,  the  disease  broke  out  in 
its  most   severe  form,   causing  wild   delirium,   very  large 


^3  W.  Ebstein,  op.  cit.,  p.  65. 

^*  J.  Ch.  Gasc,  Histoire  de  Vipidimie  ohservie  a  Wilna  en  1813  apris 
la  campagne  de  Moscou.  Reproduced  in  Gasc  and  Breslau ,  Matiriaux 
pour  servir  a  une  doctrine  ginirale  sur  les  ipidimies  et  les  contagions,  par 
F.  Schnurrer.    Translated  from  the  German.    Paris,  1815. 


118        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

petechiae,  abscesses, and  gangrene.  Many  patients  succumbed 
within  twenty-four  hours,  and  recovery  was  very  slow  for 
those  who  survived  the  attack. 

In  a  short  time  the  disease  spread  throughout  the  city, 
not  so  much  because  the  soldiers  were  quartered  in  private 
houses,  as  because  the  Jews  got  possession  of  the  clothes  of 
the  dead.  Of  some  30,000  Jewish  inhabitants  no  less  than 
8,000  died.  In  February  and  March  all  classes  of  society, 
even  the  wealthiest  people,  were  attacked.  The  disease  also 
spread  to  the  surrounding  country ;  Lemazurier  says  that 
between  the  middle  of  1812  and  the  beginning  of  1813  some 
55,000  bodies  were  buried  in  Vilna  and  vicinity,  and  that 
the  estimates  made  in  Wittepsk,  Smolensk,  and  Moscow  were 
in  proportion.  The  pestilence  spread  southward  and  east- 
ward, and  according  to  Faure,  in  February  1813  thousands 
of  French  prisoners  died  in  the  overcrowded  hospitals  in 
Orel.  The  same  writer  says  that  all  of  the  French  soldiers 
who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Russians  succumbed  to  typhus 
fever.^^  We  may  safely  assume  that  the  civil  inhabitants 
of  all  places  in  that  part  of  the  country  were  also  attacked, 
even  though  we  have  no  figures  or  statistics  to  confirm  the 
assumption. 

The  pestilence  also  raged  extensively  in  the  region  of  the 
Baltic  Sea ;  St.  Petersburg  was  severely  attacked  by  it. 
According  to  Parrot,^^  in  the  last  months  of  the  year  1812 
there  were  a  great  many  cases  of  '  nerve  fever '  in  Dorpat ; 
in  Riga  the  miUtary  hospitals  were  overcrowded,  and  out 
of  a  population  of  36,000  and  a  garrison  of  20,000  there  were 
5,000  sick.  The  mortaUty  in  the  hospitals  was  very  high, 
since,  on  account  of  the  extreme  coldj  two-thirds  of  the 
small  windows  were  covered  with  boards  and  hay. 

Regarding  conditions  in  Warsaw  we  have  more  detailed 

**  A.  Laveran,  op.  cit.,  p.  254. 

^'  Parrot,  Uber  das  im  jetzigen  Krieg  entstandene  typhose  Fieber  und  ein 
sehr  einfaches  Heilmittel  desselben.  Hufeland's  Journal,  vol.  xxxvi,  1813, 
May  vol.,  p.  3. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)   119 

information.  According  to  Wolf,^'  two  distinct  epidemics 
raged  there  after  the  end  of  December  1812 ;  the  one  was 
an  epidemic  of  typhus  fever  (probably  typhoid)  and  appeared 
only  among  the  soldiers ;  the  other  was  an  epidemic  of 
typhus  fever,  which  did  not  attain  to  epidemic  dimensions 
until  January  1813,  although  a  few  isolated  cases  had  been 
observed  in  Warsaw  in  the  last  months  of  the  year  1812. 
■  This  disease  was  almost  invariably  accompanied  by  a  spotted 
exanthema,  which,  if  the  disease  was  at  first  rather  difficult 
to  diagnose,  often  gave  the  first  clue.  In  the  case  of  many 
people  the  eruption  was  so  severe  and  so  general,  appearing 
even  on  the  face,  that  it  resembled  measles.'  The  comparison 
with  measles  was  also  drawn  by  other  observers.  Typhus 
fever  was  conveyed  to  Warsaw  by  the  Austrian  auxiliary 
corps,  and  it  quickly  spread  to  the  French  hospitals,  which 
were  in  a  wretched  condition.  Later  the  Russian  army  also 
brought  typhus  fever  to  the  city.  A  great  many  civilians 
in  Warsaw  contracted  the  disease ;  according  to  Wolf,  the 
epidemic  reached  its  climax  in  February,  and  lasted  until 
the  end  of  the  year  1813.  The  lower  classes  suffered  more 
than  the  upper  classes  from  the  disease,  which,  moreover, 
seems  to  have  raged  much  more  furiously  in  the  vicinity 
of  Warsaw  than  in  the  city  itself. 

3.   The  Appearance  of  Typhus  Fever  in  North  and 
Central  Germany 

On  the  return  march  from  Moscow  to  Vilna  the  remnants 
of  the  army  had  all  taken  the  same  route ;  for,  though  all 
bonds  of  discipline  were  loosened  as  far  back  as  Smolensk, 
nevertheless  the  instinct  of  self-preservation  kept  all  the 
soldiers  from  abandoning  the  common  line  of  march.  This 
was  also  the  case  during  the  march  from  Vilna  to  the  Niemen, 

^'  Wolf,  Bemerkungen  iiber  die  Krankheiten,  welche  im  Jahre  1813  in 
Warschau  herrschten,  insbesondere  iiber  den  ansteckenden  Typhus.  Huf  eland's 
Journal^  vol.  xxxi;c,  1813,  May  vol.,  p.  3. 


120        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

where  the  extreme  cold  caused  untold  suffering.  After 
crossing  the  river,  however,  the  few  unfortunate  soldiers 
who  had  survived  the  awful  misery  of  the  march,  hungry, 
clothed  in  rags,  with  torn  shoes,  aUve  with  vermin,  with 
frozen  and  gangrenous  limbs,  scattered  in  all  directions, 
some  going  home,  and  others  to  strongholds  that  were  in 
the  hands  of  the  French.  Thus  typhus  fever,  with  which 
all  parts  of  the  army  were  infected,  was  spread  in  a  com- 
paratively short  time  over  a  large  part  of  Germany. 

At  first  the  eastern  provinces  of  Prussia,  through  which 
these  remnants  of  the  army  passed,  were  attacked  by  the 
pestilence ;  owing  to  the  fact  that  so  many  were  infected, 
measures  of  precaution  were  everywhere  futile.  '  Adynamic 
fever ',  says  Kerckhoffs,^®  '  spread  also  among  the  civiHans, 
who  were  not  only  afflicted  by  the  terrible  scourge  of  our 
passing  armies,  but  also  became  the  victims  of  a  murderous 
contagion.  It  was  a  fatal  present  which  we  gave  them,  and 
which  caused  such  a  high  mortahty  among  the  inhabitants 
of  the  country  through  which  we  passed.  Wherever  we  went, 
the  inhabitants  were  filled  with  terror  and  refused  to  quarter 
the  soldiers.'  In  the  more  distant  parts  of  Germany,  in 
the  western  provinces  of  Prussia,  in  Bavaria,  Baden,  and 
Wiirttemberg,  where  people  had  perceived  the  danger,  it 
was  easier,  in  the  first  months  of  1813,  to  guard  against  the 
dissemination  of  typhus  fever,  since  the  number  of  returning 
soldiers  was  small  and  it  was  accordingly  feasible  to  enforce 
orders  regarding  quarantine.  With  the  approach  of  spring 
the  disease  began  to  abate  a  Httle  even  in  the  north  and  east ; 
in  the  month  of  April  it  had  almost  entirely  disappeared 
from  the  French  troops  there,  while  in  May  and  June  the 
condition  of  health  among  them,  according  to  Kerckhoffs, 
was  very  good.  But  in  July  typhus  fever  broke  out  again, 
and  since  the  Russian  army  was  also  infected  with  it,  the 
disease  became  uncommonly  widespread  throughout  Saxony 

'*  Kerckhoffs,  op.  cit.  Kerckhoffs  uses  the  name  '  fi^vre  adynamique ' 
for  typhus  fever  ;  occasionally  he  uses  the  word  typhus. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)  121 

and  Silesia  during  the  months  of  fighting  that  ensued. 
After  the  battle  of  Leipzig,  when  southern  and  western 
Germany  were  overrun  by  French  fugitives  and  prisoners, 
typhus  fever  once  more  broke  out  in  that  part  of  the 
country  with  greater  severity  than  ever  before ;  even  in 
the  province  of  Brandenburg  and  in  the  adjacent  regions 
the  pestilence  raged,  having  been  borne  thither  by  French 
prisoners. 

In  Lithuania,  and  East  and  West  Prussia,  typhus  fever 
raged  extensively  in  the  winter  of  1812-13.  According  to 
H.  A.  Goden,^*  who  had  charge  of  a  large  military  lazaret 
in  Gumbinnen,  the  epidemic  spread  continuously  from  the 
border  of  Russia  to  BerHn.  '  It  appeared  most  virulently ', 
he  says,  '  in  the  cities  of  Gumbinnen,  Insterburg,  Tilsit, 
Konigsberg,  Elbing,  Marienwerder,  Konitz,  and  Landsberg ; 
it  followed  along  the  miUtary  roads,  and  broke  out  most 
severely  in  the  halting-places  and  in  those  cities  where 
French  military  lazarets  were  established.'  In  Gumbinnen 
typhus  fever  broke  out  suddenly  in  the  latter  part  of  Novem- 
ber, immediately  after  the  arrival  of  the  fugitives,  and  spread 
rapidly.  At  first  it  appeared  in  houses  where  officers  and 
soldiers  were  quartered ;  as  a  ride,  several  members  of  a 
family  contracted  the  disease  simultaneously,  and  only  rarely 
was  one  member  spared.  The  pestilence  raged  most  furiously 
in  the  months  of  January  and  February ;  the  town  had 
some  6,000  inhabitants,  and  frequently  20,  30,  or  40  people, 
including  entire  famiUes,  died  in  a  single  day.  In  the  military 
lazarets  the  mortality  was  considerably  higher.  In  March 
the  pestilence  began  to  abate,  and  in  May  it  disappeared 
altogether. 

In  Konigsberg  the  pestilence  began  in  the  month  of  Decem- 
ber 1812  and  came  to  an  end  in  May  1813  ;  excluding  the 
soldiers  who  died  in  the  military  lazarets,  the  following 
deaths  were  recorded  there : 

"  H.  A.  Goden,  Erfahrungen  und  Ansichten  zur  Lehre  vom  Typhus. 
Horn's  Archivfiir  mediz.  Erfahrung,  1814,  p.  342. 


122 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


December  (1812) 

430 

January  (181 3) 

581 

February     . 

802 

Mareli 

622 

April  . 

608 

May    . 

327 

June  . 

it)6 

July   . 

178 

August 

157 

September  . 

160 

October 

151 

In  the  year  1812  there  were  2,648  deaths  in  Konigsberg, 
whereas  in  the  following  year  there  were  4,403.  In  the  first 
part  of  January,  when  the  city  was  evacuated  by  the  French, 
10,000  people,  according  to  Strieker,  were  left  behind.  The 
entire  province  of  East  Prussia,  according  to  Gurlt,  lost 
20,000  inhabitants  by  typhus  fever.^° 

Danzig,  which  was  besieged  by  the  Russians  from  January  11 
to  November  29,  1813,  suffered  terribly.  A  French  army  of 
35,900  men,  under  General  Rapp,  was  in  the  city,  and  during 
the  siege  it  was  exposed  to  all  sorts  of  privations  as  well  as  to 
extreme  cold.  As  early  as  February  typhus  fever  had  become 
very  widespread  ;  from  January  to  May,  11,400  soldiers  died 
in  the  hospitals  (4,000  in  March  alone),  while  5,592  inhabitants 
succumbed  to  the  disease  in  the  course  of  the  entire  year."^ 

Silesia  was  hit  extremely  hard.  The  pestilence  was 
conveyed  there  in  the  months  of  October,  November,  and 
December  1812  by  transports  of  Russian  prisoners,  and  it 
appeared  in  Trebnitz,  Striegau,  Krottkau,  Friedenwalde, 
Trachenberg,  Breslau,  Parchwitz,  Quaritz,  &c.  The  officers 
on  duty,  the  persons  who  lifted  the  patients  from  the  wagons, 
the  physicians,  and  the  sick-attendants  were  always  the 
first  to  be  infected.^"  With  the  opening  of  spring  the  disease 
disappeared,  but  broke  out  anew  after  the  battle  on  the 

*•  Gurlt,  op.  cit.,  p.  217. 

»*  A.  F.  Blech,  Gcschichte  der  siebenjdhrigeii  Leiden  Danzfgs  van  1S07-14. 
Danzig,  1816. — Carl  Friccius,  Geschichte  der  BefesHgungen  und  Belagerungen 
Danzigs,  Berlin,  1854. — II.  Beitzke,  Geschichte  der  detUschen  Preihciiskriege 
in  den  Jahren  1813-14.    Second  edition.    Berlin,  1869.    Vol.  ii,  p.  604. 

»»  Kopp,  op.  cit.,  vol.  vii,  p.  284.    1814. 


TYPHUS  FEVEll  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)  123 

Katzbach.  In  Breslau  the  disease  appeared  in  a  very 
virulent  form,  since  the  infected  soldiers  were  housed  there 
in  overcrowded  lazarets,  which  in  the  month  of  November 
took  in  some  6,300  patients  daily  ;  numerous  physicians 
(statements  vary  between  16  and  22)  also  succumbed 
to  typhus  fever.  Among  the  civil  inhabitants,  to  be 
sure,  the  disease  did  not  become  very  widespread ;  out 
of  a  population  of  62,789,  only  3,055  died  in  the  year 
1812,  3,095  in  the  year  1813,  and  3,301  in  the  year  1814. 
From  the  middle  of  September  1813  to  February  1814, 
478  civilians  and  some  1,800  soldiers  succumbed  in  Breslau 
to  typhus  fever ;  the  total  number  of  soldiers  that  died 
between  the  middle  of  September  and  the  beginning  of  March 
was  3,400.^^  In  the  governmental  district  of  Liegnitz, 
having  a  population  of  600,000,  according  to  Kausch  ^*  only 
13  physicians  (excluding  the  surgeons)  died.  The  disease 
was  borne  by  transports  of  infected  soldiers  into  other  parts 
of  Silesia,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  1813  all  the  military 
lazarets  in  Silesia  were  infected.  In  Waldenburg  and  vicinity 
(Obersalzbrunn,  &c.)  typhus  fever  broke  out  after  the  soldier's 
had  marched  through  on  October  20  and  November  25, 1813, 
and  seventeen  days  later  the  disease  was  very  widespread, 
all  the  members  of  many  families  having  contracted  it. 
In  Bunzlau  typhus  fever  raged  with  unusual  fury ;  in  the 
military  lazaret  12,000  men  are  said  to  have  died  between 
June  1813  and  March  1814. 

Presently  typhus  fever  appeared,  with  the  arrival  of  the 
remnants  of  the  Grand  Army,  in  regions  further  away  from 
the  Russian  border.  Haser  *"*  describes  the  manner  in  which 
the  disease  spread,  always  along  military  roads,  as  follows  : 

'  French  soldiers  returning  from  Russia',  he  says,  '  spread 

»*  Wendt,  tJber  die  letzie  Typhusepidemie  insofern  sie  den  Nichtarzt 
interessiert.  Corr.-Blait  der  schles.  Ges.  fiir  vaterldndische  KultuTf  vol.  v, 
1814,  Nos.  17  and  18. 

••  Kausch,  Die  auf  Selbsterfatirung  gegriindeten  Ansichten  der  akuten 
Kontagien  iiberhaupt  und  des  Kontagitims  des  Typhus  insbesondere.  Hufe- 
land's  Journal,  vol.  xxxix,  1814,  July  vol.,  p.  9. 

"  Htiser,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iii,  p.  612. 


124        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

the  contagion  of  various  diseases  over  a  large  part  of  Central 
Europe.  Almost  naked,  or  clothed  in  torn  and  half -burned 
rags,  without  shoes,  their  feet  covered  with  straw,  and  their 
frozen  limbs  covered  with  festering  sores,  they  marched 
through  Poland  and  Germany.  Typhus  fever  and  other 
diseases  associated  with  it  marked  their  coiurse.  The  inhabi- 
tants of  the  country  were  forced  to  house  the  sick ;  but 
teamsters  also  conveyed  the  infection  to  villages  which  the 
soldiers  did  not  visit.  The  disease  raged  most  furiously  in 
the  hospitals,  which  scarcely  anywhere  were  able  to  meet 
even  the  most  modest  demands  made  upon  them.' 

Regarding  the  appearance  of  typhus  fever  in  Berlin  we 
are  informed  by  Huf eland  and  Horn.^^  First  to  occur  there 
(in  the  months  of  February  and  March  1813)  were  numerous 
cases  of  '  nervous  fever  ',  which  was  doubtless  tj^hoid  fever. 
Still  it  is  Kkely  that  cases  of  typhus  fever  also  occurred  at 
that  time,  for  Horn,  in  writing  about  "  nervous  fevers '  in 
the  Charite,  describes  the  exanthema  with  the  same  words 
that  Hufeland  uses  in  reference  to  later  cases.  Among 
these  patients  there  were  already  some  who  had  returned 
from  Russia.^'  At  all  events,  in  the  first  part  of  March  1813 
there  occurred  cases  of  contagious  typhus,  which  was 
brought  to  BerUn  by  French,  and  later  by  Russian  soldiers  ; 
the  observed  ways  of  infection,  regarding  which  Hufeland 
informs  us,  are  mentioned  above.  In  the  middle  of  April 
there  were  246  t5rphus-fever  patients  in  the  Charite.  In 
order  to  prevent  the  disease  from  spreading  in  this  hospital, 
Hufeland  adopted  strict  measures  of  precaution.  The 
patients  were  all  carefully  isolated  on  the  second  floor, 
which  was  shut  off  by  means  of  a  grating.  The  newly- 
arrived  patients  were  supplied  with  clean,  fresh  linen,  their 
clothing  was  disinfected  for  several  days  in  hydrochloric 
acid,  and  then  washed  in  boiling  water  containing  lye, 

*•  Hufeland,  op,  cit. — ^E.  Horn,  iJber  die  ansteckenden  Nervenfieber, 
welche  wdhrend  der  Monate  Mdrz,  April,  Mai,  Juni,  u.s.w.  1813  henschien. 
Archivfiir  mediz.  Erfahrung.    Jahrgang  1818,  p.  278. 

"  Horn's  Archivfiir  mediz.  Erfahrung.    Jahrgang  1818,  p.  245. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)  125 

while  objects  of  no  value  were  burned.  The  sick-rooms  were 
constantly  ventilated  by  leaving  the  windows  open,  and  were 
thoroughly  cleaned  every  day.  The  physicians,  surgeons,  and 
attendants,  before  they  entered  the  sick-rooms,  had  to  put 
on  black  mantles  of  glazed  linen,  and  on  leaving  the  rooms 
they  had  to  wash  their  hands  and  faces  in  cold  water  and 
rinse  out  their  mouths.  In  this  way  the  disease  was  prevented 
from  spreading  in  the  hospital  itself. 

After  the  battle  of  Leipzig  typhus  fever  broke  out  anew  in 
Berlin  ;  according  to  Horn,  144  cases  of  '  nerve  fever  '  were 
received  into  theCharite  in  January  1814, 92  in  February,  54  in 
March,  14  in  April,  8  in  May,  and  none  in  June.  Regarding  the 
total  mortality  in  the  epidemic  of  typhus  fever  in  Berlin,  which 
in  the  year  1813  had  about  155,000  inhabitants,  the  following 
table,  compiled  by  Gurlt,^  gives  us  information ;  there  died  in : 

i8i2.  1813.  1814. 

Total  Total  From  Total  From 


¥ 


deaths. 

deaths. 

Typhus. 

deaths. 

Typhu 

January 

422 

500 

31 

680 

170 

February 

457 

544 

57 

596 

118 

March 

444 

740 

233 

781 

85 

April  . 

476 

719 

227 

653 

55 

May  . 

584 

752 

184 

443 

28 

June  . 

396 

518 

85 

434 

19 

July  . 

417 

460 

29 

541 

14 

August 

338 

551 

20 

454 

5 

September 

370 

467 

22 

577 

16 

October 

425 

621 

34 

430 

13 

November 

356 

555 

los 

412 

II 

December 

571 

585 

157 

56s 

II 

Total  5,256  7,012  1,184  6,566  S45 

Typhus  fever  appeared  throughout  the  entire  province  of 
Brandenburg.  Maier  ^*  gives  us  some  information  regarding 
the  city  of  Brandenburg,  where  '  infectious  nerve-fever ' 
disappeared  in  the  latter  part  of  May  1813,  and  where, 
after  the  battle  of  Leipzig,  it  again  broke  out,  but  did  not 
become  very  widespread.     On  October  27  prisoners  from 

2»  Gurlt,  op.  cit.,  p.  339. 

*•  Horn's  Archivfiir  mediz.  Erfahrung.    Jahrgang  1813,  p.  431. 


126        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

Baden  and  Hesse  were  quartered  there  ;  they  remained  until 
October  31  and  then  went  on  to  Ruppin.  Among  them  were 
some  convalescents  from  a  military  lazaret  in  Saxony,  who 
infected  the  occupants  of  all  the  houses  in  which  the  prisoners 
were  quartered.  Between  November  5  and  December  6 
there  were  38  '  nerve-fever  patients  in  the  Altstadt 
and  7  in  the  Neustadt,  a  small  number  of  whom  died. 
Typhus  fever  raged  veiy  furiously  in  Jiiterbog  after  the 
battle  of  Dennewitz,  carrying  away  entire  families. 

After  his  defeat  in  Russia^  Napoleon  had  quickly  returned 
to  France,  and  there,  by  means  of  new  conscriptions,  had 
in  a  short  time  assembled  an  army  of  very  young  men,  who 
had  never  done  military  service  and  were  therefore  not 
accustomed  to  the  hardships  of  war  and,  in  particular,  were 
.much  more  susceptible  to  infectious  diseases  than  the  troops 
that  had  served  under  him  before.  In  April,  when  the  army 
of  the  Allies  had  arrived  at  the  Elbe,  Napoleon  with  his 
newly-gathered  army  left  the  Rhine  and  marched  to  Saxony, 
which  from  then  until  autumn  was  the  main  scene  of  the  war. 
Since  the  Russian  army  was  still  infected  with  typhus 
fever,  contracted  in  the  winter  campaign,  and  since,  further- 
more, isolated  cases  of  the  disease  were  still  occurring  among 
the  remnants  of  the  French  troops  that  had  returned  from 
Russia,  the  inevitable  result  was  that  Saxony  was  not  only 
completely  impoverished  by  the  protracted  war,  but  was 
also  terribly  afflicted  by  war  pestilences. 

In  Saxony  typhus  fever  had  already  become  very  wide- 
spread in  the  first  few  months  of  1813  ;  all  the  places  through 
which  the  military  transports  passed  were  attacked,  as  Sorau, 
Guben,  Liibben,  Gorlitz,  Leipzig,  and  Weissenberg;  while 
places  in  which  miUtary  hospitals  were  erected  fared  even 
worse,  as  Schneeberg,  Zwickau,  Chemnitz,  Freiberg,  and 
Augustusburg.  The  severe  epidemic  in  Annaberg  (in  the 
Saxon  Erzgebirge),  lasting  from  March  to  May  1813,  has  been 
described  by  Neuhof  .*•  In  March  a  Saxon  field-hospital  was 
*>  Neuhof,  Geschichte  und  Beschreibung  des  im  Jahre  1813  und  1814  zu 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)  127 

established  there,  and  presently  everybody  who  came  in 
contact  with  the  hospital  contracted  typhus  fever.  In 
neighbouring  Thum,  where  the  patients  passed  only  one 
night,  many  citizens  succumbed  to  the  disease. 

Dresden,  in  the  first  few  months  of  the  year  1813,  was 
not  attacked  by  the  disease,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
soldiers  and  officers  returning  from  Russia  were  taken  sick 
and  died  there ;  only  in  rare  instances  were  citizens,  in 
whose  homes  officers  had  been  quartered,  attacked,  and  the 
disease  did  not  rage  at  all  extensively.'^  On  the  other  hand, 
typhus  fever  raged  furiously  in  Dresden  after  Napoleon's 
successful  battle  at  Bautzen  (May  20  and  21,  1813),  when 
large  numbers  of  wounded  soldiers  were  brought  to  Dresden 
and  placed  in  lazarets,  which  soon  became  greatly  over- 
crowded. The  less-severely  wounded  were  housed  in  the 
homes  of  citizens,  who  were  compelled  to  receive  them  and 
suffered  terribly  in  consequence  of  it.  The  result  was  that 
typhus  fever  spread  from  the  soldiers  to  the  civilians.  After 
the  battle  of  Dresden  (August  26,  27),  from  which  Napoleon 
again  emerged  victorious,  but  especially  during  the  short 
siege  of  Dresden  (from  the  middle  of  October  to  November  11), 
the  epidemic  increased  in  both  extent  and  fury.  The  in- 
creased mortaHty  is  shown  by  the  following  table,  which 
includes  only  the  residents  : 

January      .         .         .          .         .         •  184 

February     ......  199 

March 188 

April  .......  194 

IWfciy    .         .         .         .          .          .         .  289 

June  .         .         .         .         .   ■      .         .  257 

July   .......  264 

August        ......  474 

September  ......  882 

October       ......  659 

November   ......  960 

December    ......  944 

Annaberg  im  sachsischen  Erzgebirge  allgemein  geherrschten  Nervenfiebers. 
Annalen  der  Heilkunst  des  Jahres  1815,  p.  5. 

•*  A.  F.  Fischer,  Geschichtliche  Darstellting  der  im  Herbst  1813  in  Dresdeti 


128        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

According  to  Fischer,  one  person  out  of  every  ten  that 
contracted  the  disease  died,  while  the  mortahty  in  the 
French  miUtary  hospitals  was  incredibly  high.  In  the  course 
of  the  year  1813  no  less  than  21,090  soldiers  died  in  Dresden, 
while  in  the  same  year  5,194  residents  died ;  3,273  civilians 
died  in  the  year  1814,  and  1,785  in  the  year  1815.  The 
average  number  of  deaths  per  annum  among  the  civil 
inhabitants  was  2,304. 

Regarding  the  terrible  conditions  in  Dresden  at  that  time, 
a  pastor  informs  us  in  a  letter  :  ^ 

It  was  a  gruesome  sight  to  see  the  wagons  full  of  naked  corpses, 
thrown  together  in  the  most  horrible  positions,  drive  away  from  the 
hospitals  and  set  out  for  their  destination.  Many  bodies  are  said  to 
have  been  cast  into  the  Elbe.  The  terrible  days  began  about  the 
middle  of  May,  when  many  house-owners  were  obhged  to  quarter  as 
many  as  two,  three,  and  even  four  hundred  men.  Presently  persons 
suffering  from  wounds,  scurvy,  and  infectious  disease  began  to  arrive 
from  Bautzen,  some  straggling  along  piteously  on  foot,  others  being 
rolled  along  in  ghastly  groups  on  pushcarts.  This  disease-spreading 
mass  was  now  housed  in  the  homes  of  citizens,  since  the  twenty-five 
hospitals  were  no  longer  able  to  accommodate  them.  The  houses, 
yards,  streets,  and  pubUc  squares  were  full  of  dirt  and  refuse.  Dearth 
of  food,  resulting  from  the  breakdown  of  means  of  supply,  added  to 
the  general  misery.  Entire  families  were  wiped  out,  and  many 
houses  are  still  standing  empty  (1814).  Wagons  bearing  the  dead 
clattered  on  all  the  streets,  and  there  were  few  inhabitants  who  did 
not  wear  some  outward  sign  of  mourning  for  lost  relatives. 

Leipzig  suffered  even  greater  hardships.  The  pestilence 
was  conveyed  thither  by  French  soldiers  in  February  1813, 
and  on  the  27th  of  that  month  there  were  thirty- eight  fever 
patients  in  the  Jacobsspital.  In  the  summer  of  1813,  when 
the  war  was  going  on  in  Saxony,  the  disease  raged  there 
furiously.     After  the  battle  of  Dresden  a  large  percentage 

aus0ebrochenen  und  bis  gegen  Ende  Januars  1814  angedauerten  Epidemic. 
AnnaUn  der  Heilkunst  des  Jahres  1814,  p.  82. 

'*  Reproduced  in  Kopp's  Jahrbuch  der  Staatsarzneikunde.  7.  Jahrgang. 
1814,  p.  286. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)  129 


of  the  wounded  were  brought  to  Leipzig,  and  more  than 
20,000  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  were  kept  there  for  several 
months.  As  usual,  typhus  fever  broke  out  in  the  city  in 
consequence  of  it,  and  carried  away  large  numbers  of  soldiers 
and  citizens.  After  the  battle  of  Leipzig  upwards  of  30,000 
wounded  soldiers,  mostly  Frenchmen,  were  housed  in  the 
city.  '  Virulent  nerve-fever,'  says  Beitzke,^  '  which  had  been 
prevalent  in  the  city  for  some  time,  now  broke  out  with 
tenfold  severity,  not  only  in  the  city  itself,  but  also  in  the 
surrounding  country,  and  carried  away  large  numbers  of 
people.  The  arrival  of  the  cold  weather,  which  helped  to 
check  the  disease,  was  under  these  circumstances  a  great 
blessing.'  In  the  year  1813  some  80,000  French  soldiers, 
according  to  the  hospital  lists,  succmnbed  to  wounds,  war- 
typhus,  and  other  diseases,  in  Leipzig.  From  February  1813 
to  January  1814,  seventeen  young  physicians  died  there  of 
typhus  fever.  The  number  of  civiHans  buried  in  Leipzig  in 
the  year  1813  was  3,499,  in  the  year  1814  it  was  2,022  ;  the 
average  number  of  interments  in  the  years  1810-12  was  1,443, 
and  in  the  years  1815-17  it  was  1,187.  The  number  buried 
(including  the  still-births,  but  not  the  soldiers)  was,  by 
months :  ^* 


1813. 

1814 

January   ...   98 

450 

February 

.  121 

276 

March 

206 

244 

April . 

202 

152 

May  . 

178 

159 

June  . 

200 

120 

July  . 

290 

85 

August 

189 

107 

September 

176 

118 

October 

311 

III 

November 

743 

96 

December  . 

785 

104 

Most  of  those  carried  away  were  adults ;    the  following 

33  Beitzke,  op.  cit.,  vol.  ii,  pp.  460  and  562. 

^*  Altere  Nachrichten  iiber  Leipzigs  Bevolkerung  1595-1849.    Mitteilungen. 
des  statistischen  Bureaus  der  Stadt  Leipzig,  1872. 
1669.13  I^ 


130        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


table  indicates  the  relation  between  the  age  of  the  victims 
and  the  mortaUty  : 


Years  of  Age. 

1812. 

1813. 

1814 

1         .    .    .356 

517 

456 

I-IO 

.   161 

310 

305 

10-20 

.   29 

174 

76 

20-30 

91 

362 

157 

30-40 

.   87 

492 

U3 

40-50 

,  104 

559 

207 

50-60 

126 

409 

208 

60-70 

124 

358 

234 

Over  70  . 

.  119 

256 

155 

In  reference  to  the  year  1813,  in  which  typhus  fever 
caused  the  greatest  devastation  in  Leipzig,  we  see  how  the 
mortaUty  among  persons  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  sixty 
increased  between  fourfold  and  fivefold,  while  among  very 
young  children  and  very  old  men,  it  increased  by  at  most  one 
hundred  per  cent.  In  the  year  1813  more  men  than  women  died 
(1,900  men  and  1,599  women),  whereas  in  the  following  year 
the  reverse  was  the  case  (1,009  men  and  1,013  women). 

Typhus  fever  spread  throughout  all  Saxony.  In  Plauen, 
which  was  at  that  time  a  city  of  6,800  inhabitants,  the 
following  number  of  deaths,  according  to  Flinzer,^  were  due 
to  typhus  fever:  4  in  1812,  32  in  1813,  59  in  1814,  and  5  in 
1815.  These  figures  do  not  include  the  foreign  soldiers  that 
died.  According  to  Flinzer,  the  specific  disease  before  the 
year  1819  was  usually  typhus  fever.  In  the  year  1814  the 
total  number  of  deaths  in  Plauen  increased  to  440. 

Numerous  sick,  wounded,  and  captive  soldiers  were  quar- 
tered in  Zwickau  after  the  battle  of  Leipzig.  There  and  in 
the  surrounding  villages,  in  consequence  of  the  erection  of 
a  hospital,  typhus  fever  had  already  appeared  in  September, 
but  in  Zwickau  itself,  thanks  to  timely  measures  of  precau- 
tion, it  gained  no  headway.    In  the  year  1812  only  183 

*•  F.  Flinzer,  Die  Bewegung  der  Bevolkerung  in  der  Stadt  Plauen  i.  V. 
wahrend  der  Jahre  1800-99.  Bericht  iiber  die  Verwaltung  und  den  Stand  der 
Gemeindeangekgenheiten  der  Kreisstadt  Plauen  t.  V.  auf  die  Jahre  1699 
und  1900. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)    131 

civilians  died  there,  376  in  the  year  1813,  and  260  in  the 
year  1814 ;  380  soldiers  died  there  in  1813,  and  14  in  the 
year  1814.^ 

The  pestilences  spread  all  over  the  country,  even  into  the 
most  remote  corners  of  the  Saxon  Erzgebirge ;  Annaberg 
and  the  neighbouring  towns  of  Marienberg,  Weipert,  and 
Geyer  were  again  attacked,  although  less  severely,  accord- 
ing to  Neuhof,  than  in  the  spring.  In  March  the  disease 
disappeared  entirely. 

The  Saxon  strongholds  along  the  Elbe  fared  worst  of  all ; 
regarding  the  terrible  devastation  caused  by  typhus  fever 
in  Torgau  we  shall  have  something  to  say  in  the  tenth 
chapter.  Magdeburg  and  Merseburg  were  also  severely 
attacked ;  this  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  one-haK  of 
the  physicians  in  Magdeburg  (nine  in  number)  succumbed, 
according  to  Roloff,  to  hospital  fever.^'  In  Wittenberg, 
whither  typhus  fever  was  borne  in  February  1813  by 
infected  French  soldiers,  and  where  it  had  subsequently 
disappeared,  the  mortality  was  very  high  during  the  siege, 
which  lasted  from  October  28,  1813j  to  January  14,  1814 ; 
of  6,000  or  7,000  inhabitants,  upwards  of  4,000  had  left  the 
city  before  the  siege  began.  In  the  course  of  seven  months 
(July  1813  to  January  1814)  590  people  died  there,  whereas 
the  average  number  of  deaths  had  been  only  300  per  annum. 
When  the  city  was  captured  by  the  Prussians  the  death-rate 
increased  ;  no  less  than  331  persons  died  between  January  14 
and  April  14,  1814.^« 

After  the  battle  of  Leipzig  the  defeated  army  marched 
back  through  Weissenfels,  Naumburg,  Weimar,  and  Erfurt 
to  the  Main.  There  was  now  no  active  effort  made  to  supply 
food  to  the  army,  which  still  numbered  some  100,000  men ; 
the  soldiers  had  to  eat  whatever  they  could  pick  up  along 

"  M.  Magaziner,  Uber  den  ansteckenden  Typhusin  Zxvickau,  vom  September 
1813  bis  zum  Februar  1814.    Annalen  der  HeilkumU    1815.    P.  218. 
"  Kopp,  Jahrbuch  der  Staatsarzneykunde,  vol.  vii,  p.  413. 
^  Gurlt,  op.  cit.»  p.  459. 

K2 


132        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

the  way.  '  Extreme  misery  and  exhaustion ',  says  Beitzke,^* 
'  led  to  great  excesses  ;  the  places  along  the  route  were  made 
to  suffer,  and  worst  of  all,  the  region  through  which  the 
French  army  hurried  back  was  generally  infected  with  the 
germ  of  typhus  fever.'  '  The  route  of  the  army,  clear  to 
Mayence,'  says  Giraud,*"  'was  again  strewn  with  corpses 
and  debris.' 

In  Weissenfels  some  3,000  soldiers  are  said  to  have  died 
in  the  hospitals,  and  also  600  civilians,  within  a  year.  In 
Altenburg,  which  had  suffered  from  typhus  fever  in  the 
spring  of  1813,  1,650  men  and  55  officers  died  between 
October  2  and  December  1  of  that  year.  In  Eisenberg  (in 
Saxe- Altenburg),  according  to  Greiner,*^  a  lazaret  was  estab- 
lished in  the  fall  of  1813,  but  there  were  but  few  cases  of 
typhus  fever  transmitted  to  citizens  owing  to  the  adoption 
of  all  measures  of  precaution.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
disease  was  conveyed  to  numerous  near-by  villages,  in  which 
large  numbers  of  sick  and  convalescent  soldiers  were  quar- 
tered. '  The  Cossacks  did  the  most  toward  spreading  the 
disease,  for  wherever  any  of  them  were  quartered,  one  could 
count  with  certainty  upon  an  early  outbreak  of  nerve-fever.' 
In  November  1813,  a  severe  epidemic  of  typhus  fever  broke 
out  in  Gera,  and  the  mortality  in  four  months  was  seven 
times  as  high  as  usual.  In  Zeulenroda  (south  of  Gera)  the 
pestilence  was  not  very  severe ;  it  was  brought  there  by 
sick  and  convalescent  soldiers,  who  were  quartered  in  the 
houses.*^  Jena,  on  the  other  hand,  was  very  severely  at- 
tacked :  the  epidemic  began  in  November  1813,  and  lasted 
until  March  1814.^    According  to  Gurlt,  the  usual  number 

3»  Beitzke,  op.  cit.,  vol.  ii,  p.  564. 

40  p,  Y.  F.  J.  Giraud,  Campagne  de  Paris  en  1814.  Third  Edition.  Paris, 
1814.    P.  32. 

*i  Greiner,  Das  exanihematischeN erven fieber.  Annalen  der  Heilkunst  des 
Jahres  1814,  p.  602. 

*2  J.  G.  Stemmler,  Schilderung  des  vom  November  1813  bis  Februar  1814 
in  Zeulenroda  herrschenden  N  erven  fieber s.  Annalen  der  Heilkunst  des  Jahres 
1814,  p.  97. 

*3  Lobenstein-Lobel,  Uber  das  Wesen  und  iiber  die  Heilung  des  Nerven- 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)   133 

of  deaths  in  normal  years  in  the  districts  of  Weimar  and 
Jena  was  from  1,750  to  1,850 ;  but  in  the  year  1813  no  less 
than  3,948  people  died  there,  and  in  1814  there  were  3,363 
deaths. 

After  the  battle  of  Lutzen  (May  2,  1813)  some  8,000 
wounded  French  and  Prussian  soldiers  came  to  Erfurt, 
necessitating  the  immediate  erection  of  lazarets.  After  the 
battles  in  August,  when  the  scene  of  the  war  moved  closer 
to  Erfurt,  the  misery  in  the  city  was  greatly  increased, 
resulting  in  a  rapid  dissemination  of  typhus  fever.  In  the 
latter  part  of  August,  when  9,000  sick  and  convalescent 
soldiers  arrived  in  the  city,  the  citizens  were  obliged  to 
quarter  them ;  the  number  of  soldiers  that  succumbed  to 
typhus  fever  was  appalling,  while  as  many  as  17  civilians 
often  died  in  a  single  day ;  in  the  week  before  the  battle 
of  Leipzig  504  soldiers  died  in  the  hospitals.  On  October 
20-23  the  French  lazarets  were  cleaned  out  as  thoroughly  as 
possible.  During  the  siege,  which  began  on  October  25  and 
lasted  seventy-three  days,  the  misery  was  extreme,  and 
typhus  fever  raged  more  and  more  furiously.  From  Novem- 
ber 1  to  November  17  some  400  civilians  died,  while  no  less 
than  1,472  soldiers  died  in  the  military  hospitals ;  143 
soldiers  died  on  December  9  and  10.  The  houses  of  a  few 
citizens  were  rendered  absolutely  tenantless.  In  the  year 
1813  Erfurt  lost  1,585  citizens,  as  compared  with  an  average 
of  554  for  the  years  1811-12 ;  the  number  of  deaths  in  the 
year  1814  was  1,121.  Typhus  fever  also  raged  so  furiously 
among  the  Prussian  besiegers,  that  the  lazarets  were  soon 
overcrowded,  and  it  was  necessary  to  house  the  troops  in 
other  places.** 

In  Fulda,  which  was  forced  to  take  in  thousands  of  sick 
soldiers,  typhus  fever  soon  began  to  spread  rapidly,  as  it  also 

fiebers  in  und  um  Jena  von  Michaelis  1813  bis  Ostern  1814.    Annalen  der 
Heilkunst  des  Jahres  1814,  p.  217. 

**  Wilhelm  Horn,  Zur  Charakterisierung  der  Stadt  Erfurt.    Erfurt,  1843. 
P.  318  £f. 


134        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

did  in  the  country  surrounding  the  city.  In  Giessen,  where 
a  Russian  field-lazaret  for  1,800-2,000  men  was  erected, 
the  epidemic  soon  spread  to  the  civil  inhabitants. 

At  Hanau  the  French  retreat  was  opposed  by  General 
Wrede  with  an  army  of  50,000  Bavarians  and  Austrians, 
a  much  smaller  number  than  the  French  had.  The  two 
days  of  fighting  that  ensued  (October  30  and  31,  1813) 
caused  the  pestilence  to  develop  murderously.  Kopp  has 
given  us  a  good  description  of  this  epidemic  in  Hanau.^ 
Since  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  city  had  always  had 
a  military  hospital,  which  lay  outside  the  city.  During  the 
battles  in  Saxony  the  number  of  sick  and  wounded  increased, 
so  that  it  was  necessary  to  erect  a  second  lazaret  within  the 
city.  Many  sick-attendants  and  sub-surgeons  contracted 
typhus  fever,  which  was  prevalent  in  the  hospitals,  and 
several  cases  also  occurred  in  the  city,  especially  among 
people  who  quartered  soldiers  for  money  in  their  homes  ; 
many  soldiers  were  thus  crowded  together  in  small  rooms, 
and  among  them  were  a  great  many  convalescents  from 
Saxon  hospitals.  The  infectious  nature  of  the  disease  and 
its  consequent  dangerousness  was  shown  by  the  fact  that 
as  a  rule  entire  families  gradually  contracted  it,  although 
the  epidemic  was  confined  to  individual  houses.  The  engage- 
ment at  Hanau,  from  which  the  French  emerged  victorious, 
resulted  in  the  unfortuna,te  city  being  stormed  and  plun- 
dered. Even  while  the  battle  was  going  on,'  says  Kopp, 
'  a  corps  of  the  French  army  scattered  throughout  Hanau. 
This  corps  had  brought  with  it  from  Saxony  the  germ  of 
infection ;  for  the  region  around  Dresden  could  be  looked 
upon  as  the  great  breeding-place  where,  in  view  of  the 
enormous  assemblage  of  people  representing  so  many  nations, 
and  owing  to  the  concurrence  of  so  many  unusual  factors, 
the  soil  was  uncommonly  fertile  for  pestilential  diseases.' 

**  J.  H.  Kopp,  Beobachtungen  iiber  den  ansteckenden  Typhus,  welcher  im 
Jahre  1813-14  in  Hanau  epidemisch  war.  Hufeland's  Journal,  vol.  xxxviii, 
1814,  May  vol.,  p.  3. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)    135 

After  the  engagement  a  multitude  of  French  prisoners, 
greatly  weakened  by  hardships  and  hunger,  came  to  the 
city.  The  dissemination  of  typhus  fever  was  especially 
helped  along  by  the  fact  that  many  poor  inhabitants  engaged 
in  looting  on  the  battlefield,  and  took  home  with  them  the 
knapsacks  and  other  effects  of  the  dead.  The  clothing  of 
the  dead  came  into  the  possession  of  those  who  were  charged 
with  burying  them,  and  later  got  into  the  hands  of  the 
poorest  families  in  the  city  and  in  the  neighbouring  villages. 
'  I  often  entered  the  houses  of  poor  people,'  Kopp  goes  on 
to  say,  '  and  found  the  entire  family  suffering  from  typhus 
fever,  and  on  the  walls  of  the  low  sick-room  the  uniforms, 
shirts,  and  other  effects  of  the  dead  soldiers  would  still  be 
hanging.'  The  result  was  that  the  number  of  patients 
greatly  increased  after  the  battle,  and  in  less  than  two  weeks 
an  epidemic  began  to  develop  ;  at  first  it  was  rather  mild, 
but  later  on  it  carried  away  large  numbers  of  people,  and 
lasted  until  the  end  of  February,  having  reached  its  climax 
in  December.  From  December  1,  1813,  to  January  4,  1814, 
248  people  died,  whereas  the  normal  mortality  for  the  month 
of  December  was  but  30.  The  total  number  of  deaths, 
including  the  soldiers,  between  October  26  and  March  1  was 
613,  while  in  ordinary  years  only  125  people  died,  on  the 
average.  The  middle  class  suffered  worst  of  all,  while  of 
the  upper  classes  three  physicians  and  several  clergymen 
died.  Of  the  192  typhus-fever  patients  that  Kopp  himself 
treated,  21  died  (10*9  per  cent),  but  these  figures  do  not 
include  a  rather  large  number  of  very  mild  cases.  People 
of  all  ages  and  both  sexes  were  attacked ;  children  suffered 
less  than  adults,  while  old  people  and  heavy  drinkers  were 
the  most  liable  to  succumb.  The  disease  lasted  from  two 
to  three  weeks ;  death  usually  occurred  on  the  fourteenth 
to  twentieth  day,  often  somewhat  sooner. 

Frankfurt-on-the-Main  suffered  terribly  in  the  year  1813 
from  enforced  quartering.  Even  in  the  spring,  after  the 
newly-organized  French  armies  had  passed  through  the  city. 


136        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

the  Frankfurt  lazarets  were  overcrowded  with  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  from  Saxony,  which  was  then  the  scene 
of  the  war.  Accordingly  it  was  decided  in  Frankfurt  to 
build  barracks  adapted  to  the  expected  requirements  ;  and 
in  order  to  protect  the  city  as  much  as  possible  from  the 
infection  of  typhus  fever,  the  barracks  were  erected  outside 
the  city  limits,  before  the  Allerheiligen  Tor,  and  were  situ- 
ated in  the  Pfingstweide  along  the  Main.  The  building  of 
these  barracks  was  a  large  and  very  expensive  undertaking, 
but  they  undoubtedly  served  a  very  useful  purpose  by  pro- 
tecting the  inhabitants  for  a  considerable  length  of  time 
against  the  infection  of  typhus  fever.'  ^®  On  September  21 
and  22  large  numbers  of  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  came 
to  Frankfurt ;  they  filled  all  the  lazarets,  and  many  of  them 
had  to  be  quartered  in  the  homes  of  citizens.  From  that 
time  on  typhus  fever  began  to  spread  throughout  the  city. 
Fortunately  for  Frankfurt,  the  retreat  of  the  French  army 
from  Hanau  to  Mayence  passed  by  the  city,  since  the  French 
generals  were  afraid  that  they  would  be  unable  to  get  their 
troops  out  of  Frankfurt  again.  On  October  29  all  the  sick 
and  wounded  French  soldiers  in  the  Frankfurt  hospitals 
were  taken  out  and  conveyed  by  boat  to  Mayence.  The 
hospital  on  the  Pfingstweide,  which  had  room  for  1,480 
patients,  was  immediately  cleansed  and  made  ready  for  the 
army  of  the  Allies,  who  were  marching  into  Frankfurt  in 
large  numbers.  Typhus  fever  now  reached  its  climax.  The 
arrival  of  the  German  and  Russian  armies  almost  doubled 
the  number  of  people  in  the  city ;  the  soldiers  were  quar- 
tered in  the  homes  of  citizens  and  immediately  infected 
them  with  the  pestilence.  On  January  14,  1814,  there  were 
more  than  4,000  typhus-fever  patients  in  the  city  alone, 
while  in  the  district  their  number  far  exceeded  6,000.  How 
the   mortaUty   among   the   civil   inhabitants   was   thereby 

*«  L.  Wilbrand,  Die  Kriegslazarette  voti  1792-1815  und  der  Kriegstyphtu 
zu  Frankfurt  a.  M.  Archiv  fur  Frankfuris  Geschichte  und  Kunst.  N.  F. 
Vol.  xi,  p.  96.    1884. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)    137 

increased  is  shown  by  the  following  figures,  which  include 
only  the  deaths  in  the  civil  population  : 

July(i8i3) 86 

August         ......  83 

September  ......  93 

October 103 

November  ......  328 

December   ......  289 

January  (1814)     .....  264 

February     ......  248 

March  .  .  .  .  .  .212 

April 132 

May 135 

June  .......  76 

Four  physicians  and  seven  surgeons  succumbed  to  the 
epidemic  in  Frankfurt.  Of  668  typhus-fever  patients  taken 
in  by  the  Hospital  zum  Heiligen  Geist,  100  died.  Generally 
speaking,  Frankfurt- on- the-Main  fared  pretty  well,  for  the 
reason  that  most  of  the  patients  were  housed  outside  the 
city ;  the  lower  classes,  particularly  servants  and  maids, 
suffered  the  most.  In  the  city  itself  the  disease  was  con- 
fined chiefly  to  the  narrow  streets  of  the  Altstadt.  In  March 
and  April  the  pestilence  began  gradually  to  abate,  and  in 
May  it  ceased  altogether. 

After  leaving  Hanau  the  retreating  French  army  went  on 
to  Mayence  and  France.  The  great  loss  of  human  life  due 
to  typhus  fever  during  the  siege  of  Mayence  will  be  dis- 
cussed in  the  tenth  chapter.  Wiesbaden  *'  was  attacked  very 
severely ;  800  men  are  said  to  have  died  in  the  military 
lazaret  there,  while  of  the  native  inhabitants,  who  num- 
bered 4,000  at  that  time,  466  contracted  the  disease  and 
141  succumbed  to  it. 

From  Mayence  the  pestilence  spread  and  infected  the 
Rheingau ;   the  outbreak  in  Oestrich  (below  Hattenheim  on 

*'  J.  B.  von  Franque,  Die  Verbreitung  der  typhosen  Krankheiten  im 
Herzogtum  Nassau  wahrend  der  ersten  Hdlfte  dieses  Jahrhunderts.  Mediz. 
Jahrbiicher  fUr  das  Herzogtum  Nassau,  fascicles  12  and  13,  p.  18. 
Wiesbaden,  1854. 


138        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

the  Rhine)  is  described  by  Thilenius.**  In  October  sick  and 
wounded  French  soldiers  were  taken  down  the  Rhine,  and 
in  the  latter  part  of  that  month  500  soldiers  on  three  boats 
were  held  up  by  a  severe  storm  at  Oestrich,  where  the  bad 
weather  compelled  them  to  remain  for  twenty-four  hours* 
The  patients,  contrary  to  orders,  left  the  ships  and  were 
taken  in  by  the  inhabitants  of  Oestrich.  Before  they  went 
away  fourteen  of  them  died ;  a  number  had  already  died  on 
the  boats.  On  November  7  five  or  six  citizens  of  Oestrich 
contracted  the  disease ;  before  the  9th  more  than  thirty 
had  been  taken  sick,  and  on  the  10th  there  were  93  typhus- 
fever  patients  in  the  city.  All  told,  330  people  in  Oestrich 
contracted  the  disease,  and  103  succumbed  to  it.  In  the 
latter  part  of  November  neighbouring  places  were  infected 
by  dispersed  French  soldiers,  by  the  small  lazarets  of  the 
troops  of  the  Allies,  by  visits  to  the  sick,  and  by  participa- 
tion in  funeral  ceremonies.  Particularly  hard  hit  was  the 
town  of  Kiedrich,  where  336  people  contracted  the  disease 
and  69  succumbed  to  it. 

As  in  Oestrich,  so  in  Winkel  (near  Riidesheim),  according 
to  J.  B.  von  Franque,  the  pestilence  broke  out  on  Novem- 
ber 5,  1813,  when  a  boat-load  of  infected  French  soldiers 
was  driven  ashore  there ;  sixty  or  seventy  of  the  patients 
entered  the  village  of  Winkel,  where  they  were  housed  in 
a  schoolroom.  Presently  a  large  number  of  the  inhabitants 
(91  all  told)  contracted  the  disease,  and  31  of  them  died. 
In  the  small  neighbouring  community  of  Espenschied  the 
pestilence  broke  out  in  a  Prussian  military  lazaret  and 
spread  to  all  the  houses  with  the  exception  of  one. 

Kraft  *®  gives  us  some  interesting  information  regarding 
the  appearance    of   typhus   fever   in    Runkel-on-the-Lahn 

**  H.  C.  Thilenius,  Beobachtungen  iiber  das  im  Winter  1813-14  im  Rheingau 
epidemisch  ansteckende  Fieber.  Hujeland/s  Journal,  1815,  vol.  xli,  October 
vol.,  p.  3. 

*•  Kraft,  Eiwas  iiber  den  Typhus  bellicus  und  die  blaue  Nase,  eine  merk- 
vciirdige  Erscheinung  bet  demselben.  Hufeland's  Journal,  vol.  xli,  1815, 
July  vol.,  p.  47. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)    139 

(above  Limburg).  This  outbreak  affords  an  example  of 
how  quickly  the  pestilence  spread  in  small  places.  Shortly 
after  the  arrival  of  the  Allies,  traces  of  lazaret  fever  revealed 
themselves  there,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  November  1813, 
several  sick  soldiers  were  brought  there  and  housed  in  the 
homes  of  citizens.  Presently  typhus  fever  broke  out  all 
over  the  town ;  in  the  first  part  of  December  the  castle  at 
Runkel  was  converted  into  a  lazaret,  and  it  was  very  soon 
filled  with  patients.  The  poor  allowed  themselves  to  be 
employed  for  short  periods  as  sick-attendants,  and  the  result 
was  that  they  either  contracted  the  disease  themselves  or 
else  conveyed  it  to  their  homes  ;  it  was  not  long  before  the 
entire  town,  as  well  as  the  surrounding  country,  was  infected. 
The  convalescents  from  the  military  lazarets  were  not  isolated 
in  separate  houses,  but  taken  to  the  surrounding  towns  and 
villages  (for  example,  Weyer,  Villmar,  Miinster,  and  Erfurt), 
many  of  whose  inhabitants  were  taken  sick.  The  pestilence 
raged  far  and  wide  ;  at  the  climax  of  the  epidemic  (February 
to  the  middle  of  March)  entire  families  lay  sick,  and  a  great 
many  physicians  and  surgeons  were  attacked ;  the  disease 
disappeared  about  the  middle  of  May.  In  Runkel  itself, 
which  had  850  inhabitants,  214  contracted  the  disease  and 
70  died  ;  the  total  number  of  deaths  between  December  1, 
1813,  and  July  1,  1814,  was  94,  whereas  the  normal  number 
of  deaths  for  an  entire  year  was  but  17.  In  the  village  of 
Miinster,  which  had  760  inhabitants,  86  were  taken  sick 
and  22  died ;  and  in  the  village  of  Weyer,  which  had  727 
inhabitants,  179  were  attacked  and  58  died ;  the  average 
number  of  deaths  per  annum  in  both  villages  was  12.  As  in 
these  small  places,  so  in  all  the  towns  and  cities  the  pestilence 
broke  out  wherever  a  sick  soldier  of  either  army  passed. 

From  October  28  on,  transports  of  half-dead  typhus-fever 
patients  for  several  days  kept  arriving  at  Limburg  itself, 
where  they  were  sheltered  in  a  convent.  In  only  eight  days 
several  inhabitants  living  near  the  lazaret,  and  also  several 
sick-attendants  and  their  families,  contracted  the  disease. 


140        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

In  consequence  of  the  quartering  of  Russian  and  Prussian 
troops  in  the  homes  of  citizens,  and  also  in  consequence  of 
the  erection  of  a  permanent  hospital  in  the  city,  into  which 
hundreds  of  patients  were  received  every  day,  typhus  fever 
broke  out  with  great  severity  among  the  inhabitants ;  the 
climax  of  the  epidemic  came  in  January.  Of  600  civilians 
who  contracted  the  disease  76  died. 

In  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Nassau,  to  which  the  last-named 
places  (Wiesbaden,  Oestrich,  Riidesheim,  Runkel,  and  Lim- 
burg)  belonged,  and  which  had  some  270,000  inhabitants, 
the  number  of  people  who  contracted  the  disease  and  the 
number  who  died  from  it,  according  to  the  reports  of  the 
church  and  town  authorities,  was  recorded  for  the  period 
between  October  1,  1813,  and  April  1,  1814.  According  to 
von  Franque,  the  following  figures  were  compiled  in  reference 
to  the  civil  population  in  the  Governmental  Districts  of  that 
time : 

Governmental               Due  to  Typhus  Fever.  No.  Deaths 

District.              No.  Patients.        No.  Dcatlis.  from  all  causes. 

Ehrenbreitstein  .        11,522                     2,409  3,680 

Weilburg        .  .         2,173                        4^9  680 

Wiesbaden     .  .       29,349                    6,179  8,099 

Total      .         .       43,044  9,007  12,459 

Altogether,  fourteen  per  cent  of  the  population  were  attacked 
by  typhus  fever,  and  three  per  cent  succumbed  to  it ; 
scarcely  a  single  community  was  spared. 

Epidemics  of  typhus  fever  also  occurred  further  down 
the  Rhine ;  Coblenz,  for  instance,  was  severely  attacked. 
According  to  Bernstein,^  a  small  epidemic  broke  out  in 
Neuwied  in  January  1814,  having  been  borne  thither  by 
a  Prussian  corps  under  General  Kleist,  which  left  behind 
eighty -two  sick  soldiers,  many  of  them  suffering  from  '  nerve- 
fever  '.  The  disease  spread  in  a  rather  mild  form  throughout 
the  city,  but  lasted  only  four  weeks. 

^  J.  Th.  Ch.  Bernstein,  Kleine  medizinische  Aufsdtze.   Frankfurt-on-the- 
Main,  1814.    P.  132  ff. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)    141 

Typhus  fever  likewise  appeared  in  North  Germany,  which 
was  not  directly  infected  by  French  soldiers  retreating  from 
Leipzig.     Hamburg  was  attacked  with  great  severity.    In 
March  1813,  the  Russian  colonel,  Tettenborn,  by  means  of 
a  bold  coup  de  main  had  captured  Hamburg,  but  he  was 
unable  to  hold  it,  and  on  May  30  the  French  returned. 
Marshal  Davoust  erected  strong  fortifications  and  drove  out 
all  the  poorer  inhabitants,  most  of  whom  had  come  from 
the  neighbouring  Altona,  and  thus  made  ready  for  a  long 
siege,  which  did  not  begin  until  the  end  of  the  year,  although 
the  blockade  was  complete  by  the  middle  of  January.    Large 
quantities  of  filth  accumulated  in  the  streets,  since  all  working- 
men  were  employed  at  the  redoubts  and  hospitals.    Food 
became  more  and  more  scarce.     '  On  such  a  fertile  soil ', 
says  Th.  Deneke,^^  '  typhus  fever  flourished.     The  disease 
spread  rapidly  from  the  hospitals  throughout  the  entire 
city,  since  not  only  were  all  arrangements  wanting  for  the 
isolation  of  the  patients,  but  half-recovered  patients  were 
actually  discharged  from  the  hospital  and  quartered  in  the 
homes  of  citizens.    Of  the  garrison,  which  at  the  beginning 
of  the  siege  numbered  some  25,000  or  30,000  men,  sixty  or 
seventy,  at  one  time  as  many  as  100,  died  every  day  between 
the  first  part  of  February  and  the  last  part  of  March,  and  they 
were  all  buried  outside  the  Steintor,  close  by  the  town-moat. 
No  less  than  10,700  bodies  were  interred  there,  8,200  people 
having  succumbed  to  typhus  fever,  and  2,500  to  wounds ; 
among  those  buried  were  numerous  prisoners.    Regarding 
the  number  of  inhabitants  that  died  we  have  no  information. 
The  condition  in  the  hospitals  must  have  been  terrible  ;  since 
there  was  not  sufiicient  room  or  the  proper  facilities  to  take 
care  of  the  patients,  the  physicians  and  attendants  did  their 
duty  only  under  constraint,  and  the  managing  officials  in 
many  instances  grossly  abused  their  authority  ;  one  of  them, 

^1  Die  Gesundheitsverhaltnisse  Hamburgs  im  19.  Jahrhundert.  Hamburg, 
1901.  P.  273.  (Presented  to  the  Seventy -third  Congress  of  German 
Naturalists  and  Physicians.) 


142        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

the  director  of  the  Legert  Mihtary  Hospital,  for  example, 
ended  characteristically  by  becoming  in  1824  the  leader  of 
a  band  of  robbers  in  France.'  Seven  physicians  fell  victims 
to  the  pestilence  in  Hamburg.  The  city  did  not  surrender 
until  May,  after  the  capture  of  Paris,  whereupon  typhus 
fever  appears  to  have  disappeared  quickly. 

From  Hamburg  typhus  fever  was  conveyed  by  fugitives  in 
all  directions  ;  Altona  was  attacked  with  particular  severity. 
As  mentioned  above,  thousands  of  the  poor  driven  from 
Hamburg  had  been  received  in  Altona.  '  The  people, 
driven  from  their  homes  by  fear,'  says  Steinheim,^^ '  streamed 
through  our  gates  and  went  about  seeking  shelter.  At  the 
same  time  the  gates  of  Hamburg  were  closed,  and  swarms 
of  unhappy  people,  the  dregs  of  Hamburg's  population, 
straggled  with  the  sad  remnants  of  their  property,  bent  over 
more  by  sorrow  than  by  the  weight  of  their  burden,  through 
our  gates  and  found  protection,  nourishment,  and  shelter  in 
our  homes  ;  it  was  a  heart-rending  sight.^  They  were  housed, 
partly  in  barracks,  stables,  and  barns,  and  partly  in  the  houses 
of  the  lower-class  citizens,  whose  homes  were  thereby  '  so 
crammed  full  that  not  a  single  corner  was  left  unoccupied 
by  some  poor  stranger '.  More  than  17,000  refugees  were 
received  in  Altona,  whose  normal  population  at  that  time 
amounted  to  some  24,000.  At  the  beginning  of  January, 
when  the  very  cold  weather  came  (the  thermometer  often 
went  down  as  low  as  —  20  degrees  Reaumur),  all  the  cracks 
and  openings  in  the  doors  and  windows  were  stopped  up  to 
prevent  the  entrance  of  the  outside  air.  In  the  latter  part 
of  December  1813,  typhus  fever  broke  out  in  these  over- 
crowded quarters  and  carried  away  large  numbers  of  people. 
The  exact  number  is  unknown  ;  according  to  Mutzenbecher 
1,138  fugitives,  all  told,  died  in  Altona.  According  to  other 
reports  sixty-eight  per  cent  of  the  patients  in  the  hospital 
succumbed.    The  epidemic  reached  its  cHmax  in  March,  and 

"  Steinheim,  Vber  den  Typhtis  im  Jahre  1814  in  Altona.    Altona,  1815. 
P.  12. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)    143 

with  the  coming  spring  it  began  to  abate,  partly  because  it 
became  feasible  to  house  the  fugitives  in  better  quarters,  and 
partly  because  the  warmer  weather  rendered  better  ventilation 
possible. 

The  disease  was  also  conveyed  from  Hamburg  to  Eppendorf , 
but  no  information  regarding  the  number  of  deaths  there  is 
available. 

In  Liibeck  typhus  fever  broke  out  in  March  1814,  among 
refugees  from  Hamburg,  and  carried  away  613  people. 
According  to  Gurlt,  typhus  fever  was  conveyed  to  Bremen, 
partly  by  the  army  of  the  Crown  Prince  of  Sweden,  and 
partly  by  fugitives  from  Hamburg ;  the  epidemic  is  said 
to  have  been  rather  mild. 

In  Mecklenburg  typhus  fever  began  to  spread  after  the 
erection  of  a  military  lazaret  in  Malchow  (October,  1813), 
and  after  the  erection  of  a  second  lazaret  by  the  Swedes  in 
Wittenburg  (near  Schwerin). 

In  Kiel  typhus  fever  did  not  appear  until  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1814;  Weber  ^^  attributed  the  outbreak  there  to 
the  Swedish  military  lazaret,  in  which  physicians  and  nurses 
frequently  contracted  the  disease.  At  first  the  poorer  people 
were  attacked  (probably  because  the  sick-attendants  were  of 
that  class),  and  later  the  well-to-do.  The  pestilence,  mild  at 
first,  soon  became  very  severe.  The  disease  also  broke  out 
in  other  places  in  Holstein  ;  Pinneberg  was  severely  attacked, 
and  the  disease  was  also  observed  in  Schleswig.  It  is 
remarkable  that,  according  to  Weber,  no  exanthema  was 
observed  in  Kiel ;  it  must,  however,  have  been  present 
in  a  scarcely  noticeable  form,  since  a  rash  appeared  on  the 
entire  skin  of  convalescents.  The  disease  always  began 
with  a  chill,  and  was  characterized  now  by  obstinate  con- 
stipation, now  by  diarrhoea ;  no  patient  who  survived  the 
thirteenth  day  died.    And  even  if  an  exanthema  was  not 

^  Fr.  Weber,  Bemerkungen  iiber  die  in  Kiel  und  der  umliegenden  Gegend 
im  Anfange  des  Jahres  1814  vorherrschenden  Krankheiten,  besonders  iiber 
den  Typhus.    Kiel,  1814. 


144        EPIDEMICS  RESUI.TING  FROM  WARS 

observed,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  typhus  fever 
which  raged  in  Kiel.  Weber  himself  calls  the  disease  con- 
tagious typhus. 

4.    The  Appearance  of  Typhus  Fever  in  South  Germany 

Typhus  fever  was  conveyed  to  various  places  throughout 
South  Germany  by  the  few  soldiers  that  returned  from 
Russia.  Nowhere  did  it  become  very  widespread,  since  the 
authorities  soon  reaUzed  its  dangers  and  prevented  it  from 
spreading  by  means  of  appropriate  measures  of  precaution. 
A  change  took  place,  however,  after  the  battle  of  Leipzig, 
when  large  numbers  of  fugitive  and  captive  French  soldiers 
came  into  the  country,  and  when  troops,  particularly 
Russians,  kept  constantly  marching  back  and  forth  across 
the  country  and  spreading  the  infection.  Another  important 
cause  of  the  appearance  of  the  disease  there  was  the  fact 
that  lazarets  were  erected  in  South  Germany  during  the 
campaign  in  France,  for  the  purpose  of  sheltering  the  sick 
and  wounded  soldiers  that  were  transported  back  from 
France. 

Regarding  the  dissemination  of  typhus  fever  in  Bavaria  we 
are  very  well  informed  in  a  dissertation  by  F.  Seitz.^*  As  among 
other  divisions  of  troops,  so  also  among  the  Bavarian  division, 
typhus  fever  raged  extensively.  On  the  march  from  the 
Vistula  to  the  Oder  thirty  or  forty  men  contracted  the  disease 
every  day,  and  some  of  them  also  suffered  from  diarrhoea, 
dysentery,  and  other  diseases ;  so  that  when  Crossen-on- 
the-Oder  was  reached  only  113  officers  and  2,253  men  were 
left.  During  the  sojourn  in  Crossen  and  during  the  march 
through  Saxony  in  March,  the  number  of  the  patients 
increased,  and  by  the  middle  of  March  there  were  only 
1,000  able-bodied  men  left.  Thus  they  arrived  at  the  Bavarian 
border.  '  The  rumour  of  the  wide  prevalence  of  nerve-fever 
in  North  Germany,'  says  Seitz,  '  and  the  apprehension  that 

"  F.  Seitz,  op.  cit.,  p.  167  £f. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)    145 

the  disease  might  be  conveyed  into  Bavaria  by  soldiers 
returning  from  the  field  of  battle,  had  preceded  the  arrival 
of  the  first  warriors.  Nevertheless  people  did  not  wish  to 
forgo  the  pleasure  of  sheltering  in  their  homes  the  soldiers, 
who  had  been  exposed  to  so  many  hardships  and  privations, 
and  of  helping  them  to  forget  their  past  troubles  ;  and  in 
performing  this  philanthropic  duty  they  lost  sight  of  the 
necessary  caution  which  prudence  demanded.' 

The  infection  of  an  entire  family  in  Regensburg  by  a  soldier 
discharged  from  the  hospital  (in  February  1813),  and  reports 
regarding  infection  in  other  places,  resulted  in  the  adoption 
of  strict  measures  in  the  border-towns.  All  returning 
soldiers,  if  it  was  suspected  that  they  were  infected  with 
disease,  were  examined  by  a  commission,  and  if  the  suspicion 
was  confirmed  by  this  commission,  they  were  not  allowed  to 
be  quartered  in  the  homes  of  citizens,  but  were  obliged  to 
find  shelter  in  barracks  and  lazarets,  or  in  suitable  buildings 
outside  the  town.  Patients  were  sent  to  the  military  hospitals 
of  Bayreuth,  Bamberg,  and  Plassenburg  (near  Kulmbach) ; 
as  soon  as  these  hospitals  were  filled  up,  a  new  one  was 
erected  in  Altdorf.  Strict  isolation  of  the  patients  was 
enforced,  and  this  prevented  the  further  dissemination  of 
the  disease  among  the  civil  inhabitants.  To  be  sure,  a  few 
people  contracted  the  disease  after  coming  in  contact  with 
soldiers  ;  for  example,  in  Amberg,  Sulzbach,  Burglengenfeld, 
Grafenau,  Cham,  Nuremberg,  &c.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
were  a  great  many  typhus-fever  patients  in  the  military 
hospitals,  especially  in  Bamberg.  There  typhus  fever  caused 
a  high  mortality  among  the  soldiers ;  but,  thanks  to  strict 
measures  of  precaution,  only  a  few  civiKans  were  taken  sick 
(about  100  out  of  20,000  inhabitants),  while  of  several  phy- 
sicians that  contracted  the  disease  only  two  succumbed  to  it. 
About  the  middle  of  the  year  1813  typhus  fever  disappeared 
in  Bavaria,  without  having  demanded  many  victims.  The 
'  nerve-fevers  ',  which  were  prevalent  during  the  summer 
(for  example,  in  Regensburg  from  July  to  September),  are 

1569.13  T. 


146        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

not  regarded  by  Schafer  as  contagious,  and  must  be  looked 
upon  as  cases  of  typhoid  fever. 

In  November,  on  the  other  hand,  after  the  battles  near 
Leipzig  and  Hanau,  typhus  fever  broke  out  suddenly  in 
many  places  in  Bavaria,  and  in  December  raged  furiously. 
The  orders,  issued  in  the  spring  of  1813,  prohibiting  all 
persons  suspected  of  carrying  disease  from  crossing  the 
borders  could  no  longer  be  enforced.  Says  Seitz  :  ^^  '  When 
French  prisoners  began  to  march  across  the  country  on  their 
way  from  Saxony  and  Wiirzburg  to  Bohemia,  the  pestilence 
spread  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities  and  of  the  flat 
lands.  Typhus  fever  raged  in  its  most  terrible  form  among 
these  poor  prisoners  of  war ;  many  succumbed  to  it  in 
various  places  along  the  route,  and  thousands  died  in  the 
hospitals.  That  the  disease,  which  haunted  all  defeated 
armies  like  a  ghost,  would  necessarily  reap  an  abundant 
harvest  among  them,  was  clear  to  every  physician  who 
observed  the  physiognomies  of  these  warriors  as  they  were 
being  led  away  in  captivity  from  the  vicinity  of  their  father- 
land into  remote  regions.  Their  pale  faces  and  emaciated 
forms  bore  witness  to  hunger  and  sorrow,  to  a  long  deprivation 
of  the  usual  necessaries  of  Hfe  and  to  lack  of  vital  energy, 
to  exhaustion  caused  by  the  long  marches  from  Hanau  to 
Leipzig,  when  in  the  ardent  struggle  to  reach  their  fatherland 
they  had  used  up  their  last  ounce  of  strength.  Whosoever 
was  brought  by  profession,  sentiment,  or  curiosity  into 
contact  with  these  unfortunate  soldiers  sooner  or  later 
<;ontracted  the  disease.  Physicians,  police-officers,  servants, 
national  guards  (who  watched  over  the  prisoners),  country- 
people  (who  carried  the  patients),  messengers  (who  brought 
food  to  the  soldiers  in  their  quarters),  were  as  a  rule  the  first 
to  be  attacked.' 

The  Grand  Duchy  of  Wiirzburg  was  next  attacked.  In 
Wiirzburg  itself,  where  there  were  2,000  or  3,000  French 
patients  in  the  hospitals,  the  pestilence  broke  out  furiously 
5*  F.  Seitz,  op.  cit.,  p.  174  ff. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)    147 

wherever  the  soldiers  went.  In  Miltenburg  more  than 
100  persons  contracted  the  disease  in  the  latter  part  of 
December ;  in  the  district  of  Mellrichstadt  the  number  of 
typhus-fever  patients  was  429  (121  deaths),  and  in  the  district 
of  Bischofsheim  there  were  1,067  patients  and  328  deaths. 
According  to  Seitz,  the  number  of  deaths  throughout  the 
entire  Grand  Duchy  of  Wiirzburg,  which  at  that  time  had 
a  population  of  344,500,  was  2,500,  while  no  less  than  16,000 
people  contracted  the  disease.  In  Nuremberg  the  pestilence 
did  not  become  very  widespread ;  it  broke  out  in  the  first 
part  of  November  and  lasted  until  the  middle  of  January ; 
150  persons,  all  told,  contracted  the  disease.  Dinkelsbiihl 
was  severely  attacked ;  in  the  month  of  November  a  large 
number  of  French  prisoners  suffering  from  typhus  fever  and 
diarrhoea  were  housed  there  in  the  CarmeHte  Monastery,  and 
in  a  short  time  some  200  of  them  died.  Between  the  25th  and 
30th  of  November  typhus  fever  spread  to  the  civil  population, 
and,  in  a  few  days,  more  than  100  people  contracted  the 
disease  and  10  died ;  the  number  of  patients  increased  until 
December  12,  and  then  decreased,  until  the  pestilence 
disappeared  in  the  latter  part  of  January ;  448  persons,  all 
told,  contracted  the  disease  and  89  succumbed  to  it. 
In  the  middle  of  November  it  was  conveyed  by  a  transport 
of  French  prisoners  to  Bamberg,  where  it  spread  with  such 
fearful  rapidity  in  the  miHtary  hospital  there,  that  twenty 
persons  died  every  day  and  all  the  sick-attendants  and  medical 
assistants  contracted  it.  The  disease  soon  spread  throughout 
the  city,  even  infecting  people  who  had  in  no  way  come  in 
contact  with  the  sick  prisoners.  Epidemics  of  typhus  fever 
were  reported  in  twenty-one  villages  in  the  surrounding 
country. 

All  Upper  Franconia,  through  which  transports  of  prisoners 
were  taken  to  the  Bohemian  border,  suffered  terribly  from 
the  pestilence.  The  disease  was  first  observed  in  the  towns 
and  villages  lying  to  the  north  of  Bamberg,  whither  it  had 
been  conveyed  by  dispersed  troops  immediately  after  the 

L2 


148        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

battle  of  Leipzig  (in  Nordhalben,  Hof,  and  other  near-by 
villages).  Later  on  it  also  appeared  in  the  districts  further 
south.  The  region  between  Bayreuth  and  Miinchberg  was, 
comparatively  speaking,  less  severely  attacked.  On  the 
other  hand,  typhus  fever  raged  furiously  in  the  miHtary 
hospital  on  the  Plassenburg,  where  at  the  end  of  December 
there  were  some  700  persons  suffering  from  the  disease.  In 
Kulmbach,  a  town  lying  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  more 
than  100  persons  contracted  the  disease. 

While  French  prisoners  were  bringing  typhus  fever  into 
the  country  from  the  west,  Austrian  and  Russian  troops 
were  also  bringing  it  from  the  east.  To  be  sure,  the  authorities 
were  enjoined  to  restrict  the  foreign  troops  to  the  use  of 
ten  miUtary  roads  that  passed  through  the  country,  but  the 
Austrian  and  Russian  leaders  frequently  ignored  these 
instructions.  Consequently  the  pestilence  spread  over  the 
entire  region,  a  fact  which  Seitz  confirms  with  numerous 
specific  instances;  regarding  the  extent  to  which  it  raged 
in  Munich,  he  gives  us  no  information. 

Typhus  fever  was  conveyed  to  Regensburg  by  French 
prisoners.  '  Toward  the  end  of  the  month  [December],* 
says  Schaf er,^  '  typhus  fever  was  conveyed  to  Regensburg 
by  French  prisoners,  some  of  them  sick  and  some  of  them  well, 
but  all  of  them  scantily  clad  and  half-starved.  They  were 
quartered  in  the  dance-halls,  and  those  that  were  sick  were 
taken  to  a  convent  which  had  been  hastily  converted  into 
a  hospital.  There  the  civil  inhabitants,  owing  to  the  lack 
of  appropriate  arrangements,  were  obHged  to  distribute 
food  among  the  sick,  and  the  result  was  that  the  fever 
finally  became  general.  Not  until  then  was  the  advice 
which  the  physicians  had  given  at  the  beginning  heeded ; 
they  had  urged,  namely,  that  the  patients  should  be  cared 
for  by  the  hospital-attendants  themselves,  that  each  one 
should  have  his  own  separate  attendant,  and  that  only 

*•  J.  Schafer,  Die  Zeit-  und  Volkskrankheiten  dea  Jahres  1813  in  und  um 
Regensburg.    Hufeland's  Journal,  vol.  xxxix,  1814,  p.  78. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)    149 

those  persons  should  be  allowed  to  enter  the  hospital  whose 
presence  was  absolutely  necessary.'  By  February,  according 
to  the  official  report,  308  persons,  all  told,  contracted  typhus 
fever  in  Regensburg,  and  51  succumbed  to  it. 

In  Ingolstadt  an  unusually  severe  epidemic  broke  out  after 
the  arrival  of  the  French  prisoners.  In  the  first  part  of 
December  the  number  of  prisoners  that  died  every  day  was 
no  less  than  ninety,  but  after  the  middle  of  the  month  the 
mortality  was  somewhat  lower.  On  December  18  there  were 
845  typhus-fever  patients  in  the  hospitals,  and  the  number 
of  deaths  on  this  day  amounted  to  only  twenty-seven. 
From  then  to  the  end  of  the  month  only  fifteen  or  twenty 
persons  died  per  diem.  On  December  10  several  civihans 
contracted  the  disease ;  on  December  18  the  number  of 
civiUans  suffering  from  the  disease  was  thirty-six,  and  about 
an  equal  number  on  December  30.  The  total  number  of 
deaths  among  the  prisoners  of  war  amounted  to  2,000. 
Typhus  fever  also  appeared  along  the  Danube  on  both  sides 
of  Ingolstadt. 

In  the  course  of  the  winter,  typhus  fever  was  also  borne 
into  southern  Bavaria  by  Austrian  troops ;  it  broke  out  in 
the  towns  along  the  mihtary  road,  e.  g.,  in  Vocklabruck, 
Traunstein,  Rosenheim,  and  Landsberg.  Places  which  the 
soldiers  did  not  visit  were  also  attacked  by  the  pestilence. 
In  Weilheim  (west  of  Lake  Starnberg)  the  disease  broke  out 
repeatedly  after  soldiers  had  marched  through  the  place ; 
up  to  April  8  no  less  than  885  persons  had  contracted  the 
disease  there,  and  some  100  had  succumbed  to  it. 

According  to  Seitz,  18,427  cases  of  the  disease  and  3,084 
deaths  attributable  to  it  were  officially  recorded  in  Bavaria 
between  October  1813  and  June  1814  ;  the  lists  kept  by  the 
Governmental  Districts  were  undoubtedly  very  incomplete, 
but  on  the  other  hand  we  must  assume  that  the  contagious 
and  non-contagious  '  nerve-fevers '  (typhus  and  typhoid) 
were  not  always  distinguished.  For  the  several  districts 
Seitz  furnishes  us  with  the  following  figures  relating  to  the 


150        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

number  of  people  who  contracted  and  succumbed  to  typhus 
fever : 


The  Region  of  the 

No.  Patients. 

No.  Deaths. 

Main 

•     5.752 

1,067 

Rezat 

.     2,135 

32 

Regen 

.     1,627 

290 

Upper  Danube 

.     4.613 

1,003 

Lower  Danube 

.     1.338 

270 

Salzaeh    . 

.     1,815 

259 

Isar 

.     1,147 

163 

This  does  not  include  the  number  of  deaths  among  the 
prisoners  of  war,  nor  among  the  native  and  foreign  soldiers. 
For  the  Main  region,  Seitz  also  furnishes  figures  relating  to 
the  age  of  the  patients  ;  of  the  5,752  persons  who  contracted 
the  disease  453  were  children,  1,345  were  young  men  and 
women,  3,657  were  of  middle  age,  and  297  were  old  men  and 
women. 

As  in  Bavaria,  so  also  in  Wiirttemberg,  typhus  fever  broke 
out  in  two  epidemics  ;  the  first,  which  was  less  extensive 
and  less  severe,  was  caused  by  soldiers  returning  from 
Russia,  and  the  second  broke  out  in  consequence  of  the 
passing  of  troops  through  the  country  after  the  battle  of 
Leipzig.  According  to  Elsasser,"  in  the  first  part  of  the  year 
1813  there  were  165  cases  of  typhus  fever  and  twenty  deaths 
due  to  it  reported  from  fifteen  different  locaHties.  In  the 
month  of  July  the  disease  disappeared  from  Wiirttemberg. 
At  the  end  of  the  year  1813,  however,  the  disease  was  again 
borne  into  the  country,  partly  by  French  prisoners,  and 
partly  by  Russian  soldiers.  '  Throughout  Wiirttemberg ', 
says  Lohnes,^  '  this  fever  appeared  wherever  foreign  troops 
had  tarried.  Consequently  contagious  typhus  first  appeared 
in  the  northern  lowlands,  while  the  region  around  Tubingen 
and  the  southern  and  eastern  part  of  the  country  at  the 

"  3.  A.  Elsasser,  Beschreibung  der  Menschenpockenseuche,  welche  in  den 
Jahren  1814,  1815,  1816,  und  1817  im  Konigreich  Wiirttemberg  geherrscht 
hat.    Stuttgart,  1820. 

"  J.  H.  B.  Lohnes,  Dissertatio  inaxiguralis  medico-chirurgica  de  utilitate 
Jlydrargyri  in  febre  typhorde  inflammaioria.    Tubingae,  1814. 


p 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)   161 

beginning  did  not  suffer  at  all.  But  in  December,  when 
large  bodies  of  troops  marched  through  the  highlands,  the 
southern  part  of  Wiirttemberg,  these  fevers  followed  the 
soldiers'  hues  of  march.  At  first  it  was  the  French  prisoners 
who  carried  lazaret-fever  with  them  wherever  they  went, 
and  a  very  severe  form  of  the  disease  too ;  later  on,  these 
fevers  always  broke  out  wherever  the  Russian  soldiers  went, 
although  very  few  of  the  soldiers  themselves  were  infected 
with  them.  Frequently  persons  contracted  the  disease 
who  had  no  sick  soldiers  in  their  homes.  As  a  rule  the  disease 
in  such  cases  was  mild,  but  it  was  very  dangerous  wherever 
patients  were  left  or  congregated  in  large  or  small  hospitals.' 

As  early  as  the  month  of  February,  the  disease  had  reached 
its  climax  in  Wiirttemberg ;  in  March  it  began  to  abate 
rapidly,  so  that  in  the  first  part  of  the  summer  only  150 
patients  could  be  counted  in  fifteen  Governmental  Districts. 
From  then  until  the  end  of  the  year  it  broke  out  only  sporadi- 
cally. Braun,^®  who  asserts  that  more  than  half  of  the 
physicians  in  Wiirttemberg  contracted  typhus  fever,  mentions 
the  names  and  residences  of  seventeen  physicians  who 
succumbed  to  it ;  we  see  from  this  list  that  the  disease  was 
prevalent  throughout  all  Wiirttemberg.  The  disease  was  also 
conveyed  to  the  southern  part  of  Upper  Swabia.  According 
to  Dillenius,  1,300  sick  soldiers  were  sent  in  the  first  part  of 
the  year  1814  from  France  (especially  from  Miilhausen  in 
Alsace)  to  the  miHtary  hospital  at  Tettnang ;  twenty-four 
of  them  died  on  the  way,  and  in  the  course  of  the  following 
four  months  five  times  as  many  succumbed  to  typhus  fever 
in  the  hospital.^" 

Baden  suffered  severely  from  typhus  fever ;  in  Karlsruhe, 
for  instance,  typhus  fever  raged  from  October  to  December 
1813.    But  Baden  suffered  particularly,  for  the  reason  that 

*»  F.  E.  Braun,  Medizinisch-praktische  Ansicht  der  Jahre  1813  und  1614. 
Tubingen,  1816. 

"°  C.  von  Dillenius,  Beobachtungen  iiber  die  Ruhr,  welche  im  Russischen 
Feldzug  1812  in  der  vereinigten  Armee  herrschte.    Ludwigsburg,  1817. 


152        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

all  the  sick  soldiers  in  the  Bohemian  army  were  sent  back 
there  from  France.  Their  number  far  exceeded  all  expecta- 
tions, since  typhus  fever  was  uncommonly  prevalent  in  the 
field  army  in  France,  and  the  soldiers  arriving  from  there 
infected  the  hospitals.  Even  when  the  Austrian  and  Russian 
troops  marched  through  the  country  the  number  of  '  nerve- 
fever  '  patients  was  very  large.  Freiburg  im  Breisgau,  at  that 
time  a  city  of  9,000  inhabitants,  suffered  very  severely  in 
consequence  of  enforced  quartering ;  some  210,000  soldiers 
were  housed  in  the  homes  of  its  citizens.  In  the  garrison 
lazaret  and  university  hospital,  which  together  had  room  for 
500  patients,  no  less  than  1,200  patients  were  crowded 
together  in  December  1813 ;  almost  all  of  them  were  suffering 
from  diarrhoea  and  typhus,  and  owing  to  the  lack  of  linen 
they  were  compelled  to  He  in  their  own  dirty  clothes  on  sacks 
of  straw.  Every  morning  two  large  wagonloads  of  dead 
bodies  were  driven  away  for  burial.  As  usual,  the  pestilence 
spread  to  the  civil  population,  carrying  away  entire  families. 
On  October  12,  1813,  the  former  Abbey  of  Thennenbach  was 
converted  into  a  military  lazaret,  in  which  two  weeks  later 
some  1,200  patients  were  sheltered,  although  it  had  adequate 
room  for  only  700.  Between  December  27,  1813,  and 
March  1814,  567  soldiers  succumbed  there,  most  of  them  to 
typhus  and  dysentery.  The  epidemic  reached  its  cHmax 
about  the  middle  of  January,  when  as  many  as  thirty 
persons  died  per  diem.  After  the  middle  of  January  the 
number  of  deaths  rapidly  decreased.*^  Northern  Baden  was 
also  attacked.  In  Mannheim  the  sick  and  wounded  French 
soldiers  who  arrived  after  the  battles  of  Liitzen  and  Bautzen 
were  led  around  the  city  and  taken  to  Spires.  Thus  typhus 
fever  did  not  appear  in  Mannheim  itself,  where  the  condition 
of  health  was  subsequently  also  good.  The  statement  of 
the  Rheinische  Merkufy  that  out  of  13,000  patients  in  the 
military   lazarets  in  Mannheim   3,347   died,   according  to 

•^  F.  Schinzinger,  Die  Lazarette  der  Befreiimgskriege  1813-15  im  Breisgau 
Freiburg  im  Breisgau,  1907. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)   153 

Gurlt,*'^  is  incorrect;  the  number  of  deaths  was  no  more 
than  346. 

Regarding  the  total  number  of  deaths  due  to  typhus  fever 
in  Baden  no  information  is  available ;  at  all  events  it  was 
very  large.  This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  the  last  part  of 
1813  and  first  part  of  1814  no  less  than  thirty -five  physicians 
and  thirty  surgeons  of  the  first  class  fell  victims  to  the 
pestilence.^ 

In  November  1813,  thousands  of  scattered  French  prisoners 
came  to  Darmstadt ;  many  of  them  were  suffering  from 
typhus  fever,  which  soon  spread  throughout  the  city.  Many 
places  in  that  part  of  the  present  Grand  Duchy  of  Hesse 
which  lies  south  of  the  Main  were  severely  attacked  by  the 
epidemic ;  as  many  as  2,000  or  3,000  inhabitants  of  many 
places  contracted  the  disease.  But  by  July  5,  1814,  it  had 
everywhere  disappeared.^* 


5.     Typhus  Fever  on  the  Left  Bank  of  the  Rhine  ; 
France  and  Switzerland 

The  continued  retreat  of  the  French  army  passed  from 
Mayence  through  Metz  to  Paris,  and  the  route  of  the  retreat 
was  marked  by  patients  left  behind.  In  this  way  the  epidemic 
of  typhus  fever  was  quickly  transplanted  to  the  north-eastern 
part  of  France.  Alsace-Lorraine,  the  Palatinate,  Champagne, 
and  Burgundy  were  all  attacked  in  succession.  The  epidemic 
raged  from  Kreuznach  to  Strassburg ;  the  dispersion  of  the 
retreating  army  caused  even  the  smallest  villages  to  suffer, 
so  that  the  pestilence  appeared  in  Worms,  Frankenthal, 
Spires,  Oppenheim,  Neustadt-on-the-Hardt,  Durkheim, 
Landau,  Alzey,  Trabach,  Zweibrucken,Weissenburg,  Hagenau, 
Zabern,  and  in  other  places.    Mors  (near  Frankenthal)  was 

«2  Gurlt,  op.  cit.,  p.  696. 

*^  Supplements  to  the  statistics  relating  to  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Baden, 
fascicle  2,  p.  185. 

«*  Gurlt,  op.  cit.,  p.  646. 


154        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

almost  completely  wiped  out.'^  The  following  places  in  France 
are  mentioned  as  having  been  attacked  by  the  pestilence : 
Saint- Avoid,  Courcelles-Chaussy,  Mars-la-Tour,  Sierck,  Catte- 
nom,  Pont-a-Mousson,  Toul,  Nancy,  ifetain,  Verdun,  Bar, 
Longwy,  and  Sedan.  Thouvenel  describes  the  epidemic  of 
typhus  fever  in  Pont-a-Mousson,  which  broke  out  in  December 
1813,  when  transports  of  sick  soldiers  arrived  there,  and 
spread  to  all  the  surrounding  towns  and  villages  ;  it  increased 
in  severity  until  the  middle  of  March,  and  by  June  had  almost 
disappeared.  He  describes  in  emotional  language  the  endless 
succession  of  wagons  that  arrived  every  day  :  ^ 

Who  of  us  will  not  remember  as  long  as  he  lives  those  harrowing 
scenes,  which  one  cannot  describe  without  shuddering  ?  Who  will 
ever  forget  those  hundreds  of  wagons  filled  Avith  unhappy  wounded 
men  who  had  had  no  medical  care  since  leaving  Leipzig  ;  and  packed 
in  with  them  were  sick  men  suffering  from  dysentery,  typhus  fever, 
&c.,  almost  all  of  them  dying  of  inanition,  weakness,  and  filth,  as 
well  as  of  disease.  Those  unfortunate  men  piteously  begged  only  for 
a  place  in  a  hospital  already  filled  with  dying  men,  only  to  receive  in 
reply  a  forced  refusal.  And  so  they  were  under  the  cruel  necessity 
of  going  further  to  die,  with  the  result  that  they  infected  all  the 
towns  and  villages  along  their  route,  wherever  they  were  granted 
a  generous  hospitality. 

Strassburg,  comparatively  speaking,  suffered  but  little. 
As  early  as  December  1,  the  prefect  of  Strassburg  had  issued 
orders  that  a  special  building  should  be  set  aside  in  every 
town  for  the  reception  of  sick  soldiers  that  arrived  there, 
and  that  they  should  under  no  circumstances  be  housed  in 
the  homes  of  citizens.  In  October  and  November  conva- 
lescents had  been  quartered  in  the  residences  of  citizens, 
who  had  subsequently  been  infected.  In  November  the 
number  of  typhus-fever  patients,  which  averaged  ten  or 
fifteen  per  month,  increased  to  thirty-six,  and  in  December 
to  100.     In  accordance  with  the  above-mentioned  decree  all 

•*  Kopp,  Jahrbuch  der  Staatsttrzneykunde .    Jahrgang  7.    1814.    1*.  290. 

••  P.  S.  Thouvenel,  Traiti  analytique  des  fibres  contagieuses  et  sporadiqties, 
simples  etcompliqu^es,  qui  ont  rign^  dans  le  D^partement  de  la  Meurthe  vers 
la  fin  de  1813  et  au  commencement  de  1814.    Pont-a-Mousson,  1814. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)    155 

newly-arrived  soldiers  were  examined  by  a  Board  of  Health  ; 
the  sick  were  sent  to  the  hospital,  and  the  healthy  were 
quartered  with  citizens.  '  Notwithstanding  this,'  says  Reiss- 
eisen,*'  '  the  healthy  ones  infected  a  large  number  of  inhabi- 
tants through  their  old  woollen  overcoats,  which  were 
thoroughly  saturated  with  the  miasma  of  the  hospitals. 
The  clothes  that  were  sold  privately  were  particularly  dan- 
gerous, so  that  in  the  latter  part  of  December  strict  orders 
were  issued  to  keep  watch  for  the  old  clothes  and  burn  them. 
In  the  first  part  of  January,  when  the  rather  lax  siege  began, 
typhus  fever  spread  irresistibly  throughout  the  city ;  in 
that  month  the  pestilence  reached  its  climax  with  175  deaths. 
On  January  22  the  prefects  ordered  general  fumigations  in 
all  public  buildings,  and  recommended  that  the  citizens 
should  also  fumigate  their  homes.  The  result  was  very 
successful ;  in  February  112  people  died,  in  March  75,  and 
in  April  27,  and  then  typhus  fever  disappeared.  No  foreign 
troops  marched  through  the  stronghold,  and  although  all 
the  French  prisoners  of  war  passed  through  the  city,  no 
more  citizens  were  infected  by  them,  for  the  reason  that  they 
were  quartered  in  the  fortifications. 

The  devastation  caused  by  the  pestilence  in  Metz  was  no 
less  than  frightful.  Marechal  and  Didion  *®  give  us  a  picture 
of  this  severe  epidemic.  On  November  19,  1813,  some 
5,000  sick  soldiers  were  assigned  to  that  city  ;  it  was  neces- 
sary to  see  that  they  were  sheltered,  and  at  the  same  time 
measures  were  adopted  to  prevent  the  disease  from  spread- 
ing. According  to  the  report  of  the  astute  Mayor  of  Metz, 
Baron  Marchant,  the  5,000  soldiers,  all  of  them  suffering 
from  an  infectious  disease,  arrived,  and  sixty  of  them  died 
every  day.  All  the  physicians  in  Metz  contracted  the 
disease,  and  several  of  them  died.  It  was  impossible  to 
procure  sick-attendants,  since  those  who  had  performed  this 

•^  Reisseisen,  Strassburger  Brief  vom  22.  August  ISli.  Kopp's  Jahrhuch 
der  Siaaisarzneykunde.    Jahrgang  7.    1814.    P.  425. 
•^  Marechal  et  Didion,  op.  cit.,  p.  298. 


156        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

service  had  all  contracted  the  disease,  conveyed  it  home, 
and  infected  their  families.  Sick  soldiers  who  were  quar- 
tered privately,  and  particularly  convalescents,  also  helped 
to  spread  the  disease  throughout  the  city ;  more  than  150 
houses  were  infected.  In  the  latter  part  of  December  the 
number  of  patients  greatly  increased.  On  January  1,  1814, 
after  Bliicher  had  crossed  the  Rhine,  the  Germans  marched 
against  Metz,  and  then  an  enormous  crowd  of  people  from 
the  surrounding  country  fled  to  that  city  for  protection. 
This  caused  typhus  fever  to  spread  far  and  wide  throughout 
the  city.  Furthermore,  sick  and  exhausted  soldiers  were 
constantly  being  sent  to  Metz,  and  it  is  estimated  that  some 
30,000  of  them  arrived  there.  The  worst  month  was  Feb- 
ruary, and  7,752  soldiers,  all  told,  died  in  six  months  : 


November 

463 

December 

.     1,602 

January    . 

.     1,360 

February 

.     2,365 

March 

.     1,622 

April 

340 

1,294  civiUans  also  died,  the  largest  number  (371)  likewise 
in  February.  In  the  entire  Department  of  Moselle,  which 
at  that  time  had  some  400,000  inhabitants,  no  less  than 
10,329  people  succumbed  to  this  epidemic,  and  this  number 
does  not  include  the  soldiers. 

Regarding  the  wide  dissemination  of  typhus  fever  in  the 
Departments  east  and  south  of  Paris,  which  formed  the 
scene  of  the  war  in  the  first  part  of  the  year  1814  (the  Depart- 
ments of  Haute-Marne,  Cote-d'Or,  Aube,  Yonne,  Mame, 
Seine-et-Marne),  no  further  information  is  available.  Troyes, 
Besan5on,  Dijon,  Avallon,  and  Auxerre  are  mentioned  as 
places  that  were  attacked  by  the  pestilence. 

In  Paris,  cases  of  typhus  fever  occurred  in  February, 
when  the  war  moved  closer  to  that  city.  The  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  were  consequently  obliged  to  go  to  the 
hospitals  in  Paris  ;  but  since  these  were  neither  large  nor 
numerous   enough  to  accommodate  so  many  patients,   it 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)   157 

became  necessary  to  open  several  provisional  hospitals  in 
appropriate  buildings.  At  first  all  the  typhus-fever  patients 
were  taken  to  the  Hopital  de  la  Pitie,  but  it  soon  became 
necessary  to  change  this  policy,  since  the  disease  had  spread 
throughout  all  the  wards  of  that  building.  In  the  latter 
part  of  February  the  first  cases  of  typhus  fever  appeared  in 
the  city,  in  consequence  of  the  return  of  many  soldiers  to 
their  own  families.  In  March  more  and  more  people  con- 
tracted the  disease,  which  toward  the  end  of  the  month  was 
raging  furiously,  though  more  in  the  hospitals  than  in  the 
city.  In  the  Hospice  de  la  Salpetriere,  which  had  been  con- 
verted into  a  military  hospital  and  began  to  be  used  on 
February  9,  1814,  a  small  number  of  persons  contracted 
typhus  fever  in  the  latter  part  of  March,  and  in  the  months 
of  April  and  May  the  disease  spread ;  after  that,  however, 
it  began  to  abate.  A  great  many  nurses  and  attendants 
were  taken  sick.^*  In  April  a  large  number  of  people  in  the 
city  were  lying  sick  with  typhus  fever.  In  one  boarding- 
school,  from  which  several  persons  visited  the  hospitals  and 
brought  typhus  fever  home  with  them,  thirty  people  con- 
tracted the  disease  and  four  succumbed  to  it.  In  May  cases 
of  typhus  fever  became  more  rare,  and  in  August  no  more 
people  contracted  the  disease.  The  mortality  in  Paris  in 
the  year  1814  was  very  high  ;  whereas  in  the  years  1812  and 
1813  the  number  of  deaths  had  been  20,133  and  18,676 
respectively,  in  the  year  1814  no  less  than  27,778  people  died, 
which  number  includes  2,559  soldiers  that  died  in  the  hos- 
pitals. In  the  year  1815  the  number  of  deaths  decreased 
again  to  19,992.  How  large  the  number  of  deaths  due  to 
typhus  fever  was,  it  is  impossible  to  state  with  certainty, 
since  in  the  case  of  only  a  small  number  of  the  persons  who 
actually  died  of  typhus  fever  was  that  disease  recorded 

'•  B.  Pellerin,  Considdrations  sur  les  maladies  quiont  ri^ni  a  V hospice  de 
la  Salpitritre  dans  les  premiers  mois  de  1814  pendant  lesquels  les  militaires 
malades  ont  6t6  admis  dans  cet  hospice.  Paris,  1814. — M.  Friedlander,  Notice 
sur  la  dernidre  dpiddmie  du  typhus.  Gazette  de  sant6  ou  Recueil  giniral  et 
pModique.    Annee  42.    Paris,  1816.    P.  89. 


158        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

as  the  cause  of  death.  The  rubric  '  fievres  putrides  et 
adynamiques  '  increased  in  the  year  1813  from  1,337  deaths 
to  2,860  deaths,  and  the  rubric  '  fievres  mahgnes  ou  ataxi- 
ques' from  804  to  1,376.'° 

Owing  to  the  overcrowded  condition  of  the  hospitals  in 
Paris,  soldiers  were  conveyed  upon  a  number  of  boats  on 
the  Seine  to  Rouen.  Since  sick  and  wounded  men  were 
thus  transported  together,  typhus  fever  was  conveyed  to 
Rouen,  where  it  carried  away  large  numbers  of  persons 
employed  in  the  hospitals.  In  the  same  way,  sick  and 
wounded  were  transported  to  points  on  the  Loire,  causing 
typhus  fever  to  spread  to  Tours,  where  860  soldiers  succumbed 
to  it.'i 

The  proximity  of  the  scene  of  the  war  in  January  and 
February  1813  caused  typhus  fever  to  break  out  in  the  Swiss 
Cantons  lying  close  to  the  French  border ;  for  example,  in 
the  cantons  of  Basel-Stadt,  Basel-Land,  Neuenburg,  Solo- 
thurn,  and  Waadt.     The  number  of  deaths  in  these  cantons 


is:'=^ 

Year. 

Basel- 
Stadt. 

Basel- 
Land. 

Neuenburg. 

Soloihurn. 

Waadt 

I8l2    . 

442 

867 

1,041 

1.349 

3.705 

1813  . 

425 

748 

1,014 

1,072 

3,186 

1814  . 

721 

1,679 

1.335 

1,844 

3.475 

1815  . 

479 

812 

1,220 

1,240 

3.267 

1816  . 

355 

710 

1.234 

— 

3.720 

According  to  A.  Burckhardt,"  lazaret-fever  broke  out  in 
Basel  with  extraordinary  fury  when  the  Allies  passed  through 
that  city  ;  it  raged  particularly  among  the  foreign  soldiers, 
but  also  attacked  the  attendants  in  the  hospitals  and  the 
civil  inhabitants.  The  number  of  deaths  caused  by  it  is 
unknown. 

'«  Gazette  de  Santi,  etc.    Annee  41.    Paris,  1814,  and  Annee  42,  1815. 
"'^  A.  Laveran,  op.  cit.,  p.  255. 

'2  Ehe,  Geburt  tind  Tod  in  der  schweizerischen  Bevolkerung  wdhrend  der 
20  Jahre  1871-90.    Third  Part.    First  half,  p.  195.    Bern,  1901. 
"  A.  Burckhardt,  op.  cit.,  p.  48. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)   159 

6.    Typhus  Fever  in  Austria  in  the  Years  1813-14.'* 

The  country  in  Austria  which  was  most  exposed  to  the 
ravages  of  the  epidemic  of  typhus  fever  was  Bohemia,  along 
whose  borders  the  war  was  for  a  long  time  carried  on.  As  early 
as  February  1813,  '  nerve-fever  ',  accompanied  by  petechiae, 
was  borne  by  Bavarian  and  Prussian  troops  into  the  district 
of  Koniggratz,  but  thanks  to  energetic  and  strict  measures 
of  precaution,  it  did  not  become  very  widespread.  The 
principal  outbreak  of  the  epidemic  in  Bohemia  took  place 
in  the  autumn  of  the  year  1813.  The  number  of  typhus- 
fever  patients  taken  into  the  Prague  hospital  in  September 
1813  was  39,  in  October  77,  in  November  196,  and  in  Decem- 
ber 287.'^  The  region  along  the  Saxon  border  suffered  the 
most :  e.  g.  the  districts  of  Leitmeritz,  Saaz,  Rakonitz,  and 
Elbogen.  In  the  Leitmeritz  district  typhus  appeared  in 
August,  and  became  more  severe  in  September  and  October ; 
the  places  along  the  military  road  leading  from  Dresden  to 
Prague  were  particularly  hard  hit.  The  epidemic  lasted 
until  April.  In  the  near-by  Kaurzim  district  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  of  all  nations  arrived,  after  the  battles 
of  Pima,  Dresden,  and  Kulm,  causing  a  virulent  epidemic 
to  break  out  everywhere  ;  in  many  places  all  the  inhabitants 
contracted  it.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  year,  when  the 
pestilence  seemed  to  have  abated  a  little,  it  broke  out  anew 
when  the  French  garrison  was  being  taken  from  Dresden 
to  its  place  of  detention ;  in  fourteen  days  2,422  persons  in 
sixty  places  contracted  the  disease,  which  disappeared  in 
May.  Typhus  fever  had  spread  over  103  localities,  all  told, 
in  that  region,  and  of  8,066  people  who  contracted  it,  751 

'*  Historical  Survey  of  the  health-conditions  in  Austria,  Styria,  Carinthia, 
Moravia,  and  Bohemia,  in  the  years  1813  and  1814.  Information  taken 
from  the  Hauptsanitatsberichte  der  Landesstellen.  Observations  and 
discussions  by  Austrian  physicians  regarding  practical  therapeutics, 
vol.  ii,,  p.  1.    1821. 

"  Compare  also  J.  R.  Bisehofi,  Beobachtungen  iiber  den  Typhus  und  die 
Nervenfieber  nebst  ihrer  Behandlung.    Prague,  1814. 


160        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

succumbed.  In  the  Saaz  district  typhus  broke  out  in  the 
last  part  of  October  1813,  and  carried  away  large  numbers 
of  people  ;  it  raged  all  along  the  military  road  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  scene  of  the  war.  The  highest  mortality  was  in  the 
month  of  December,  and  in  May  the  pestilence  disappeared. 
In  the  Rakonitz  district  entire  communities  lay  sick  in  the 
first  part  of  the  year,  but  in  April  no  new  cases  of  the  disease 
occurred.  In  the  Elbogen  district  typhus  fever  broke  out 
in  September  1813  in  the  city  of  Eger,  in  consequence  of  the 
arrival  of  French  prisoners  and  fugitives  ;  the  epidemic  soon 
spread  over  the  entire  district,  and  lasted  until  March  1814. 

The  rest  of  Bohemia  suffered  less  severely  from  typhus 
fever  in  the  winter  of  1813-14.  In  the  Beraun  district, 
lying  to  the  south-west  of  Prague,  it  began  in  October  1813, 
when  the  homes  of  the  citizens  became  crowded  with  con- 
valescing soldiers ;  the  epidemic  came  to  an  end  in  March 
1814.  The  number  of  people  who  contracted  the  disease  was 
3,807,  while  the  number  who  succumbed  was  296.  The  adja- 
cent districts  of  Pilsen  and  Kattau  were  likewise  attacked  ; 
in  the  Pilsen  district  typhus  fever  broke  out  in  October  1813, 
in  consequence  of  the  arrival  of  French  prisoners  ;  a  number 
of  places  were  infected  by  them,  so  that  in  November  and 
December  it  developed  into  an  epidemic,  which  lasted  until 
April.  Of  1,185  people  who  contracted  the  disease,  237  died. 
In  the  Kattau  district  645  contracted  the  disease  and  132 
succumbed. 

In  the  eastern  part  of  the  country  the  districts  of  Tabor 
and  Czaslau  were  severely  attacked.  '  In  the  Tabor  district ', 
we  read  in  the  above-mentioned  report,'*  '  there  appeared 
in  the  month  of  August  at  Neuhaus,  where  a  field-hospital 
had  been  erected,  several  biliary- mucous  nerve-fevers,  which 
broke  out  in  numerous  places  along  the  road  to  Prague,  soon 
spread  to  the  Tabor  district,  and  became  epidemic.  They 
quickly  revealed  their  presence  in  all  places  where  sick 
soldiers  passed  the  night,  or  where  the  natives  took  part  in 
'•  Historical  Survey,  p.  84. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)  161 

the  transportation  of  sick  soldiers.'  The  climax  of  the  epi- 
demic was  in  January,  and  in  the  middle  of  May  it  disap- 
peared ;  of  4,267  people  who  contracted  the  disease,  448 
succumbed.  In  the  Czaslau  district,  adjacent  to  the  Tabor 
district  on  the  north,  the  disease  was  disseminated  in 
November  1813  by  transports  of  prisoners  and  troops,  by 
the  quartering  of  convalescents  in  the  homes  of  peasants, 
and  by  peasants  who  helped  to  transport  sick  soldiers.  On 
December  16,  1813,  no  less  than  4,313  civilians  in  thirteen 
places  were  suffering  from  typhus  fever.  The  highest  mor- 
tality prevailed  in  the  vicinity  of  the  hospitals  ;  the  epidemic 
disappeared  with  the  arrival  of  spring. 

Typhus  fever  was  also  conveyed  into  various  parts  of 
Moravia,"  partly  by  Austrian  troops,  and  partly  by  French 
prisoners ;  in  the  districts  of  Briinn,  Iglau,  Olmiitz,  and 
Teschen  it  broke  out  in  numerous  places.  In  twelve  com- 
munities in  these  districts,  having  a  combined  population 
of  28,267,  some  2,126  people  contracted  the  disease  between 
December  1813  and  the  summer  of  1814,  and  207  persons 
succumbed.  In  March  the  epidemic  disappeared  almost 
everywhere.  According  to  the  figures  compiled  by  J.  Hain,'^ 
the  number  of  deaths  in  Moravia  and  Austrian- Silesia 
together  was  : 


July  (1813) 

3,818 

August 

3,893 

September 

.     3,888 

October    . 

4,059 

November 

4,457 

December 

5,202 

January  (1814) 

8,280 

February- 

7,249 

March 

•     7,756 

April 

5,464 

May 

5,541 

June 

4,147 

"  J.  Steiner,  tjber  den  Gesundheitszustand  in  Mahren  im  Jahre  1814. 

Beobachtungen  und  Abhandlungen  aus  dem  Gebiete  der  gesamten  praktischen 

Heilkunde  von  osterreichischen  Aerzten,  vol.  i,  p.  88.    1819. 

^8  J.  Hain,  Handbuch  der  Statistik  des  osterreichischen  Kaiserstaats. 

Vienna,  1852.    Vol.  i,  p.  78. 

1569.13 

M 

162        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

In  Lower  Austria  typhus  fever  also  broke  out,  particu- 
larly in  Vienna  ;  the  number  of  deaths  there  was  : 


Due  to  typhiis  fever. 

All  deaths. 

1813    . 

784 

12,971 

I8I4    . 

.     1,529 

15,309 

In  the  rest  of  the  country  few  diseases  appeared,  despite  the 
fact  that  troops  kept  marching  back  and  forth. 

Typhus  fever  was  conveyed  by  marching  troops  to  Styria 
also ;  the  source  of  the  pestilence  was  the  seven  military 
hospitals  in  Graz.  We  read  in  the  report :  '*  '  The  pesti- 
lence, proceeding  principally  from  the  seven  military  hos- 
pitals lying  within  the  city  limits  as  from  a  focus,  was  spread 
abroad  by  convalescents,  attendants,  physicians,  &c.  The 
mortahty  in  these  hospitals  was  extremely  high ;  the  build- 
ings set  aside  for  the  purpose  could  scarcely  accommodate 
the  number  of  sick.  Everything  was  topsy-turvy ;  the 
corps  of  field-doctors  on  hand  was  not  nearly  large  enough 
to  take  even  the  most  necessary  care  of  the  large  number 
of  patients.'  The  region  around  Graz,  Marburg,  and  Bruck 
was  most  severely  attacked  by  the  disease,  which  also  spread 
to  Carinthia  and  broke  out  in  Klagenfurt  and  vicinity. 

7.   Survey  of  the  Epidemic  of  Typhus  Fever  in 
THE  Years  1813-14 

It  is  impossible  to  draw  an  accurate  picture  of  the  loss  of 
human  life  which  typhus  fever  caused  in  the  years  181S-14. 
This  is  due,  on  the  one  hand,  to  the  lack  of  reliable  statistics, 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  to  the  fact  that  the  several  regions 
suffered  to  a  varying  degree,  depending  upon  the  number 

"  Historical  Survey,  p.  182.  In  HufelancTs  Journal  (Jahrgang  1814  and 
1815.  Vols,  xxxii-xxxiv)  there  is  general  survey  of  the  copious  literature 
of  that  time  regarding  infectious  nerve-fever ;  it  comprises  several  hundred 
numbers.  Many  publications  are  only  of  a  theoretical  nature  and  deal 
only  with  the  character  of  the  disease  and  do  not  aim  at  offering 
descriptive  data;  only  a  few  contain  usable  information  regarding  the 
duration  and  extent  of  the  epidemic  in  the  individual  localities. 


TYPHUS  FEVER  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  (1812-14)   163 

of  troops,  prisoners,  and  refugees  that  they  received.  The 
number  of  persons  that  succumbed  to  typhus  fever  in  Ger- 
many during  the  years  1813-14  must  be  estimated  at  least 
as  high  as  200,000  or  300,000.  Assuming  that  200,000 
people  succumbed  to  the  disease,  the  number  that  con- 
tracted it  would  amount  to  some  2,000,000.  Since  Germany 
at  that  time  had  hardly  more  than  20,000,000  inhabitants, 
some  ten  per  cent  of  them,  on  the  basis  of  this  assumption, 
contracted  the  disease.  The  size  of  this  number  is  signi- 
ficant, when  we  consider  that  the  stronger  and  older  people 
manifested  particular  susceptibility  to  the  disease. 

One  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  wide  dissemination  of  typhus 
fever  in  the  years  1813-14  was  the  imperfect  development 
of  the  lazaret  system.     If  at  first  a  lazaret  for  infectious 
diseases  was  available,  the  number  of  patients  it  was  called 
upon  to  accommodate  in  a  few  days  became  so  large  that 
new  buildings  always  had  to  be  opened  for  them,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  keep  them  isolated.     The  efforts  of  the  various 
municipal    administrations    to    have    the    lazarets    erected 
outside  the  city  limits  were  powerless  against  the  brutal 
obstinacy  of  the  French,  and,  later,  of  the  Russian  generals. 
The  severity  of  the  penalty  which  they  had  to  pay  for 
unceremoniously  housing  infected  French  troops  in  strong- 
holds together  with  healthy  men,  is  evident  from  the  fearful 
devastation  caused  by  typhus  fever  in   Danzig,   Torgau, 
Mayence,  &c.     The  little  communities  were  absolutely  help- 
less against  the  dominating  power  of  the  soldiers.     One 
might  reproach  the  municipal  administrations  of  that  time 
with  failing  to  adopt  measures  of  prevention  against  the 
menacing  danger  of  pestilence,  particularly  in  places  which 
did  not  suffer  in  consequence  of  the  marching  back  and 
forth  of   soldiers.     But  one  must  take  into  account  the 
excitement  which  permeated  the  entire  people  at  that  time 
— ^the  hopeful  longing  to  be  freed  from  the  national  enemy's 
long  oppression,  toward  which  all  thinking  and  planning 
was  directed,  the    employment   of    all    resources  for  this 

M  2 


164        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

purpose,  and  in  particular  the  fact  that  sheer  ignorance 
rendered  appropriate  measures  impossible.  If  this  ignorance 
prevailed  in  the  highest  places,  nothing  better  was  to  be 
expected  of  the  administrations  of  the  smaller  cities  and 
towns.  The  population  was  therefore  everywhere  defence- 
less against  the  intrusion  of  the  pestilence,  which  was  given 
an  opportunity  to  become  more  and  more  widespread.  This, 
however,  had  not  been  the  case  in  Central  Europe  since  the 
Thirty  Years'  War. 


CHAPTER  VII 

FROM  THE  AGE  OF  NAPOLEON  TO  THE  FRANCO-GERMAN 

WAR 

1,    The  Russo-Turkish  War  of  1828-9 

On  April  28,  1828,  Russia  declared  war  against  Turkey ; 
the  fighting  took  place  partly  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  in 
Wallachia  and  Bulgaria,  and  partly  in  Transcaucasia.  In 
the  western  scene  of  the  war,  the  Russians,  after  the  capture 
of  Varna  and  the  futile  siege  of  Schumla  in  the  campaign 
of  the  year  1828,  were  obliged  to  retire  to  the  left  bank  of 
the  Danube ;  in  the  second  campaign  (1829)  Diebitsch 
defeated  the  Turks  at  Kulevtchi,  marched  across  the  Balkan 
Peninsula,  and  appeared  unexpectedly  at  Adrianople,  which 
the  Turks  surrendered  to  him  without  resistance. 

An  unusually  severe  epidemic  of  bubonic  plague  accom- 
panied this  campaign.  In  the  year  1828  plague  had  spread 
from  Asia  Minor  to  European  Turkey  and  Wallachia ;  as 
early  as  1825  and  1826  it  appeared  in  Bucharest,  while 
sporadic  cases  of  the  disease  occurred  in  Wallachia  in  the 
summer  of  1827  and  in  the  winter  of  1827-8.^  On  April  30, 
1828,  the  first  Russian  troops  made  their  appearance  in 
Bucharest ;  they  were  quartered  in  the  city  itself  and  in 
the  surrounding  villages.  On  May  13  seven  cases  of  plague 
appeared  in  a  private  house,  but  the  Bucharest  physicians 
did  not  hold  the  disease  to  be  plague.  Orders  to  disinfect 
the  houses  were  issued,  but  intercourse  with  the  surrounding 
villages  was  not  stopped.  Some  thirty  inhabitants  suc- 
cumbed to  the  pestilence  in  May,  and  at  the  end  of  that 
month  three  Russian  soldiers  were  allowed  to  enter  the  city. 
Since  the  number  of  cases  in  the  city  was  increasing,  the 

^  Czetyrkin,  Die  Pest  in  der  ricssischen  Armee  zur  Zeit  des  Tiirkenkriegs 
imJahre  1828  und  1829.    Translated  from  the  Russian.    Berlin,  1837.    P.  1. 


166        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

troops  stationed  there  were  quartered  in  the  village  of 
Fundeni,  where,  however,  several  more  people  soon  con- 
tracted the  disease.  During  the  month  of  May,  plague 
broke  out  in  other  villages  of  Wallachia,  and  in  the  course 
of  the  summer  and  autumn  it  spread  throughout  the  entire 
country.  In  regard  to  the  origin  of  this  epidemic  of  plague, 
Simon  ^  says  :  '  All  Wallachia  was  infected  from  the  year 
1826 ;  but  had  it  not  been  for  the  war  and  the  consequent 
afflictions  of  all  kinds,  the  disease  would  not  have  developed 
in  the  year  1828  into  such  a  furious  and  extensive  epidemic. 
The  arrival  of  the  Russians  was  responsible  for  this  wide- 
spread outbreak,  since  they  carried  the  infection  contracted 
from  the  inhabitants  to  a  thousand  different  places.' 

The  removal  of  the  troops  to  Fundeni  temporarily  checked 
the  dissemination  of  plague  in  Bucharest,  but  in  the 
middle  of  August  it  broke  out  again,  presumably  in  conse- 
quence of  the  arrival  of  more  troops  from  the  scene  of  the 
war ;  some  thirty  or  forty  villages  were  attacked  by  this 
epidemic,  which  lasted  until  the  middle  of  November.  In 
January  1829,  plague  was  conveyed  by  troops  to  Moldau 
and  Jassy,  which  they  were  to  make  their  winter  quarters ; 
but  the  disease,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  it  was  wrongly 
diagnosed  and  declared  to  be  typhus  fever,  was  soon  checked 
by  energetic  measures  of  precaution.  Regarding  the  number 
of  plague  patients  in  the  Russian  army,  which  was  also 
attacked  by  several  other  diseases,  especially  malaria,  diar- 
rhoea, dysentery,  and  fever,  no  information  is  available ;  the 
Russian  army  numbered  150,000  men,  and,  according  to 
Seidlitz,  134,882  men  were  received  into  the  lazarets  and 
75,226  men  into  the  regimental  sick-rooms  up  to  the  end  of 
February  1829 ;  thus  210,108  men  contracted  disease  in 
a  period  of  ten  months.^ 

In  March  1829,  plague  broke  out  anew.    Surgeon-General 

2  Seidlitz,  Petersenn,  Rinck,  und  Witt,  Medizinische  Geschichte  des 
Russisch-turkischen  Feldzugs  in  den  Jahren  1828  und  1825.  New  edition 
by  F.  A.  Simon.    Hamburg,  1854.    P.  27. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  38  fl. 


THE  RUSSO-TURKISH  WAR  (1828-9)  167 

Witt,  who  had  his  head-quarters  in  Jassy,  declared  that  the 
disease  was  not  plague,  but  an  endemic  fever,  and  put  an 
end  to  all  measures  of  precaution  in  March.  '  After  the 
patients  were  no  longer  quarantined,'  says  Czetyrkin,*  '  the 
disease,  bringing  destruction  in  its  train,  in  the  spring  and 
summer  began  to  make  headway  and  spread  over  Moldavia, 
Wallachia,  and  Bulgaria ;  it  also  accompanied  the  Russian 
army  across  the  Balkan  Peninsula  and  appeared  in  Rumelia, 
where  it  completely  wiped  out  several  hospitals.  Those 
divisions  of  the  army  which  were  kept  constantly  on  the 
march  and  were  thus  exposed  to  the  fresh  air,  rain,  and  dew, 
suffered  less  severely ;  but  the  garrisons  in  the  cities  and 
strongholds  were  more  furiously  attacked  by  the  dreaded 
enemy.  The  overcrowded  condition  of  the  lazarets,  the  lack 
of  competent  nurses  and  physicians  (most  of  whom  were 
exterminated  by  plague),  the  uncertainty  regarding  the 
nature  of  the  disease — all  this  constituted  the  reason  why 
the  pestilence  could  not  be  checked.' 

The  disease  first  appeared  in  March  1829  throughout 
Wallachia,  but  after  the  middle  of  May  it  also  revealed  its 
presence  south  of  the  Danube  ;  Galatz,  Babadag,  Kustendji, 
Mangalia,  Bazardschik,  and  Kavarna  were  attacked  in 
succession. 

Varna  suffered  very  severely ;  according  to  Petersenn, 
the  first  cases  occurred  there  in  May  1829,  in  the  infantry 
regiment  Witepsk.  The  patients  were  housed  in  tents  on 
the  sea-shore  outside  the  city,  and  since  the  number  of 
people  who  contracted  the  disease  continued  to  increase, 
all  the  patients  in  the  hospitals  were  soon  taken  there.  The 
city  was  finally  completely  evacuated  and  closed  up,  after 
the  inhabitants  had  been  assigned  to  definite  places  to  live 
in  the  open  fields  and  in  a  near-by  forest.  The  plague 
reached  its  climax  in  the  latter  part  of  June.  '  There  was 
not  a  hospital,'  says  Petersenn,^  '  not  a  quarter  of  the  city, 
not  a  division  of  troops,  not  a  family,  not  a  single  place, 

*  Czetyrkin,  op.  cit.,  p.  4  ff.  ^  Seidlitz,  op.  cit.,  p.  137. 


168        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

which  had  escaped  infection,  and  everywhere  one  came 
across  victims  of  the  pestilence,  some  dying  and  some  dead ; 
for  it  spared  neither  sex  nor  age  nor  class.'  And  in  another 
place  the  same  physician  says  :  *  '  If  the  inside  of  the  plague- 
camp  afforded  a  terrible  sight,  where  sick  men  tossed  about, 
gasping  in  the  burning  summer  heat,  between  the  dead  and 
dying,  the  conditions  outside  of  the  plague-camp  were  no 
more  pleasant  to  witness  ;  for  along  the  roads  from  the  city 
to  the  hospitals,  on  fields  and  meadows,  behind  every  shrub, 
in  every  ditch,  dead  and  dying  men  were  stretched  out 
everywhere.'  And  SeidUtz,  who  visited  Varna  when  the 
plague  was  at  its  height,  asserts  that  the  corpses  were  piled 
up  '  like  logs  '  and  carried  away  '  by  cartloads  '.  According 
to  Petersenn,'  the  number  of  patients  that  died  in  the  plague- 
hospital  at  Varna  was  : 

From  June  5  to  30     .         .         .         .     2,238 
From  July  i  to  31      .  .  .  .     1,484 

From  August  i  to  26  .         .         .        210 

At  the  end  of  August  there  were  only  a  few  plague-patients 
in  Varna.  Of  forty-one  physicians,  twenty-eight  contracted 
the  disease  and  twenty  succumbed  to  it. 

Conditions  were  as  bad  in  many  other  places  as  they  were 
in  Varna  ;  Slobodzie,  Kustendji,  and  Mangalia  were  likewise 
devastated.  In  Brailow  the  first  cases  of  plague  occurred 
in  March ;  in  April  132  persons  succumbed  to  the  disease, 
in  May  150,  in  June  774,  and  in  July  the  pestilence  abated.® 

After  the  Russians  crossed  the  Balkan  Peninsula  in  the 
summer  of  1829,  Adrianople,  which  was  reached  on  August  12, 
1829,  was  free  from  plague,  and  it  remained  free  until  the 
end  of  the  war.  In  the  first  part  of  November,  however, 
the  plague  broke  out  there  in  the  large  old  barrack  which 
had  been  converted  into  a  hospital  and  had  become  greatly 
overcrowded.  Patients,  especially  persons  suffering  from 
dysentery,  had  been  sent  there  from  all  sides,  so  that  their 

«  Seidlitz,  op.  cit.,  p.  10.  '  Ibid.,  p.  180. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  8. 


THE  RUSSO-TURKISH  WAR  (1828-9)  169 

number  had  increased  on  August  17  to  1,616,  on  August  27 
to  3,666,  and  on  September  1  to  4,641.  On  November  1, 
when  the  head-quarters  were  removed  from  there,  6,000  sick 
and  healthy  persons  were  left  behind,  the  great  majority 
of  whom  fell  victims  to  the  plague.  According  to  Rinck, 
in  the  latter  part  of  November  ten  or  twenty  soldiers  suffer- 
ing from  plague  were  taken  there  every  day,  and  in  the 
middle  of  December  not  one  of  the  300  sick-rooms  was 
spared ;  from  fifty  to  sixty  plague-patients  were  taken  in 
every  day  at  this  time.*  In  the  middle  of  January  1830  the 
fury  of  the  disease  abated  a  little  among  the  Russians,  but 
it  raged  more  and  more  destructively  among  the  civil  inhabi- 
tants, who  numbered  some  80,000.  In  almost  all  the  army- 
divisions  stationed  south  of  the  Balkans,  plague  broke  out 
in  the  winter  of  1829-30  ;  the  entire  army,  therefore,  before 
returning  to  Russia,  had  to  be  quarantined  twice  for  a  period 
of  twenty-one  days. 

Plague  also  revealed  its  presence  in  Transcaucasia,  where 
fighting  was  likewise  going  on.  In  Armenia  it  had  broken 
out  shortly  before  the  beginning  of  the  Russo-Turkish  War, 
as  also  in  Erzerum.  The  reinforcements  coming  from  there 
had  brought  plague  to  Kars,  where  it  spread  rapidly  in  the 
Turkish  army.^"  In  June  1828,  when  the  stronghold  of  Kars 
was  stormed,  the  disease  was  borne  by  Turkish  prisoners 
back  to  the  Russian  army  ;  but  the  strict  measures  of  Field- 
Marshal  Count  Paskewitsch  prevented  it  from  spreading 
further  in  the  army.^^  But  the  inhabitants  of  Kars  resisted 
these  orders,  and  the  result  was  that  plague  continued  to 
rage  there,  partly  in  the  garrison,  which  in  twenty  days  had 
530  plague-patients,  and  partly  among  the  inhabitants,  until 
September.  The  plague  was  conveyed  by  Turkish  prisoners 
to  Eriwan,  to  the  region  of  Tiflis,  and  to  other  places.    In 

*  Seidlitz,  op.  cit.,  p.  186. 

1°  J.  D.  Tholazan,  Histoire  chronologique  ct  gdographique  de  la  peste  au 
Caucase,enArmdnieet  dans  VAnatolie,  dans  la  premiere  moitic  duXIX^siecle. 
Gazette  mMicale  de  Paris,  vol.  xlvi,  p.  458.    1875. 

1^  Cyetyrkin,  op.  cit.,  pp.  6  ff. 


170        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

the  stronghold  of  Achalzich,  situated  midway  between  Batum 
and  Tiflis,  plague  broke  out  in  the  year  1829  ;  in  the  latter 
part  of  February  the  stronghold  was  besieged  by  the  Turks, 
who  were  infected  with  plague.  In  consequence  of  a  sortie 
of  the  small  garrison  on  March  6,  which  resulted  in  the 
withdrawal  of  the  Turks,  since  at  the  same  time  Russian 
reinforcements  were  approaching,  the  plague  was  conveyed  to 
Achalzich,  where  the  first  cases  occurred  on  March  10  in  the 
garrison,  and  shortly  afterwards  among  the  inhabitants.  On 
May  23  that  part  of  the  garrison  which  had  been  spared  by 
the  plague  was  marched  out  into  the  open  country,  and  the 
stronghold  was  thoroughly  cleansed,  after  which  no  more 
cases  were  reported.  In  the  fall  of  1829  plague  completely 
disappeared  from  among  the  Transcaucasian  troops,  and 
from  the  territory  under  their  control. 

2.    The  Crimean  War  (1854-6) 

The  Crimean  War  plays  a  very  conspicuous  role  in  the 
history  of  war-pestilences  and  of  military  sanitation ;  on 
the  one  hand,  it  showed  how  severe  a  penalty  an  army  has 
to  pay  if,  without  measures  of  precaution,  troops  are  sent 
to  the  scene  of  the  war  from  infected  localities ;  on  the 
other  hand,  it  showed  that  it  is  possible  to  prevent  serious 
outbreaks  of  pestilence  if  energetic  measures  are  adopted 
to  provide  good  food  and  shelter  for  the  troops.  Whereas 
the  English  soldiers  suffered  a  great  deal  more  from  pesti- 
lence in  the  first  winter  than  the  French  soldiers,  in  the 
second  winter,  in  consequence  of  great  improvements  intro- 
duced in  the  housing,  clothing,  and  feeding  of  troops,  the 
English  suffered  very  little,  while  the  French  suffered  severely. 

In  the  year  1853  cholera  made  its  appearance  in  several 
places  in  France,  and  in  the  following  year  it  spread  over 
the  entire  country ;  it  raged  most  furiously  in  the  southern 
districts.  Since  the  French  troops,  who  were  embarked  at 
Toulon  and  Marseilles,  were  consequently  infected  with 
cholera,  those  suffering  from  the  disease  had  to  be  put  ashore 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR  (1854-6)  171 

from  the  first  transport  ship  at  Malta,  and  others  at  the 
Peiraeus.  When  the  troops  disembarked  at  Gallipoli  there 
were  thirteen  cholera-patients  among  them,  and  these 
were  presently  followed  by  other  cases.  Sporadic  cases  of 
cholera  then  began  to  occur  wherever  the  French  soldiers 
went,  as  in  Nagara,  Varna,  Adrianople,  &c.  The  fact  that 
the  disease  was  borne  thither  by  French  troops  was  frankly 
admitted  by  most  of  the  French  military  physicians ;  only 
a  few,  for  example,  Cazalas,  assumed  that  the  disease  was 
already  prevalent  in  Dobrudja.^^ 

During  the  expedition  undertaken  by  the  French  soldiers 
to  the  unhealthy  and  deserted  district  of  Dobrudja,  cholera 
broke  out  in  the  army  like  an  explosion,  compelling  it  to 
return.  The  English  soldiers  during  the  siege  of  Varna, 
and  also  parts  of  the  English  fleet,  were  likewise  attacked 
by  cholera.  Statements  made  by  Scrive  and  Chenu  regard- 
ing the  number  of  French  soldiers  that  succumbed  to  the 
pestilence  diverge  widely ;  according  to  Scrive,  the  French 
army,  which  numbered  some  55,000  men,  lost  5,183  men 
between  July  3  and  August  30,  1854,  in  consequence  of 
cholera,^^  while  Chenu  gives  us  the  following  statistics  :  ^* 

No.  patients.  No.  deaths. 
July  (1854)      .         .     8,239  5.030 

August    .  .  .     3,043  3,015 

September        .  .376  239 

The  English  army,  which  numbered  some  30,000  men, 

also  suffered :  ^^ 

No.  patients.  No.  deaths. 
July  (1854)      .         .        449  285 

August    .  .  .        938  611 

September       .  .      1,232  575 

October  .  .  .        445  273 

^2  G.  Scrive,  Relation  midico-chirurgicale  de  la  campagne  d'Orient.  Paris, 
1857.    Pp.  56  fl.,  and  p.  71. 

"  Scrive  (loc.  cit.),  p.  343. 

^*  J.  C.  Chenu,  Rapport  au  Conseil  de  santd  des  armies  sur  les  risultats 
du  service  rtiMico-chirurgical  aux  ambulances  de  Crimie  et  aux  hdpitaux 
militaires  fran^ais  en  Turquie  pendant  la  campagne  d'Orient  en  1854-5-6. 
Paris,  1865.    P.  565. 

1"*  Chenu  (loc.  cit.),  p.  593. 


172        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

In  September  the  scene  of  the  war  was  transferred  to  the 
Crimea,  but  there  agam  cholera  raged  furiously  in  both 
armies  ;  in  the  winter  of  1854-5,  to  be  sure,  it  carried  away 
a  relatively  small  number  of  men,  but  in  the  summer  of  1855 
it  broke  out  anew  with  great  severity.  The  total  number  of 
deaths  in  the  French  army  during  the  entire  campaign  was 
12,467,  in  the  English  army  4,513,  and  in  the  Piedmontese 
army  1,230.  The  size  of  the  armies  varied  greatly ;  the 
French  army  was  largest  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1855, 
when  it  numbered  145,000  men  ;  the  total  number  of  English 
soldiers  was  97,864,  and  that  of  Piedmontese  soldiers,  21,000. 

According  to  Hasar,^*  cholera  spread  far  and  wide  from 
the  scene  of  the  war — ^throughout  Turkey,  around  the  Black 
Sea,  in  Greece,  in  Smyrna,  along  the  coast  of  the  Dardanelles, 
in  Constantinople,  Odessa,  Rumelia,  and  in  the  Danube 
principalities ;  the  inhabitants  of  the  district  of  Dobrudja 
also  suffered  severely  from  the  pestilence,  which  after  the 
war  spread  over  a  large  part  of  Russia. 

Scurvy  also  raged  in  the  French  army  in  the  dry  summer  of 
the  year  1855,  as  well  as  in  the  severe  winter  following.  In 
August  1855  there  were  2,581  scurvy  patients  in  the  army, 
which  was  the  largest  number  in  the  summer  months,  and 
in  February  there  were  4,341,  the  largest  number  in  the 
winter  months.  The  outbreak  of  scurvy  among  the  English 
troops,  who  also  suffered  from  the  disease  in  the  winter  of 
1854-5,  was  later  checked  by  the  consumption  of  better  food. 

Dysentery  was  also  very  common  :  6,105  French  soldiers 
suffering  from  that  disease  in  the  Crimea  were  taken  to  the 
field-lazarets ;  2,061  died  there,  and  2,792  were  removed  to 
Constantinople.  No  less  than  7,883  English  soldiers  con- 
tracted acute  and  chronic  dysentery,  and  2,143  succumbed 
to  it. 

As  early  as  the  winter  of  1854-5  a  small  number  of  cases 
of  typhus  fever  occurred  among  the  French  and  English 
soldiers ;  but  not  until  the  winter  of  1855-6,  between  the 
16  Haser,  op.  cit.,  p.  860. 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR  (1854-6)  173 

months  of  December  and  March,  did  the  disease  become  very 
widespread  in  the  French  army  in  consequence  of  unfavour- 
able living  conditions  ;  the  English  army,  on  the  other  hand, 
scarcely  suffered  at  all  during  that  winter.  Scrive  and 
Chenu  publish  the  following  statistics  relating  to  the  French 
army  in  the  field-lazarets  of  the  Crimea : 


Typhus  fever 

Taken  to 

No. 

Montlis. 

Size  of  army. 

patients. 

Constantinople. 

deaths 

December  (1855) 

145,120 

734 

204 

323 

January  (1856) 

144,512 

1.523 

320 

464 

February 

132,800 

3.402 

92s 

1.435 

March  . 

.     121,000 

3,457 

1,140 

1,830 

April     . 

105,000 

237 

— 

lOI 

May 

67,000 

38 

— 

17 

According  to  Scrive,  11,124  typhus-fever  patients,  all  told, 
were  taken  into  the  field-lazarets  of  the  Crimea  between 
September  1854  and  July  1856  ;  of  these,  3,840  were  removed 
to  Constantinople,  and  6,018  died  in  the  field-lazarets.^^ 
But  Scrive  says  that  this  number  of  typhus-fever  patients 
is  too  small ;  it  must  have  been  increased  by  the  number 
of  persons  who  contracted  the  disease  in  the  field-lazarets 
and  hospitals,  4,502  of  whom  succumbed  to  it,  and  the  num- 
ber who  contracted  and  succumbed  to  it  in  Constantinople 
and  France,  making  7,000  all  told.  According  to  Scrive, 
therefore,  the  total  number  of  deaths  due  to  typhus  fever 
in  the  French  army  was  no  less  than  17,515,  from  which  he 
assumes  that  at  least  35,000  men  contracted  the  disease.^® 

In  the  EngHsh  army  typhus  fever  appeared  only  sporadi- 
cally in  the  winter  of  1855-6  ;  according  to  Chenu,  167  men 
contracted  the  disease  and  62  succumbed  to  it.^* 

Among  the  Russian  troops  typhus  fever  raged  furiously,^ 
and  according  to  A.  Hirsch  it  was  also  very  widespread  in 
southern  Russia.  ^^ 

^'  Scrive,  op.  cit.,  p.  345. 
18  Ibid.,  p.  420. 

i»  Chenu  (note  14,  Chapter  VII),  p.  595. 

20  O.T^'\eAn&[,DieKriegsepidemieen  des  19.  Jahrhunderts  und  ihre  Bekamp- 
fung.    Beriin,  1903.    P.  64. 

-^  A.  Hirsch,  op.  cit.,  vol.  i,  p.  395. 


174        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

In  Constantinople,  typhus  fever,  although  it  infected 
numerous  persons  in  the  military  hospitals,  apparently  did 
not  spread  to  the  civil  population.  Baudens,  who  after 
the  capture  of  Sebastopol  came  to  the  Orient,  says  expressly 
that  the  inhabitants  of  Constantinople  were  spared  by  the 
epidemic  during  its  entire  course.  ^^ 

According  to  Murchison,  typhus  fever  was  borne  by 
English  troops  to  English  soil,  where  in  the  years  1856-7 
it  caused  epidemics  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  The 
following  table  indicates  the  number  of  typhus-fever  patients 
taken  into  the  Fever  Hospital  in  London  : 

1854 337 

1855 342 

1856 1,062 

1857 274 

i8s» 15 

The  increased  number  in  London  was  not  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  disease  was  brought  over  from  Ireland,  since  there 
were  only  fifty-three  Irishmen  among  the  patients,  and  only 
two  of  them  had  been  in  the  city  less  than  three  months. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  warlike  events  caused  a  famine, 
resulting  in  much  misery  among  the  poor,  and  this  favoured 
the  further  dissemination  of  the  disease.^^ 

When  the  French  troops  were  transported  back  to  France, 
energetic  and  extensive  measures  of  precaution  were  adopted  ; 
only  those  troops  were  allowed  to  embark  who  had  for  several 
weeks  been  entirely  recovered  from  typhus  fever ;  several 
stations  for  the  discharge  of  men  who  contracted  the  disease 
on  the  way  were  located  along  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  and  sixty-two  patients,  all  told,  were  left  behind  at 
them ;  suspected  divisions  of  troops,  before  disembarking 
At  Marseilles,  were  quarantined  for  a  time  on  several  islands 
along  the  coast,  on  St.  Marguerite  (lies  de  Lerins),  on  the 

**  M.  L.  Baudens,  La  guerre  de  Crimde,  les  campements,  les  abris,  les 
■ambulances,  etc.  Paris,  1858.  Taken  from  the  second  edition,  translated 
by  W.  Mencke.    Kiel,  1864.    P.  164. 

*3  Ch.  Murchison,  Die  typhdiden  Krankheiten.  Quoted  from  the  German 
translation  by  W.  Ziilzer.    Brunswick,  1867.    P.  48. 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR  (1854-6)  175 

lies  d'Hyeres,  and  on  others,  and  before  entering  the  city 
they  were  examined  again,  bathed,  and  reclothed.  The 
result  was  successful.  Laveran  says  :  ^*  '  The  further  one 
went  away  from  the  seat  of  the  infection,  and  the  more  the 
soldiers  scattered,  the  more  the  miasm  seemed  to  lose  strength; 
in  France  the  typhus-fever  patients  gave  rise  to  only  a  few 
cases  inside  the  hospitals  where  they  were  being  cared  for ; 
the  disease  was  never  communicated  to  the  civil  population.' 
Sporadic  cases  were  observed  in  Marseilles,  Toulon, 
Avignon,  Chalon-sur-Saone,  and  in  other  places.  A  small 
lazaret- epidemic  also  occurred  in  Paris  in  the  Val-de-Grace ; 
according  to  Godelier,^^  almost  all  the  patients  there  belonged 
to  the  Fiftieth  Regiment,  which  on  November  30,  1855, 
embarked  at  Kamiesch.  The  condition  of  health  in  the 
regiment  at  that  time  was  good,  and,  in  particular,  it  was 
free  of  typhus  fever.  Of  the  two  ships  on  which  the  soldiers 
were  transported,  the  one  took  only  thirty  days  to  get  from 
Kamiesch  to  Marseilles  and  had  no  cases  of  typhus  fever, 
while  the  other,  which  had  a  harder  voyage,  took  fifty  days 
and  had  numerous  cases  of  typhus  fever  on  the  way  ;  fifteen 
patients  were  put  into  the  hospital  at  Malta  and  twenty-five 
in  that  at  Marseilles.  No  less  than  fifty- eight  soldiers  in 
this  regiment  contracted  the  disease  in  the  Val-de-Grace,  and 
they  infected  five  nurses ;  eight  soldiers  and  one  nurse  fell 
victims  to  the  disease. 

3.  The  North  American  Civil  War  (1861-5) 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  almost  nothing  was  done 
in  the  two  armies  to  prevent  the  outbreak  and  dissemina- 
tion of  diseases  ;  the  assembling  of  so  many  troops  rendered 
severe  pestilences  inevitable.  The  successful  activity  of 
numerous  voluntary  societies  did  a  great  deal  of  good  in  the 

2*  A.  Laveran,  Traits  des  maladies  et  dpid^mies  des  armies.  Paris,  1875. 
P.  257. 

25  Godelier,  Mimoire  sur  le  typhus  observd  au  Val-de-Grdce  du  tnois  de 
Janvier  au  mois  de  mai  1856.  Gazette  mid.  de  Paris,  1856.  Nos.  40-1. 
Quoted  from  Laveran  (loc.  cit),  p.  257. 


176        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

way  of  improved  methods  of  sanitation ;  the  centre  from 
which  this  activity  emanated  was  an  officially  recognized 
Sanitary  Commission,  founded  on  June  15, 1861,  which  made 
the  prevention  of  pestilences  its  principal  function.  It  was 
enabled  to  carry  on  its  work  by  large  voluntary  contribu- 
tions of  money.  The  means  which  the  Commission  employed 
were  :  good  equipment,  food,  and  shelter  for  the  men,  isola- 
tion of  men  suffering  from  infectious  diseases,  burning  of  the 
clothes,  beds,  and  tents  used  by  these  patients,  erection  of 
clean,  well-ventilated  barrack-lazarets,  and  comprehensive 
plans  for  transferring  invalid  soldiers  from  the  field-hospitals.^® 

Since  upwards  of  a  million  men,  counting  both  sides,  were 
gradually  brought  face  to  face  with  one  another,  the  loss  of 
human  life  was  necessarily  terrible.  Regarding  the  losses 
sustained  by  the  Northern  States,  we  are  excellently  informed 
by  an  exhaustive  health-report  in  six  volumes,  issued  by  the 
United  States."  The  report  also  contains  some  statistics 
regarding  the  prevalence  of  disease  among  the  Confederates 
and  regarding  the  prisoners,  but  no  figures  relating  to  the 
losses  sustained  by  the  Southern  States  are  available. 

Regarding  the  total  loss  of  troops  sustained  by  the  Northern 
States,  we  find  the  following  compilation  :  ^ 


Cause  of  death.                    White  troops.  Coloured  troops.  Total. 

Killed  in  battle  .          .          .       42,724                  i>5i4  44»238 

47,445                 1,760  49,205 

469                      57  526 

157,004               29,212  186,216 

23,347                    837  24,184 


Died  from  wounds,  &c. 
Suicide,  murder,  execution 
Diseases     . 
Unknown  causes 


Total 


270,989  33»38o  304,369 


2®  H.  von  Haurowitz,  Das  Militarsamtdtswesen  der  Vereinigien  Staaten 
von  Nordamerika  wdhrend  des  letzten  Kriegs.    Stuttgart,  1866. 

2^  The  medical  and  surgical  history  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion  (1861-5), 
prepared  in  accordance  with  acts  of  congress  under  the  direction  of  Surgeon- 
General  Joseph  K.  Barnes,  United  States  Army,  Washington.  Six  vols., 
1870-88.  The  work  is  divided  into  two  main  parts,  each  consisting  of 
three  volumes.  Part  I  includes  the  Medical  History  ;  Vol.  I  gives  the 
statistical  results,  Vols.  II  and  III  deal  with  the  individual  diseases  (Vol.  II 
only  with  diarrhoea  and  dysentery).  Part  II,  Vols.  I-III,  comprises  the 
Surgical  History.  ^  Ibid.  Part  I,  p.  xxxvii,  and  vol.  iii,  p.  1. 


NORTH  AMERICAN  CIVIL  WAR  (1861-5)      177 


If  we  divide  the  deaths  of  unknown  cause  proportionally 
among  the  other  groups,  the  total  number  of  deaths  among 
the  white  troops  due  to  diseases  was  171,806,  and  among 
the  coloured  troops  29,963. 

In  the  statistical  table  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Medical 
History  the  figures  relating  to  the  number  of  deaths  are  not 
complete  ;  the  total  numbers  given  there  are  : 

Coloured  troops. 
Wounds,  &c.      .         .         .       36,688  1.427 


Suicide,  murder,  execution 
Diseases     . 
Uncertain . 

Total 


White  troops. 

36,688 

549 

128,937 

449 

166,623 


78 
27.499 
? 

29,004 


Typhoid  fever  demanded  the  largest  number  of  victims  ; 
in  the  first  two  years  of  the  war  it  appeared  in  the  form  of 
murderous  epidemics  in  the  Northern  army,  mostly  in  the 
Atlantic  and  central  districts,  and  less  severely  in  the  region 
of  the  great  ocean.  If  the  common  continued  fevers,  the 
typho-malarial  fevers,  and  typhus  fever,  are  combined  with 
the  typhoid  fevers  and  looked  upon  as  typhoid  fever,  there 
died  from  this  cause  in  the  Northern  army  during  the  entire 
war  32,112  white  troops  and  3,689  coloured  troops.  In 
considering  these  figures,  we  must  remember  that,  as  stated 
above,  they  are  incomplete.  On  this  basis,  out  of  every 
1,000  men  there  succumbed  to  typhoid  fever :  ^* 


White  troops. 

Coloured  tr 

I86I-2    . 

•     20-75 

— 

1862-3    • 

.     18*24 

— 

1863-4    • 

.       8-52 

28-50 

1864-5    . 

•     n-45 

19-31 

1865-6    . 

8-98 

11-60 

Average 


13-58 


19-8 


As  in  the  case  of  typhoid  fever,  so  also  in  the  case  of  other 

diseases,  the  coloured  troops  suffered  the  heaviest  losses, 

probably  because  the  food  and  shelter  they  received  were 

not  so  good,  and  perhaps  also  because  they  had  less  under- 

*•  Medical  and  Surgical  History,  part  iii,  p.  193.    The  reports  for  each 
year  begin  on  July  1 . 

N 


1S69.13 


178        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

standing  of  the  sanitary  measures  that  were  ordered.  Among 
the  Confederate  prisoners  that  were  brought  north,  about 
40,875  in  number,  18-4  out  of  every  1,000  succumbed  to 
typhoid  fever.*" 

Regarding  the  appearance  of  typhus  fever  in  the  American 
Civil  War,  views  diverge.  Since  only  a  relatively  small  num- 
ber of  cases  of  that  disease  are  recorded,  it  is  probable  that 
those  cases  were  wrongly  diagnosed,  since  typhus  fever  is 
so  highly  contagious.  In  the  health-reports  of  the  Northern 
States,  in  which  the  word  typhus,  as  in  England  and  France, 
means  typhus  fever,  we  find  the  following  figures  relating 
to  the  disease : 

No.  that  contracted  it.        No.  that  succumbed  to  it. 
White  troops  .  .     2,501  850 

Coloured  troops      .          .        123  108 

But  there  are  very  few  case-histories  and  absolutely  no  post- 
mortem reports  available  from  which  one  can  draw  a  positive 
conclusion.  Laveran  doubts  the  occurrence  of  typhus  fever.*^ 
According  to  Niedner,  on  the  other  hand,  typhus  fever  pre- 
vailed among  the  Northern  prisoners  in  the  terribly  neglected 
prisons  of  Salisbury,  North  Carolina,  and  probably,  too,  in 
other  places.*^  It  is  to  be  surmised  that  the  increased  num- 
ber of  typhus  fever  patients  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia, 
&c.,  which  Hirsch  adduces  in  accordance  with  the  statements 
of  da  Costa  and  Corse,  was  connected  with  the  epidemic 
among  the  prisoners.**  According  to  Corse,  the  number  of 
deaths  due  to  typhus  fever  in  Philadelphia  was  37  in  the 
year  1862,  131  in  1863,  and  335  in  1864. 

Unusually  prevalent  were  diarrhoea  and  dysentery,  so 
that,  notwithstanding  their  relatively  mild  character,  they 
caused  a  large  number  of  deaths.  The  cases  of  cholera 
reported  were  not  Asiatic  cholera,  but  a  local  form  of  the 
disease.    In  the  Northern  army  the  following  figures  indicate 

^  Medical  and  Surgical  History,  part  iii,  p.  209. 
^^  Laveran,  op.  cit.,  p.  258. 

^*  Niedner,  op.  cit.,  p.  72. — Also  Medical  and  Surgical  History,  part  iii, 
p.  323  ff.  33  Hirsch,  op.  cit.,  p.  404. 


NORTH  AMERICAN  CIVIL  WAR  (1861-5)      179 


the  number  of  deaths  due  to  acute  and  chronic  dysentery 
and  diarrhoea : 

White  Troops.  Coloured  Troops. 

Dysentery.  Diarrhoea.  Dysentery.  DiarrJwea. 

Acute.      Chronic.     Acute.    Chronic.  Acute.   Chronic. 


June  1 86 1 

I 861-2 

1862-3 

1863-4 

1864-5 

1865-6 


1861-6 


Acute. 

3 
338 
967 

1,242 

1,248 

286 


Chronic. 
I 
136 
1,090 
931 
919 
152 


230 

941 
620 
973 
159 


SOI 

7,556 

7,868 

10,600 

1.033 


496 

584 
412 


4,084       3,229       2,923        27,558 


1,492 


220 

255 

111 
626 


503 

608 

257 


784 

1,788 
706 


1,368     .    3,278 


Out  of  every  1,000  men  there  succumbed  to  dysentery 

and  diarrhoea  together  :  ^ 

White  troops.  Coloured  troops. 

1861-2       ....       4-17  — 


1862-3 
1863-4 
1864-5 
1865-6 


15-99 
1578 
21-29 
i6-oo 


43-54 
36-29 
26-97 


Small-pox  raged  very  extensively  during  the  American 
Civil  War;  the  coloured  troops  manifested  much  more 
susceptibility  to  it  than  the  white.  The  dissemination  of 
the  disease  was  helped  along  by  the  fact  that  vaccination, 
which  had  been  neglected  on  account  of  the  hasty  mobiliza- 
tion, could  not  be  attended  to  as  rapidly  as  was  desirable. 

Measles  also  broke  out  in  both  armies  in  the  form  of  wide- 
spread epidemics.  All  told,  67,763  white  troops  and  8,555 
coloured  troops  contracted  the  disease,  while  4,246  of  the 
former  and  931  of  the  latter  succumbed  to  it.  Out  of  every 
1,000  men  there  succumbed  :  ^ 


Small-pox. 

Measles. 

White            Coloured 

White           Coloured 

troops.             troops. 

troops.             troops. 

i86i-2 

.1-36                    - 

1-97                    — 

1862-3 

•       1-45                   — 

1-99                    — 

1863-4 

3-21                 16-52 

1-88                 12-35 

1864-5 

.       175                  8-69 

1-68                   375 

1865-6 

0-69                14-24 

O.I  I                  0-51 

34 

Medical  and  Surgical  History,  part  ii,  p.  67. 

3S 

Ibid.,  part  iii,  p.  624. 
N  2 

180        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

Malaria  became  particularly  widespread ;  on  an  average 
no  less  than  52  per  cent  of  the  white  troops  and  83  per  cent 
of  the  coloured  troops  contracted  the  disease  per  annum. 
It  is  absurd  to  say,  then,  that  the  negroes  are  immune  to 
the  disease ;  on  the  contrary,  they  contracted  it  much  more 
frequently  and  suffered  a  great  deal  more  severely  from  it 
than  the  whites.  The  troops  in  the  mihtary  districts  of 
Carolina  and  Arkansas,  and  also  along  the  great  rivers — ^the 
Mississippi,  Ohio,  and  Potomac — ^were  attacked  by  it  with 
particular  severity.  Out  of  every  thousand  men  the  number 
that  contracted  the  disease  and  the  number  that  succumbed 
to  it  is  shown  by  the  following  table  :  ^® 


White  Troops. 

Coloured  Troops. 

No.  patients. 

No.  deaths. 

No.  patients. 

No.  deaths 

I86I-2 

404-0 

2-77 

— 

— 

1862-3 

.     460-1 

376 

—  ■ 

— 

1863-4 

584-1 

3-19 

8337 

15-19 

I864-S 

558-4 

3-34 

750-0 

877 

1865-6     . 

853-1 

5-42 

947 -o 

7-81 

The  total  loss  sustained  by  the  Northern  army  in  conse- 
quence of  the  most  important  infectious  diseases  is  indicated 
by  the  following  table  :  ^' 


White  Troops. 
Typhoid  Typhus  Dysentery,  Small- 


No.  troops. 

fever. 

fever. 

diarrhoea. 

Cholera 

.  pox. 

Measles. 

Malan 

1861  May-June   41,556 

17 

3 

4 

— 

I 

3 

1 

1861-2 

288,919 

5.795 

201 

1,205 

34 

393 

568 

80c 

1862-3 

659,955 

11,658 

378 

10,554 

96 

950 

1.314 

2,48c 

1863-4 

675.413 

5.632 

123 

10,661 

56 

2,171 

1,268 

2,152 

1864-5 

645.506 

7,266 

124 

13.740 

67 

1,131 

1,082 

2,155 

1865-6 

101,897 
2rage 468,275  Totals 

894 

31,262 

21 
850 

1,630 
37.794 

22 
275 

71 
4.717 

II 

552 

Annual  Av< 

4.246 

8,140 

Coloured  Troops. 

1863-4      • 

45.174 

1,251 

60 

2,003 

7 

760 

568 

69^ 

1864-5      • 

89.143 

1,680 

41 

3.235 

10 

775 

334 

782 

1865-6      . 

56,617 

650 

.7 

1,526 

13 

806 

'.     29 

442 

Annual  Average  63,645     Totals  3,581        108  6,764  30      2,341  931        1,5 

'^  Medical  and  Surgical  History,  \iQ.rtm,i^T^.%2-'6. 

"  For  the  white  troops,  ibid.,  part  i,  pp.  636-7 ;  for  the  coloured  troops,  part  i,  p.! 


NORTH  AMERICAN  CIVIL  WAR  (1861-5)      181 

In  the  prisons  the  mortality  on  both  sides  was  terrible. 

Regarding  the  conditions  among  the  Confederate  prisoners 

that  were  interned  in  the  Northern  States  we  are  informed 

by  the  following  table.    The  average  number  of  men  in  the 

prisons  was  40,815,  and  of  this  number  19,060,  all  told,  died ; 

taking  the  entire  war  into  account,  this  gives  a  mortality 

of  230-7  per  1,000  per  annum.^    The  figures  are  divided 

among  the  various  diseases  as  follows  : 

Deaths  Annual  rate 

{all  told).  per  i,ooo. 

Typhoid  Fever,  Typhus  Fever   .          .          .        1,109  13 '6 

Malaria   .          .          .          .          .          .          .       1,026  I2'6 

Small-pox,  Measles,  Scarlet  Fever,  Erysipelas       3,453  423 

Diarrhoea,  Dysentery         .          .          .          .5,965  73-0 

Scurvy 351  4-3 

Bronchitis         ......          133  i-6 

Inflammation  of  the  Lungs  and  Pleurisy     .       5,042  61  •/ 

Other  diseases .          .....       1,729  21-3 

Wounds  and  uncertain  maladies          .          .          252  0-3 

Total  ......      19,060  2307 

The  conditions  among  the  Northern  prisoners  confined  in 

the  Southern  prisons  were  still  worse.     In  the  Andersonville 

prison,  where  in  the  six  months  between  March  1  and  August 

31,   1864,   an  average  of  19,453  prisoners  were  confined, 

7,712  died ;  this  means  an  annual  rate  of  792-8  per  1,000  men. 

The  following  table  indicates  the  proportional  mortality  of 

the  individual  diseases  :  ^® 

Deaths  Annual  rate 

Cause  of  death.                                     (all  told).  per  i,ooo. 

Typhoid  Fever,  Tophus  Fever     .          .          .199  20-5 

Malaria     .         .          .         .         .         .         .119  122 

Small-pox  Measles,  Scarlet  Fever,  Erysipelas          80  8-2 

Diarrhoea,  Dysentery           ....     4,529  465-6 

Scurvy      .......        999  102-8 

Bronchitis           ......          90  9-2 

Inflammation  of  the  Lungs  and  Pleurisy        .        266  27-4 

Other  diseases    ......        844  86-7 

Wounds  and  uncertain  maladies            .         .        586  60*2 

Total 7,712  792-8 

^  Medical  and  Surgical  History,  part  iii,  p.  47. 
^  Ibid.,  part  iii,  p.  85. 


182 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


Since  mortality  statistics  existed  in  only  a  few  of  the 
Northern  States  at  that  time,  and  the  deaths  for  the  year 
in  question  were  included  merely  incidentally  in  the  census 
taken  every  ten  years,  it  is  impossible  to  adduce  any  i&gures 
relating  to  the  spreading  of  infectious  diseases  from  the  army 
to  the  civil  population.  But  certain  it  is  that  this  happened 
to  a  great  extent  in  the  regions  where  the  fighting  took  place. 
In  the  case  of  two  States,  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut, 
mortality  statistics  are  available ;  in  both  we  find  an  increased 
death-rate  during  the  Civil  War.  The  figures,  which  do  not 
include  the  still-births,  are  as  follows  : 


Year. 

Connecticut. 

Massachusetts 

i860      .         .         ,         .     16-3 

187 

1861 

i6-s 

19-5 

1862 

i8-o 

i8-S 

1863 

i8-o 

22-1 

1864 

190 

22-8 

186s 

i6»o 

20-6 

1866 

iS-o 

i8-i 

1867 

14-3 

17-0 

In  the  case  of  Massachusetts,  moreover,  we  have  statistics 
relating  to  the  cause  of  death  ;  these  statistics  show  a  con- 
siderable increase  in  deaths  due  to  typhoid  fever,  small-pox, 
and  dysentery  ;  the  mortality  of  scarlet  fever  was  also  very 
high  there  during  the  war-years,  but  this  fact  was  in  no  way 
connected  with  the  war.  The  number  of  people  who  con- 
tracted the  above-mentioned  diseases  in  Massachusetts  was :  *" 


Year.                    Typhoid  Fever. 

Small-pox. 

Dysentery 

i860     . 

937 

334 

441 

1861     . 

989 

33 

532 

1862     . 

1,13s 

40 

479 

1863     . 

1,442 

42 

1,156 

1864     . 

1.344 

242 

1,186 

1865     . 

1,694 

221 

1.548 

1866     . 

1,091 

141 

949 

1867     . 

965 

196 

658 

*"  L.  March,  Statistique  intemationale  du  mouvement  de  la  population. 
Paris,  1907.    P.  867. 


THE  DANISH  WAR  OF  1864  183 

4.     The  Italian  War  of  1859  '' 

The  Italian  War  of  1859,  which  the  French  and  Piedmon- 
tese  together  waged  against  Austria  in  Upper  Italy,  was  not 
attended  by  ^ny  severe  pestilences,  probably  because  it  was 
terminated  in  a  comparatively  short  time,  and  the  number 
of  troops  engaged  was  not  very  large.  To  be  sure,  typhoid 
fever  and  dysentery  carried  away  many  men  on  both  sides, 
while  an  unusually  large  number  of  soldiers  contracted 
malaria.  Those  fevers  which  were  called '  Fievres  remittentes 
epidemiques  d'ltalie ',  and  which,  notwithstanding  their 
frequent  occurrence,  caused  only  a  few  deaths,  according  to 
Niedner  were  for  the  most  part  malaria,  and  not  relapsing 
fever.  The  Austrian  army  seems  to  have  lost  more  men  in 
consequence  of  pestilences  than  the  French  army.  Regarding 
the  spreading  of  the  pestilences  on  a  large  scale  from  the 
armies  to  the  civil  population  we  have  no  information. 

5.   The  Danish  War  of  1864 

In  the  war  of  1864,  which  Austria  and  Prussia  waged 
against  Denmark,  no  epidemics  of  wide  extent  occurred. 
'  The  small  number  of  men  engaged,'  says  Knaak,*^  '  the 
not  particularly  unfavourable  external  conditions,  the 
constant  communication  between  the  fighting  armies  and 
their  home-countries,  and  the  non-appearance  of  large 
epidemics,  all  helped  to  render  the  health-conditions  of  the 
war  favourable.'  The  total  loss  sustained  by  the  Prussian 
army,  which  reached  a  maximum  size  of  63,500  men,  amounted 
to  1,048  men  ;  of  these  738  died  in  battle,  in  consequence  of 
wounds,  &c.,  310  succumbed  to  diseases,  193  of  the  latter 
to  typhoid  fever.  Statements  regarding  the  number  of  deaths 
in  the  Austrian  army,  which  amounted  to  25,000  men,  are 

*^  M.  Cazalas,  Maladies  de  Varmie  d'ltalie  ou  documents  pour  servir 
a  Vhistoire  mid.-chirurg.  de  Varmde  d'ltalie.  Paris,  1864. — J.  C*  Chenu, 
Statistique  midico-chirurgicale  de  la  campagne  d'ltalie  en  1859  et  1860. 
Paris,  1869. — ^P.  Myrdacz,  Sanitdtsgeschichte  des  Feldzugs  1859  in  ItaHen. 
Vienna,  1896. — O.  Niedner,  op.  cit.,  pp.  66  and  118. 

-•s  Knaak,  op.  cit.,  p.  31. 


184        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

not  available.  The  Danish  army,  which  numbered  54,000 
men,  lost  1,446  in  consequence  of  wounds,  &c.,  and  820  in 
consequence  of  diseases.*^ 

6.    The  German  War  of  1866 

As  regards  sanitation  the  German  War  of  1866  acquired 
importance  through  the  appearance  of  cholera  on  the  scene  of 
the  fighting.  None  of  the  other  infectious  diseases  developed 
very  extensively  during  this  war ;  of  the  Prussian  army, 
which  numbered  some  280,000  men,  only  379,  all  told, 
succumbed  to  typhoid  fever,  and  dysentery  did  not  appear 
at  all.  A  rather  mild  epidemic  of  small-pox  spread  throughout 
a  considerable  part  of  Germany  in  the  year  1865,  and  lasted 
until  the  year  1866 ;  whether  or  not  the  war  helped  the 
disease  to  spread,  which  is  not  unlikely,  we  cannot  state 
with  certainty  owing  to  a  lack  of  bases  of  comparison.  The 
German  troops  were  well  vaccinated,  and  the  number  who 
contracted  the  disease  was  no  larger  during  the  war  than  in 
times  of  peace.  It  is  undoubtedly  true,  however,  that  the  war 
exerted  an  unwholesome  influence  upon  the  dissemination 
of  cholera  throughout  Germany  and  Austria.**  Cholera  had 
revealed  its  presence  in  Germany  for  the  first  time  in  the  year 
1865  ;  it  broke  out  in  Altenburg,  during  its  fourth  passage 
through  Europe,  having  been  borne  thither  from  Odessa. 
In  the  course  of  the  year  it  broke  out,  in  a  comparatively 
mild  form,  in  many  places  in  Saxony.  In  the  year  1866  it 
raged  very  extensively  and  furiously  in  the  Rhine  province 
and  in  Westphalia,  whither  it  was  borne  from  Luxemburg ; 
in  May  cases  of  the  disease  occurred  in  several  seaport  towns 
of  Pomerania  (Swinemiinde,  Stettin,  Cammin,  &c.),  and 
in  June  it  broke  out  in  Hamburg,  Berlin,  Posen,  Silesia, 
East  and  West  Prussia,  and  in  the  kingdom  of  Saxony.** 
Thus  it  came  about  that  some  of  the  troops  enlisted  came  from 

*^  Kiibler,  Kriegssanitdtsstatistik.    Klin.  Jahrb.,  vol.  ix,  p.  301.    Jena, 
1902.  **  Niedner,  op.  cit.,  p.  17; 

*^  Hirsch,  op.  cit.,  vol.  i,  p.  296. 


THE  GERMAN  WAR  OF  1866  185 

infected  parts  of  Silesia  and  Saxony,  and  the  result  was  that 
individual  cases  of  cholera  began  to  occurin  the  Prussian  army. 

The  disease  was  conveyed  by  soldiers  from  Stettin  to 
Leipzig,  where  it  spread  to  the  civil  population ;  from 
Leipzig  it  spread  throughout  Saxony  and  Thuringia.  When 
the  Prussian  army  advanced  into  Bohemia  the  cases  of  the 
disease  began  to  increase,  and  after  the  battle  of  Koniggratz 
(July  3,  1866)  the  dissemination  of  the  disease  was  helped 
along  by  the  crowding  together  of  large  numbers  of  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers.  The  rapid  advance  of  the  Prussian  army 
increased  the  disease's  rate  of  dissemination ;  on  all  the 
army's  lines  of  march  large  numbers  of  sick  soldiers  were 
left  behind,  for  example,  in  Goritz,  Gitschin,  Koniginhof, 
Pardubitz,  Czaslau,  and  Leitomischl.  In  Prague  cases  of 
cholera  were  reported  a  few  days  after  the  city  was  occupied. 
The  pestilence  was  conveyed  by  Prussian  soldiers  to  Moravia, 
where  it  appeared  in  Prerau,  Brunn,  Iglau,  Klosterbriick, 
Znaym,  and  Nikolsburg.  The  further  advance  of  the 
Prussians  conveyed  it  to  Lower  Austria ;  in  Vienna  it  did 
not  break  out  until  August. 

Some  think  that  the  pestilence  was  conveyed  into  Austria 
from  Bukowina,  where  it  had  broken  out  in  May  1866. 
When  the  war  broke  out,  it  is  maintained,  the  disease  was 
conveyed  by  troops  to  the  western  crown-lands  of  Austria.^* 
'  The  truth ',  says  Niedner,  '  probably  lies  half  way  between ; 
the  epidemic  in  Bohemia  was  disseminated  chiefly  by  the 
Prussian  troops,  but  in  the  other  Austrian  countries  by 
Austrian  troops.'  Daimer,*'  one  of  the  best  authorities  on 
the  history  of  pestilences  in  Austria,  says  :  '  In  the  year 
1866  an  epidemic  of  cholera  came  to  an  end  in  Bukowina, 
where  it  was  looked  upon  as  the  continuation  of  one  that 
had  been  prevailing  in  Turkey  and  Roumania ;    it  spread 

*«  A.Weichselhsium,Epidemiologie.  Jena,  1899.  P.  399.  (In  Th.  Weyl's 
Ilandbuch  der  Hygiene,  vol.  ix,  p.  3.) — Hirsch,  op.  cit.,  vol.  i,  p.  294. 

*'  J.  Daimer,  Todesursachen  in  Oesterreich  wahrend  der  Jahre  1873-1900. 
Das  osterreichische  Sanitdtswesen,  1902.    Supplement  to  No.  37,  p.  150. 


186        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


throughout  the  countries  in  which  fighting  was  going  on 
at  that  time,  and  was  borne  by  troops  to  remote  regions.' 
According  to  Presl,'*®  the  number  of  deaths  due  to  cholera 
in  the  several  crown-lands  in  the  year  1866  was  : 


No.  inhabitants 

Deaths  due  to 

(Dec.  31,  1869). 

cholera. 

Lower  Austria  . 

1,983,149 

iS,"4 

Upper  Austria  . 

733,241 

153 

Salzburg  . 

152,141 

I 

Styria 

1,139,205 

260 

Carinthia 

336,768 

40 

Carniola   . 

465.463 

930 

Kiistenland 

585,467 

1,067 

Tirol  and  Vorarlberg 

880,985 

25 

Bohemia  . 

5,151,332 

42,730 

Moravia   . 

2,016,186 

55.527 

Silesia 

518,443 

2,919 

Galicia 

5,491,675 

34.857 

Bukowina 

522,481 

11,656 

Dalmatia 

445,201 

13 

All  Austria 

20,421,737 

165,292 

In  Prussia,  too,  cholera  spread,  in  consequence  of  the  war, 
more  widely  than  ever  before ;  the  total  number  of  deaths 
caused  by  it  in  the  year  1866  was  no  less  than  114,776,  and 
in  the  following  year  it  was  6,086.*®  Of  the  Prussian  troops 
4,529  (16-2  per  cent)  succumbed  to  cholera,  and  the  total 
loss  due  to  disease  was  5,219 ;  only  4,008  men  were  killed 
on  the  field  or  died  from  wounds. 

In  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Hesse  a  few  rather  small  epidemics 
occurred,  and  a  larger  one  in  Mayence. 

In  the  case  of  Baden  the  connexion  between  the  appearance 
of  cholera  and  the  war  has  been  carefully  investigated.^" 
The  disease  broke  out  in  the  region  of  the  Main  and  Tauber 
and  in  the  Odenwald,  and  in  regions  which  had  never  before 
been  attacked  by  cholera.     On  July  24,  1866,  Wertheim 

*'  Fr.  C.  Presl,  Die  offentliche  Gesundheitspflege  in  Osterreich  seit  detn 
Jahre  1848.    Statist.  Monatsschrijt.    1898.    Vol.  iii,  p.  392. 

*•  Guttstadt,  Die  Choleraepidemieefi  infriiherer  Zeit.  Hyg.  Rundschau. 
1906.     Vol.  xvi,  p.  265. 

"  Robert  Volz,  Die  Cholera  auf  dem  Badischen  Kriegsschauplatz  im 
Sommer  1866.    Amtlicher  Bericht.    Karlsruhe,  1807. 


THE  GERMAN  WAR  OF  1866  187 

received  a  Prussian  garrison,  which  on  the  26th  was  joined 
by  parts  of  the  Hamburg  contingent.  As  mentioned  above, 
cholera  had  already  broken  out  in  Hamburg  in  June,  and 
a  few  days  after  the  arrival  of  the  Hanseatic  troops  some  of 
them  contracted  the  disease  and  were  taken,  despite  the 
objections  of  the  local  authorities,  to  the  town  hospital. 
On  August  6,  cases  of  the  disease  appeared  in  the  city,  and 
they  constituted  the  beginning  of  a  small  epidemic  which 
lasted  six  weeks.  On  September  22  the  epidemic  was  over, 
after  the  population  of  3,383  had  lost  28  persons  by  death ; 
64  persons  contracted  the  disease.  In  near-by  Freudenberg, 
of  42  people  that  contracted  the  disease,  23  died.  In  Schon- 
feld  two  soldiers  of  the  Hamburg  contingent  contracted  the 
disease  on  July  29  ;  the  first  case  among  the  civil  inhabitants, 
who  numbered  524,  was  on  August  2,  and  in  a  few  days  a  small 
epidemic  began ;  166  people  contracted  the  disease  and 
55  succumbed  to  it.  At  the  same  time  the  Hanseatic  troops 
conveyed  the  disease  to  Gerlachsheim,  where  61  persons  con- 
tracted it  and  32  died  of  it,  and  also  to  Ilmspan,  where 
97  contracted  it  and  34  succumbed  to  it.  On  August  1  the 
Hamburg  soldiers  came  to  Griinsfeld  and  brought  four 
cholera  patients  with  them,  and  the  result  was  that  177  of 
the  inhabitants,  who  numbered  1,458  all  told,  contracted 
the  disease  and  23  of  them  died.  The  disease  was  conveyed 
to  Dittigheim  by  cholera  convalescents  of  the  Hamburg 
contingent,  and  225  persons  contracted  it  there  and  66 
succumbed  to  it.  In  Gerlachsheim  it  appeared  after  a  Saxon 
ammunition-column,  which  was  supposed  to  be  absolutely 
free  from  the  disease,  had  passed  through  the  city.  In  the  case 
of  Walldurn,  which  had  a  very  severe  epidemic  (the  city  had 
3,339  inhabitants,  and  of  these  827  contracted  the  disease 
and  113  succumbed  to  it),  it  was  impossible  to  prove  that 
the  disease  broke  out  in  consequence  of  the  arrival  of  the 
soldiers.  Kiilsheim,  which  was  infected  from  WaUdurn,  had 
only  a  small  number  of  cases.  Throughout  Baden  1,774 
persons  contracted  cholera  and  404  succumbed  to  it.    From 


188        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

these  statements  it  is  very  evident  that  the  danger  of  an 
extensive  epidemic  of  cholera  in  the  regions  south  of  the  Main 
would  have  been  very  great,  if  the  war  had  been  carried  on  there 
on  a  large  scale,  and  had  thus  prevented  the  authorities  from 
taking  measures  to  prevent  the  dissemination  of  the  disease. 

The  small  epidemic  in  Uzmemmingen,  a  village  of  700 
inhabitants  in  the  north-east  part  of  Wiirttemberg,  was 
brought  about  by  a  chamber-maid,  who  on  August  25  brought 
the  disease  from  a  Bohemian  place  through  which  a  Prussian 
detachment  had  passed ;  60  persons,  all  told,  contracted 
the  disease  in  Uzmemmingen,  and  19  succumbed  to  it." 

In  the  Bavarian  Governmental  District  of  Lower  Franconia 
cholera  broke  out,  as  in  Baden,  in  consequence  of  the  opera- 
tions of  Prussian  troops. ^^  In  the  last  week  of  July  there 
were  skirmishes  between  the  Prussians  and  Bavarians  near 
Hettstadt  and  Waldbrunn ;  after  the  withdrawal  of  the 
Prussians,  many  of  whom  were  seized  with  diarrhoea,  cholera 
broke  out  in  both  of  those  villages.  The  outbreak  in  Milten- 
berg  was  also  connected  with  the  arrival  there  of  Prussian 
soldiers.  Presently  other  places  in  Lower  Franconia  were 
attacked ;  for  example,  Rothenfels,  Birkenfeld,  Karbach, 
Stadtprozelten,  Tief  enthal,  Waldbiittelbrunn,  &c.  A  Bavarian 
authority  gives  credit  for  the  non-appearance  of  the  disease 
in  Remlingen  and  among  the  civil  inhabitants  of  Uettingen, 
where  Prussian  soldiers  suffering  from  cholera  lay,  to  the  care 
and  vigilance  of  the  Prussian  military  physicians.  Cholera 
also  appeared  in  the  Governmental  District  of  Swabia, 
breaking  out  in  the  cities  along  the  Danube,  in  Hochstadt, 
DiUingen,  Gundelfingen,  and  Neuburg.  But  it  was  impossible 
to  prove  that  the  disease  was  conveyed  thither  from  the 
scene  of  the  war.^ 

*^  J. Teuffel, Die  Choleraepidemie  zu  Uzmemmingen,  O.-A.Neresheim,  im 
Jahre  1866.    WUrtt.  med.  Corr.-Bl.    1867.    P.  129  ff. 

**  Die  Cholera  in  Unterfranken  wdhrend  des  laufenden  Sommers.  Bayr. 
arztl.  Intel.-Blatt,  1866,  p.  509. 

"  A.  Martin,  Die  Cholera  in  Bay  em  wdhrend  des  diesjuhrigen  Sommers. 
Bayr.  arztl.  Intel.-Blatt,  1866,  p.  577. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  OF  1870-1,  AND  THE  EPIDEMIC 
OF  SMALL-POX  IN  THE  EUROPEAN  STATES  CAUSED 
BY  IT 

I.    Size  of  the  Armies 

In  the  Franco-German  War  of  1870-1  a  larger  number  of 
troops  were  assembled  within  a  short  time  upon  the  field 
of  battle  than  in  any  previous  campaign.  On  the  German 
side  33,101  officers  and  1,113,254  men  took  part  in  the  war  ; 
the  average  number  of  men  in  the  German  field-army  was 
815,000.  The  total  number  of  French  soldiers  under  arms  is 
not  definitely  known  ;  that  it  was  enormous  is  evident  from 
the  fact  that  the  number  of  prisoners  taken  (including  the 
garrison  in  Paris  and  General  Bourbaki's  army)  amounted 
to  no  less  than  21,500  officers  and  702,000  men.  At  certain 
periods  of  the  war  huge  bodies  of  troops  were  congregated 
within  comparatively  narrow  limits  ;  at  the  battle  of  Grave- 
lotte  (August  18,  1870)  some  180,000  to  200,000  men  faced 
one  another  on  either  side  ;  at  the  siege  of  Metz  the  average 
size  of  the  German  investing  army  was  240,000  men,  while 
the  French  army  in  the  city  numbered  173,000  men  at  the 
time  of  the  capitulation.  At  the  battle  of  Sedan  (September  1 , 
1870)  124,000  French  soldiers  were  opposed  to  nearly  twice 
that  number  of  Germans.  The  garrison  in  Paris  amounted 
to  about  250,000  men,  while  the  German  besiegers  averaged 
240,000  men. 

II.    Dysentery,  Typhoid  Fever,  and  Typhus  Fever 

Despite  the  fact  that  these  enormous  congregations  of  men 
were  often  exposed  to  very  unfavourable  weather  condi- 
tions, and  were  much  of  the  time  scantily  fed,  the  number 
of   German    field-troops    that    contracted  and   succumbed 


190        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

to  infectious  diseases  was  comparatively  small.  The  total 
loss  sustained  by  the  German  army  in  consequence  of  injuries 
and  diseases  amounted  to  43,182  men,  and  of  these  14,648 
died  of  disease.  The  following  table  indicates  the  percentage 
of  deaths  caused  by  the  various  diseases  : 


Disease. 

Per  cent 

Typhoid  Fever  . 

6o-o 

Dysentery 

.          1 6-2 

Small-pox 

1-9 

Intermittent  Fever     . 

O-I 

Other  infectious  diseases     . 

0-3 

Other  diseases  . 

.           21-5 

Typhoid  fever  and  dysentery  were  most  prevalent,  for 
the  reason  that  the  troops  were  often  quartered  in  places 
where  these  diseases  were  already  endemic.  Regarding  these 
matters  we  are  accurately  informed  by  the  '  Health  Report 
relating  to  the  German  Armies  in  the  War  of  1870-1  against 
France ',  an  exhaustive  account  published  by  the  Medical 
Division  of  the  Prussian  War  Department.^ 

A  total  of  74,205  men  in  the  German  field-army  contracted 
typhoid  and  gastric  fever,  and  8,904  succumbed  to  them. 
The  eastern  Departments  of  France,  especially  the  city  and 
vicinity  of  Metz,  were  constantly  afflicted  with  typhoid 
fever.  This  explains  why  both  the  German  besiegers  and  the 
French  defenders  suffered  so  severely  from  that  disease,  the 
dissemination  of  which  was  helped  by  the  contamination 
of  the  springs  and  water-courses,  partly  through  excessive 
use,  and  partly  in  consequence  of  the  burial  of  dead  men  and 
horses  in  close  proximity  to  them.  And  while  drinking- 
water  was  for  that  reason  brought  from  a  distance,  the  water 
used  for  other  purposes  was  obtained  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood.  It  is  obvious  that  typhoid  fever  must  have 
raged  extensively  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  villages 

*  Most  of  the  statements  in  tliis  chapter  are  taken  from  vols,  ii  and  vi 
of  the  Sanitdtsbericht  uber  das  deutsche  Heer  im  Krieg  gegen  Frankreich 
1870-1.    Berlin,  1886. — Compare  also  H.  Westergaard,  op.  cit.,  p.  228. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         191 

surrounding  Metz,  the  mortality  in  which  during  the  siege 
was  three  times  as  high  as  normal.  This  is  evident  from 
a  compilation  of  figures  in  the  German  Health  Report,'"^ 
indicating  how  the  death-rate  in  these  villages  rapidly 
decreased  after  the  withdrawal  of  the  Germans ;  per  100 
inhabitants,  there  died  in  : 


Inhabitants. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

March 

Verneville       .           672 

2-39 

1-34 

1-04 

0-30 

074 

St.  Privat       .          480 

270 

I -20 

1-68 

0-84 

0-42 

Gravelotte      .           708 

2-14 

071 

0-55 

071 

— 

Ste.  Marie  aux 

Chenes        .           340 

I-I7 

0-S9 

0-59 

0-29 

0-59 

Rezonville      .           587 

1-87 

0-87 

0-68 

0-68 

0-85 

Gorze     .          .        1,774 

1-45 

073 

0-56 

0'22 

0-39 

Typhoid  fever  and  dysentery  were  chiefly  responsible  for 
this  high  mortality.  As  at  Metz,  so  also  at  Sedan  and  Paris, 
the  troops  suffered  severely  from  t3rphoid  fever. 

Large  numbers  of  typhoid-fever  patients  were  taken  to 
lazarets  in  Germany ;  the  Prussian  lazarets  alone  took  in 
30,507,  of  whom  1,376  died. 

Typhoid  fever  raged  furiously  among  the  French  prisoners 
of  war,  who  usually  brought  the  germ  of  the  disease  with 
them  from  the  scene  of  the  hostilities.  '  Most  observers ', 
we  read  in  the  German  Health  Report,^ '  agree  that  the  disease 
was  most  prevalent  during  the  first  three  weeks  after  the 
arrival  of  large  transports  of  prisoners  at  their  place  of 
detention ;  after  that  it  gradually  abated,  and  finally 
appeared  only  sporadically.'  The  military  prisons,  however, 
while  they  often  formed  new  sources  of  infection,  did  not 
help  to  disseminate  the  disease,  owing  to  the  advanced 
season  of  the  year. 

It  made  considerable  difference  from  what  part  of  the 
scene  of  the  war  the  prisoners  came ;  those  coming  from 
Strassburg  and  Toul  were  much  less  severely  infected  with 
typhoid  fever  than  those  from  Sedan  and  Metz.  This  applies 
particularly  to  General  Bourbaki's  men,  who  manifested  the 

2  Vol.  vi,  p.  162.  3  Vol.  ii,  p.  199. 


192        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

least  power  of  resistance  to  the  disease.  In  Rastatt,  for 
example,  there  were  at  one  time  sixty  prisoners  suffering  from 
typhoid  fever ;  of  those  who  had  come  from  Strassburg, 
Neubreisach,  and  Schlettstadt  13-3  per  cent  died;  of  those 
from  Metz  14-5  per  cent  died,  and  of  those  from  Bourbaki's 
army  40-6  per  cent  died.  Of  the  French  prisoners  confined 
in  Germany  (the  maximum  number  was  374,995  and  the 
average  number  262,496)  15,020  contracted  typhoid  fever 
and  3,835  succumbed  to  it.  The  prevalence  of  the  disease 
among  the  German  troops,  as  compared  with  its  prevalence 
among  the  French  prisoners,  is  indicated  by  the  following 
table : 


No.  per  i,ocx5  that 

No.  that  died 

succumbed  to 

per  100 

typhoid  fever. 

treated. 

Mobile  (Jerman  army 

.       1 1 -2 

I2'0 

Immobile   ,,          „     * 

.         .       3-0 

4-1 

French  prisoners 

14-6 

2S-6 

The  immediate  vicinity  of  the  places  in  which  all  these 
French  prisoners  suffering  from  typhoid  fever  were  confined 
was  necessarily  unsafe  to  live  in ;  and  while  the  epidemics 
that  were  brought  about  by  people  contracting  the  disease 
there  and  conveying  it  abroad  were  always  kept  localized, 
they  were  by  no  means  confined  to  the  very  narrow  limits 
indicated,  on  the  basis  of  scattered  communications,  in  the 
German  Health  Report.  The  reason  for  this  moderate 
dissemination  is  clear ;  at  that  time  typhoid  fever  was 
rendered  much  less  prevalent  throughout  Germany  by  the 
introduction  of  extensive  sanitary  measures  (sewers,  aque- 
ducts, refuse  removal,  &c.),  which  prevented  the  disease 
from  constantly  spreading  from  place  to  place.  In  Frank- 
furt-on- the-Main  the  mortahty  due  to  typhoid  fever  was 
not  increased ;  the  number  of  deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants 
was  : 

*  Including  the  convalescent  German  troops  from  France  that  were 
taken  into  the  immobile  army-corps. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         19S 
1867 4.3 

1868 7-1 

1869 4-2 

1870 5-8 

1871 5-8 

1872  .    .    .    .    .    .    .6-1 

In  many  cities,  on  the  other  hand,  an  increased  number 
of  deaths  due  to  typhoid  fever  was  observed  ;  whether  this 
was  attributable  to  a  transplantation  of  it  from  France,  or 
to  a  spontaneous  outbreak  of  it  among  the  many  people  in 
these  cities  who  already  had  the  germ  in  their  systems,  it 
is  impossible  to  ascertain.  From  the  statistics  we  are 
scarcely  ever  able  to  make  out  the  proportion  of  soldiers 
and  civilians  that  died.  The  number  of  deaths  due  to  typhoid 
fever  per  10,000  inhabitants  was  : 

Berlin.  Munich.^     Elberfeld.     Strassburg.     Erfurt.  Plauen, 

1867  6-9  6-0  8-1  8-5  IO-6  2-4 

1868  lo-o  8-0  5-3  9-0  9*4  ^-^ 

1869  6-7  13-0  5-3  9-6  —  67 

1870  7-8  14-0  9-3  17-8  —  21-8 

1871  8-9  14-0  9-4  14-2  33-1  2-5 

1872  13-9  24-0  8-8  7-8  5-3  4*9 

In  the  case  of  Strassburg  the  increase  caused  by  the  war 
is  clear;  of  the  civil  inhabitants  alone,  74  died  in  the  year 
1869,  137  in  the  year  1870,  and  110  in  the  year  1871.  In 
the  case  of  Elberfeld  the  increase  began  in  the  year  1870. 
In  Munich  the  increase  began  as  early  as  the  year  1869, 
although  the  very  high  mortality  did  not  commence  until 
1872,  as  in  Berlin ;  in  these  two  cases  the  increase  cannot 
be  said  to  have  been  caused  by  the  war.  The  same  is  true 
of  Plauen,  where  the  increase  also  began  in  1869.  In 
the  case  of  Erfurt,  unfortunately  no  statistics  are  available 
for  the  year  1870 ;  in  the  year  1871  the  increase  there  is 
very  marked.  To  be  sure,  it  is  not  expressly  stated  that 
prisoners  of  war  are  excluded,  but  as  they  were  not  included 
in  the  total  mortality,  or  in  that  due  to  small-pox,  we  may 

5  Prior  to  1870  the  reports  cover  the  year  beginning  October  1  and 
ending  September  30. 

1569.13  O 


194        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

safely  assume  that  they  were  excluded  in  the  case  of  typhoid 
fever.  ^ 

A  marked  increase  in  the  prevalence  of  typhoid  fever  is 
to  be  noted  in  the  stronghold  of  Ulm  on  the  occasion  of  the 
arrival  there  of  numerous  prisoners  from  France  ;  the  follow- 
ing table  indicates  the  number  of  people  who  succumbed  to 
the  disease  in  that  city  : ' 


Civil 

Garrison. 

Prisoners. 

population. 

1867    . 

10 

— 

25 

1868    . 

3 

— 

8 

1869    . 

4 

— 

7 

1870    . 

10 

ISO 

IS 

1871     . 

IS 

2S 

28 

1872    . 

6 



20 

1873    . 

2 



S 

Since  in  the  case  of  typhoid  fever  it  is  very  often  impossible 
to  trace  the  source  of  infection,  it  is  not  surprising  that  in 
many  instances  it  is  difficult  to  prove  that  the  disease  broke 
out  in  any  specific  locality  in  consequence  of  the  arrival 
there  of  a  person,  or  group  of  persons,  from  an  infected 
locality.  This  applies,  for  instance,  to  the  epidemic  of  typhoid 
fever  that  occurred  in  Meiningen  in  the  year  1871.  In  many 
places  the  disease,  being  prevalent  among  the  prisoners 
detained  there,  undoubtedly  spread  to  the  civil  population, 
but  nowhere  did  this  occur  to  such  an  extent  as  to  attract  the 
attention  of  the  authorities. 

Among  the  diseases  that  broke  out  in  the  field-armies 
during  the  war  of  187Q-1,  dysentery  (epidemic  dysentery) 
played  an  important  role,  especially  in  the  months  of  October 
and  November.  Prior  to  the  year  1870  it  was  a  comparatively 
rare  disease  in  Germany,  whereas  in  France  it  was  quite 
common.    This  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  in  the  years 

•  Loth,  Der  Einfluss  der  in  den  letzten  30  Jahren  etfolgten  hygienischen 
Massregeln  auf  den  Gang  der  Injektionskrankheiten  und  die  allgemeine 
Bevdlkerungsbewegung  in  Erfurt.  Corr.-Blatt  des  allgemeinen  drztlichen 
Vereins  von  Thiiringen,  November  11  and  12, 1901. 

'  Volz,  MedizinaWericht  des  Kgl.  Oberamtsphysikats  vom  Jahre  1871. 
Med.  Corr.-Blatt  des  wiirtt.  arztl.  Vereins,  November  8  and  9, 1873. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)        195 

1863-9  the  number  of  deaths  due  to  dysentery  in  the  French 
army  (home  stations)  was  twelve  times  as  large  as  in  the 
Prussian  army.  Particularly  hard  hit  were  the  troops  in 
and  around  Metz,  where  dysentery  raged  continuously  and 
with  considerable  severity,^  as  well  as  inStrassburg  and  Sedan; 
in  the  city  and  vicinity  of  Paris  the  disease,  owing  to  the 
advanced  season  of  the  year,  raged  less  furiously.  As  a  rule 
it  was  an  open  question  whether  the  places  in  which  the 
German  troops  contracted  the  disease  were  already  infected 
beforehand,  or  whether  the  disease  had  been  brought  there 
for  the  first  time  by  infected  divisions  of  the  French  army. 

Of  the  German  field-army,  38,975  men,  all  told,  contracted 
dysentery  (47-8  per  1,000  of  the  average  number  of  troops 
under  arms),  and  of  these  2,405  died.  Of  the  average  number 
of  French  prisoners  taken  to  Germany  41-7  per  cent  contracted 
the  disease  ;  nearly  all  the  cases  of  the  disease  were  among 
the  prisoners  themselves,  who  brought  the  germ  with  them, 
and  the  result  was  that  the  number  of  cases  soon  began  to 
decrease.  It  was,  of  course,  inevitable  that  numerous  prison- 
guards  should  contract  the  disease,  but  nowhere  did  it 
spread  in  a  serious  way  to  the  civil  population. 

Of  very  great  importance,  as  far  as  the  war  operations  were 
concerned,  was  the  fact  that  typhus  fever,  which  in  former 
years  had  played  such  a  fatal  role,  did  not  make  its  appearance 
among  the  troops ;  according  to  most  observers,  the  disease 
did  not  break  out  at  all  during  the  war.  The  Prussian 
troops  along  the  Russian  border  were  never  entirely  free  from 
typhus  fever ;  according  to  the  German  Health  Report, 
91  soldiers  contracted  the  disease  in  the  year  1867,  99  in 
ihe  year  1868,  and  37  in  the  year  1869.  France  itself  had 
apparently  been  free  from  the  disease  for  a  long  time,  but 
there  was  always  a  possibility  that  it  would  be  conveyed  into 
the  country  from  Algiers,  where  in  the  year  1868  a  severe 
epidemic  had  raged  in  consequence  of  a  great  famine  the  year 

*  H.  E.  Boehnke,  Die  Ruhrepidemie  im  Slandort  Metz  im  Sommer  1910. 
Deutsche  mil.-arztl.  Zeitschrift,  vol.  xl,  p.  803.    1911. 

02 


196        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

before  ;  of  the  army  in  Algiers  the  disease  had  carried  away 
252  men  (3-94  per  cent).®  Consequently  both  the  Germans 
and  the  French  watched  very  carefully  any  outbreaks  of 
a  disease  involving  symptoms  of  typhus  fever.  Cases  of 
a  disease  held  by  the  authorities  to  be  typhus  fever  were 
reported  from  Nancy,  Chalons- sur-Marne,  Luneville,  and 
Metz,  but  careful  investigations  by  von  Niemeyer  indicate 
that  they  were  merely  cases  of  typhoid  fever  exhibiting 
unusually  well  developed  roseola.  Several  French  physicians 
(Chauffard,  Leon  Colin,  Kelsch)  likewise  testify  to  the  fact 
that  typhus  fever  did  not  appear  in  the  French  army  during 
the  entire  war.  Grellois,  to  be  sure,  asserts  that  typhus  fever 
broke  out  about  the  middle  of  the  siege  of  Metz  and  then 
suddenly  disappeared.  But  even  this  assertion  may  fairly 
be  questioned ;  at  all  events  there  was  not  a  single  soldier 
in  the  garrison  suffering  from  the  disease  at  the  time  of  the 
capitulation,  as  Grellois  himself  admits. 

According  to  Michaux,^"  a  former  chairman  of  the  Medical 
Society  in  Metz,  a  small  epidemic  of  typhus  fever  raged 
among  the  civil  inhabitants  of  that  city  during  the  siege. 
The  correctness  of  this  statement,  however,  is  doubted,  as 
no  post-mortem  examinations  were  made.  It  seems  that 
fifty-five  children  and  nine  nurses  in  two  orphan  asylums 
contracted  the  disease,  and  that  twenty- eight  of  the  former 
and  one  of  the  latter  succumbed  to  it ;  the  first  cases  of  the 
disease  were  reported  early  in  October,  and  by  the  end  of 
November  the  epidemic  was  over.  This  sudden  disappearance 
of  the  disease  was  attributed  by  Michaux  to  the  termination 
of  the  siege,  a  conclusion  also  upheld  by  Mery,  who  studied 
the  disease  in  the  Crimean  War.  Viry,^^  who  until  a  few  day& 

•  A.  Maurin,  Le  typhus  exanlh&maiiquc  ou  pdUchial,  typhus  des  Arabes. 
Paris,  1872.  (Ref.in  Gaz.  hebdom.  dc  mid.  et  de  chir.,  1873,  vol.  xx,  p.  110. 
— Grellois,  Histoire  midicale  du  blocus  de  Metz.    Paris  and  Metz,  1872. 

^°  Michaux,  Du  typhus  exanthimatique  a  Metz  dans  la  population  civile, 
a  la  suite  du  blocus.    Gaz.  hebdom.,  1873,  vol.  xx,  p.  38. 

11  Viry,  Du  typhus  exanthimatique  a  Metz  dans  la  population  civile.  Gaz. 
hebdom.,  1873,  vol.  xx,  p.  56. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         197 

before  the  siege  had  charge  of  the  field  hospital  in  Vallieres 
(near  Metz),  where  he  treated  some  250-300  patients  every 
day,  performed  autopsies  on  all  supposed  victims  of  typhus 
fever,  but  in  all  cases  found  only  the  evidences  of  typhoid 
fever.  Nevertheless,  he  believes  it  possible  that  typhus 
fever  occurred  there,  and  holds  the  view  that  the  over- 
crowded condition  of  the  city  favoured  a  spontaneous 
outbreak  of  the  disease.  Laveran,^^  who  was  also  present  in 
Metz  during  the  siege,  disputes  the  correctness  of  Michaux's 
diagnosis,  as  does  the  German  Health  Report,  on  the  ground 
that  the  disease  attacked  children  almost  exclusively,  that 
it  caused  such  a  high  mortality,  and  that  it  disappeared  so 
suddenly.  He  seems  to  think  that  it  was  some  acute 
exanthema,  probably  haemorrhagic  measles.  This  leaves 
unexplained  the  fact  that  a  large  number  of  nurses  contracted 
the  disease. 

ni.  The  Great  Epidemic  of  Small-pox  caused  by 
THE  Franco-German  War 

But  while  typhoid  fever  and  dysentery  in  the  Franco- 
German  War  attacked  the  civil  population  only  in  those 
parts  of  the  country  in  which  the  fighting  took  place,  and 
nowhere  acquired  epidemic  dimensions,  and  while  it  is 
probable  that  typhus  fever  did  not  appear  at  all  at  that  time, 
there  occurred  in  connexion  with  the  war  a  very  severe 
epidemic  of  small-pox,  which  raged  more  extensively  and 
furiously  than  any  other  epidemic  in  the  course  of  the 
entire  century,  and  spread  not  only  throughout  the  belligerent 
countries,  but  also  throughout  all  Europe. 

Everybody  knows  how  severely  Europe  suffered  from 
epidemics  of  small-pox  in  the  last  part  of  the  eighteenth 
and  first  part  of  the  nineteenth  centuries,  and  how  the  ravages 
of  that  disease  were  first  checked  by  Jenner's  wonderful 
discovery.    Nevertheless,  small-pox  did  not  entirely  disappear 

12  A.  Laveran,  op.  cit.,  p.  260. 


198        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

from  Central  Europe  until  the  year  1870.  The  reason  for 
this  is  found  in  the  fact  that  compulsory  vaccination  was 
introduced  in  only  a  few  states,  and  even  in  them  was  not 
properly  enforced,  and  also  in  the  fact  that  people  did  not 
until  later  begin  to  reahze  that  vaccination  insures  immunity 
only  for  a  period  of  12-15  years  at  most.  Consequently  new 
recruits,  if  they  had  already  been  vaccinated  once,  were  not 
revaccinated  when  they  began  to  serve.  But  since  sporadic 
outbreaks  of  small-pox  continued  to  occur  in  the  Prussian 
army,  orders  were  issued  in  the  year  1834  that  all  recruits 
must  be  vaccinated.  The  result  was  that  from  that  time  on, 
the  Prussian  troops  were  very  rarely  attacked  by  the  disease. 
The  same  measure  was  adopted  in  Wiirttemberg  in  1833,  in 
Baden  in  1840,  in  Bavaria  in  1843,  in  Brunswick  in  1858,  in 
the  Kingdom  of  Saxony  in  1868,  and  in  the  Grand  Duchy  of 
Hesse  in  1869.  Compulsory  vaccination  did  not  exist  in 
Prussia  or  Saxony  before  the  Imperial  Vaccination  Law  was 
passed  in  the  year  1874 ;  the  result  was  that  large  numbers 
of  children  were  never  vaccinated.  The  anti- vaccinationists, 
especially  in  the  'sixties,  carried  on  a  vigorous  agitation,  and 
this  had  the  effect  of  increasing  the  number  of  unvaccinated 
persons  ;  the  number  of  revaccinated  persons  had  always 
been  small.  In  South  Germany  compulsory  vaccination  for 
one-year-old  children  was  introduced  in  the  first  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century — ^in  Bavaria  and  Hesse  in  1807,  in  Baden 
in  1815,  in  Wiirttemberg  in  1818 — ^but  revaccination  was 
not  enforced  until  1874,  when  the  Imperial  Vaccination  Law 
was  passed. 

The  small-pox  mortality  in  Prussia  prior  to  the  year  1870 
is  indicated  by  the  following  table,  which  shows  the  number 
of  deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants  : 


1831-40     . 

.     2-6 

1866-7 

.       5-2 

1841-50 

•    17 

1867-8 

.     1-8 

1851-60 

.       2-1 

1868-9 

.     1-9 

1 861-5 

•     3-5 

1869-70 

•      1-7 

In  the  year  1864  an  epidemic  of  small-pox  had  broken  out. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         199 

and  the  war  of  1866  had  helped  it  to  spread  ;  but  in  the  year 
1868  the  disease  began  to  abate,  so  that  by  the  middle  of 
the  year  1870  almost  all  of  Prussia  was  free  from  small-pox, 
as  will  be  set  forth  in  greater  detail  later  on.  In  South 
Germany  the  small-pox  mortality  was  even  lower  ;  in  Bavaria 
it  was  0-85  in  the  years  1861-70,  in  Wiirttemberg  it  was  0-9  in 
the  same  years,  and  in  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Hesse  it  was  1-9 
in  the  years  1866-70.^ 


13 


1.  The  Small-pox  Mortality  in  France  in  the  Years  1870-1 

In  the  'sixties  small-pox  had  not  been  very  common  in 
France,  but  no  detailed  reports  regarding  its  prevalence 
there  are  available ;  the  reports  which  the  prefects  were 
supposed  to  hand  in  are  either  entirely  missing,  or  else  very 
incomplete.  According  to  the  statistics  compiled  by  Vacher,^* 
the  death-rate  increased  a  little  in  the  years  1864-5,  then 
began  to  decrease,  and  in  1869  increased  again.  The  figures 
which  Vacher  compiled,  and  which  the  Academic  de  Medecine 
in  Paris  has  on  file,  are  : 


i860 

.  1,662 

1865 

.  4,166 

I86I 

•  1,740 

1866 

593 

1862 

.  1,813 

1867 

.  2,081 

1863 

.  1,440 

1868 

.  3,900 

1864 

.  3,290 

1869 

.  4,164 

Vacher  says  in  regard  to  these  figures  :  '  As  far  as  the 
actual  number  of  persons  who  contracted  and  succumbed 
to  small-pox  are  concerned,  they  express  only  a  small  part 
of  the  truth.  The  reports  submitted  to  the  Academy  of 
Medicine  are  rarely  complete ;  it  is  even  necessary  to  say 
that  about  one-quarter  of  the  Departments  never  send 
in  reports  on  the  epidemics  at  all,  although  the  ministerial 
instructions  render  the  submission  of  these  reports  obligatory, 
and  although  the  Academy  never  ceases  to  protest  against 

"  F.  Prinzing,  Handbuch  der  medizinischen  Statistik.  Jena,  1906,  P.  383. 
^*  Vacher,  Vdpidimie  de  variole  en  1870-1.    Gaz.  mid.  de  Paris,  1876, 
vol.  xlvi,  p.  470. 


200        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

the  negligence  of  the  prefectoral  administrators.'  Vacher 
then  goes  on  to  say  that  in  the  years  1860-9  only  59  out  of 
every  100  infants  bom  were  vaccinated,  and  that  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  about  one-third  of  the  French  population 
was  unvaccinated ;  in  many  Departments,  indeed,  as  many 
as  four-fifths  (Aveyron,  Corsica,  &c.).  Small-pox  was  much 
more  prevalent  in  the  French  army  than  in  the  German 
army ;  according  to  the  German  Health  Report,^^  the  number 
of  deaths  caused  by  the  disease  was  : 


Prussian  Army. 

French  Army. 

Total  No. 

Per 

lOjOcx)  men. 

Total  No. 

Per 

10,000  men. 

1866 

8 

0-30 

46 

1-37 

1867 

2 

008 

70 

1-82 

1868 

I 

0-04 

169 

4-28 

1869 

I 

0-04 

95 

2-27 

The  reason  for  this  lies  in  the  fact  that  a  larger  proportion 
of  the  Prussian  soldiers  were  vaccinated.  Since  the  year 
1806  all  French  recruits  who  had  never  been  vaccinated  were 
supposed  to  submit  to  the  inoculation  when  they  presented 
themselves  for  service,  but  this  regulation  was  for  years 
at  a  time  very  laxly  enforced ;  consequently  in  the  year 
1857  a  new  order  was  issued,  introducing  compulsory 
vaccination  for  all  recruits.  But  even  this  order  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  everywhere  carried  out  with  the  necessary 
strictness,  and  complaints  regarding  the  partial  success  of 
vaccination  were  frequently  made  by  mihtary  physicians. 

As  stated  above,  there  was  a  noticeable  increase  in  the 
small-pox  mortality  in  the  year  1869 ;  this  increase  lasted 
into  the  beginning  of  the  year  1870,  but  was  confined  to 
certain  localities.  Chauffard's  ^^  report  on  epidemic  diseases 
in  France  is  more  incomplete  for  the  years  1869-70,  on 
account  of  the  war,  than  for  previous  years  ;  it  was  supple- 
mented, partially  at  least,  by  the  later  reports  of  Vernois  " 

"  Vol.  vi,  p.  80. 

^*  M.  Chauffard,  Rapport  sur  les  dpidimies  pour  les  amides  1869-70. 
Mdmoires  de  VAcadimie  de  Mddecine,  vol.  xxx.    Paris,  1871-3. 

"  Vernois,  Rapport  gin&ral  sur  les  dpiddmies  qui  ont  rdgnd  en  France 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)        201 

for  the  year  1871,  and  also  by  the  comprehensive  report  of 
M.  Delpech^®  for  the  years  1870-2.  Accordmg  to  these, 
epidemics  of  small-pox  occurred  in  the  year  1869  in  North- 
west France  (Bretagne),  in  North-east  France  (Departments 
of  Aisne,  Pas-de-Calais),  and  in  South-east  France  (Depart- 
ments of  Gers,  Ariege,  and  Pyrenees-Orientales.  In  the 
winter  of  1869-70  the  epidemic  continued  to  spread,  and  by 
the  end  of  the  year  1870  it  included  almost  the  whole  of 
France.  The  incomplete  reports  give  us  no  idea  as  to  which 
Departments  were  attacked  before  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
and  which  after.  According  to  Vernois,  the  disease  appeared 
that  year  in  42  Departments,  including  132  arrondissements 
and  539  parishes.  But,  as  stated  above,  the  reports  are  all 
very  incomplete  ;  a  later  report  submitted  by  Delpech  adds 
11  more  Departments  to  the  42.  The  total  number  of 
deaths  caused  by  small-pox  in  France  in  the  year  1871  is 
unknown  ;  Vernois  reported  14,425  deaths  in  39  Departments, 
but  this  does  not  include  the  figures  for  Paris,  where  10,539 
persons  succumbed  to  the  disease,  or  for  the  Department  of 
Finistere,  or  for  the  Department  of  Sarthe  (in  regard  to 
v/hich  it  is  merely  observed  that  there  were  '  beaucoup  de 
morts  '),  or  for  several  other  Departments. 

It  is  a  fact  that  small-pox  raged  severely  among  the  civil 
inhabitants  of  all  regions  in  which  the  second  half  of  the 
war  was  waged  (to  the  south,  east,  and  north  of  Paris),  and 
that  the  war  itself  helped  the  disease  to  spread  in  the  eastern 
Departments  (Jura,  Doubs,  Saone-et-Loire,  Haute-Saone). 
The  wide  prevalence  of  the  disease  among  the  soldiers  is 
attributed  by  many  French  physicians  to  the  fact  that  the 
army  as  a  whole  had  been  inadequately  vaccinated.  If  this 
was  true  of  the  regular  troops,  lack  of  time  made  it  absolutely 
impossible  to  vaccinate  all  the  men  that  were  afterwards 
assembled  in  such  a  precipitate  manner.     The  movements 

pendant  Vannee  1871.  Memoires  de  VAcad^mie  de  Midecine,  vol.  xxx, 
p. 423. 

^*  M.  Delpech,  Rapport  gdniral  sur  les  epidemics  pour  les  annies  1870, 
1871  et  1872.    M6m.  de  VAcad.  de  Mid.,  vol.  xxxi.    Paris,  1875. 


202 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


of  the  soldiers  in  the  cold  season  of  the  year  (in  December  there 
was  some  bitterly  cold  weather)  made  it  necessary  for  friends 
and  enemies  to  share  whatever  shelter  they  could  find,  regard- 
less of  whether  the  house  had  previously  been  occupied  by 
small-pox  patients,  or  whether  such  patients  were  actually 
lying  in  it  at  the  time.  The  result  was  that  the  disease  became 
very  widespread  throughout  all  France.  Says  Laveran :  ^' 
'  The  army,  being  composed  of  men  who  had  been  in  service 
for  a  long  time,  and  who  had  been  vaccinated  and  revaccinated, 
suffered  very  little,  but  the  events  which  took  place  after 
the  declaration  of  war  altered  this  state  of  affairs.  The 
regiments  of  the  Departments  on  their  way  to  Paris  were 
quartered  in  the  homes  of  civihans,  where  they  contracted 
small-pox.  The  disease  spread  easily  among  the  young  people 
who,  owing  to  lack  of  time,  had  not  been  revaccinated,  and 
many  of  whom  had  perhaps  never  been  vaccinated  at  all. 
During  the  first  part  of  the  siege  of  Paris  it  was  these 
regiments  which  suffered  the  most  from  small-pox,  but 
later  on  the  epidemic  became  more  general  and  spread  to 
all  the  corps.  The  number  of  soldiers  infected  with  small- 
pox during  the  siege  was  about  6-76  per  100,  or  68  per 
1,000.' 

Small-pox  raged  very  extensively  in  besieged  strong- 
holds. In  Paris  an  epidemic  of  small-pox  began  in 
November  1869,  and  the  number  of  deaths  caused  by  the 
disease  there  was  :  ^° 


October  (1869)   . 

39 

November  . 

93 

December  . 

119 

January     . 

174 

February   . 

293 

March 

406 

April 

561 

May  . 

786     1 

June 

914  ! 

July 

1,072 

August    . 

7^3 

September 

700 

October  . 

1,361 

November 

1,722 

December 

r.837 

January  . 

1.503 

February 

763 

March     . 

230 

"  A.  Laveran,  op.  cit.,  p.  364. 

*"  M.  Delpech,  Rapports  sur  les  fails  de  Vipidimie  variolique  observie 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)        203 

In  the  middle  of  the  summer  the  disease  was  not  very 
prevalent  in  the  garrison  ;  most  of  the  cases  were  among  the 
civil  inhabitants.  This  condition  changed  in  September, 
however,  when  the  newly-organized  mobile  guard  arrived 
in  the  city,  consisting  of  young  men  who  had  not  been 
revaccinated  for  lack  of  time,  and  many  of  whom  had  never 
been  vaccinated  at  all.  A  severe  epidemic  now  began  to 
rage  throughout  the  garrison ;  between  October  1870  and 
March  1871  no  less  than  7,578  men  suffering  from  small-pox 
were  taken  to  the  Hopital  Bicetre,  where  the  majority  of  the 
small-pox  patients  in  the  garrison  were  housed,  and  where 
1,074  (14-17  per  cent)  of  them  died.  Colin  reports  that  the 
total  number  of  smaU-pox  patients  taken  there  from  the 
garrison  (the  total  number  of  men  in  which  he  estimates  at 
70,000  regular  troops  and  100,000  guardsmen)  ^^  was  no  less 
than  11,500,  and  that  the  number  of  deaths  was  1,600. 
In  November,  owing  to  the  rapid  dissemination  of  the  disease 
in  the  garrison,  the  number  of  cases  among  the  civil  inhabi- 
tants also  began  to  increase. 

Small-pox  also  raged  in  Metz,  but  not  so  extensively  as 
in  Paris ;  the  following  table  indicates  the  number  of  men 
in  the  garrison  carried  away  by  small-pox  : 

August  (15-31) 6 

September  ......  40 

October       ......  51 

November  ......  58 

December    ......  21 

Total 176 

The  surrender  of  the  stronghold,  on  October  27,  led  to  the 
discovery  of  200  small-pox  patients  in  a  tobacco  factory. 

d  Paris  depuis  Vannie  1865  jusqu'au  Vf  juillet  1870.  Ann.  d'hyg.  pubL,  1871 , 
series  ii,  vol.  xxxv. — Leon  Colin,  Lavariole  au point  de  vue  ipiddmiologique  ct 
prophylactique.  Paris,  1873. — O.  du  Mesnil,  La  mortality  a  Paris  pendant 
le  si^ge.  Ann.  d'hyg.puhl.,  1871,  series  ii,  vol.  xxxv,  p.  413. — H.  Sueur, 
£tude  sur  la  mortality  a  Paris  pendant  le  siige.    Paris,  1872. 

^^  According  to  Sueur,  the  number  of  men  in  the  garrison  at  the  beginning 
of  the  siege  was  246,000. 


204        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

The  epidemic  among  the  civil  inhabitants  came  to  an  end 
in  March  1871. 

Belfort,  where  the  garrison  consisted  mostly  of  national 
guards,  also  experienced  a  severe  epidemic  during  the  siege ; 
likewise  Strassburg,  Nancy,  Toul,  and  Verdun. 

In  Strassburg,  where  cases  of  small-pox  had  repeatedly 
been  observed,  the  disease  became  more  widespread  in  the 
summer  of  1870,  and  during  the  siege  the  number  of  cases 
increased  considerably ;  not  until  August  1871  did  the 
epidemic  come  to  an  end.  According  to  Kriesche  and 
Krieger,^^  the  number  of  civilians  that  succumbed  to  small- 
pox in  Strassburg,  the  population  of  which  in  the  year 
1871  was  77,859,  was  : 


January 

February 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 

Total 


1869. 

1870. 

1871 

2 

4 

8i 

3 

5 

52 

3 

9 

20 

13 

14 

IS 

I 

19 

14 

2 

23 

4 

6 

22 

3 

5 

33 

I 

2 

66 

— 



92 

— 

2  * 

72 

I 

3 

92 

— 

42 


451 


191 


Langres  was  attacked  with  especial  severity.  The  garrison 
there  was  composed  of  freshly  enlisted  troops  (mobile  and 
national  guards),  and  averaged  14,629  men.  The  epidemic 
began  in  September  1870,  and  was  not  yet  over  by  March 
1871.  The  following  table  gives  the  number  of  cases  and 
deaths  according  to  Claudot. 

22  statistics  regarding  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  No.  11  (Strassburg,  1878) 
p.  133. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)        205 


September 

October  . 

November 

December 

January 

February 

March     . 

Total 


Wo.  cases. 

No.  deaths 

8i 

10 

145 

12 

301 

34 

598 

41 

621 

91 

402 

93 

186 

53 

2,334 


334 


The  disease  raged  very  extensively  in  the  French  provincial 
armies  that  were  organized  to  relieve  Paris — ^thus  in  the 
south-western,  northern,  and  south-eastern  scenes  of  the  war, 
small-pox  had  already  made  its  appearance  among  the  civil 
inhabitants  of  those  parts  of  the  country  in  consequence 
of  the  continual  passing  through  of  soldiers,  many  of  whom 
had  never  been  vaccinated.  Orleans,  Chartres,  and  Le  Mans, 
were  the  main  centres  of  the  pestilence ;  in  the  north 
Amiens,  Bois-Guillaume,  Rouen,  and  other  places;  in  the 
south,  besides  the  strongholds  of  Belfort  and  Langres,  the 
cities  of  Dijon,  Besangon,  Pontarlier,  and  several  other  places. 
The  disease  raged  furiously  throughout  this  entire  region, 
but  the  exact  number  of  deaths  is  not  known. 

In  south-eastern  France,  small-pox  did  not  become  very 

widespread  until  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war ;   in  Lyons, 

for   example,   the  epidemic  began  in  the  second  half  of 

October.     To  be  sure,  small-pox  had  appeared  in  several 

places  in  the  year  1868,  but  by  the  winter  of  1868-9  this 

epidemic  was  over,  although  individual  cases  continued  to 

occur.    Regarding  the  cause  of  the  small-pox  epidemic  that 

broke  out  in  Lyons  in  the  autumn  of  1870,  Fonteret  ^^  gives 

us  the  following  information  :    '  Two  causes  could  not  help 

favouring  the  outbreak  in  our  city ;    the  movements  of  the 

troops  that  took  place  at  that  time,  and  the  emigration  of 

numerous  Parisians,  who  since  the  beginning  of  September, 

that  is  to  say,  since  the  time  when  the  epidemic  began  to 

rage  furiously  in  Paris,  passed  through  our  city  on  their  way 

23  A.  L.  Fonteret,  iStude  gdndrale  des  maladies  rignantes  et  des  constitutions 
midicales  ohservies  a  Lyon  de  1864  a  1873.    Paris-Lyons,  1873. 


206        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

to  Switzerland.'  Regarding  the  course  of  the  epidemic,  n© 
statistics  covering  the  entire  city  are  available,  but  we  are 
able  to  see  from  the  following  table,  compiled  by  Perroud, 
the  number  of  small-pox  patients  taken  in  by  the  Hotel- 
Dieu  and  the  number  that  died  there  : 


Patients. 

January-June  (1870)        .         .126 

July-September 

.       lOI 

October 

29 

November 

94 

December 

160 

January  (1871) 

148 

February 

147 

March    . 

13s 

April 

124 

May 

84 

June 

45 

July 

38 

August-December  . 

44 

Deaths. 

9 
15 

8 
26 
37 
31 
37 
29 
25 
12 

7 
5 
6 


In  the  other  cantons  of  the  Department  935  deaths  were 
officially  recorded  in  the  years  1870-1.  It  was  observed  in 
Lyons,  as  in  other  places,  that  not  only  the  number  of 
persons  who  contracted  small-pox,  but  also  the  virulence 
of  the  disease  itself,  increased ;  whereas  only  10-6  per  cent 
of  227  sporadic  cases  resulted  fatally  between  January  and 
September,  out  of  1,004  persons  who  contracted  the  disease 
between  October  1870  and  July  1871  no  less  than  21-7 
per  cent  died. 

In  the  year  1871  small-pox  did  not  spare  a  single  Depart- 
ment in  France,  although  many  of  them  failed  to  send  in 
reports.  Vacher  estimates  the  number  of  deaths  due  to  the 
disease  in  the  year  1871  at  58,236,  but  he  adds  that  the 
estimate  is  too  small.  No  report,  for  example,  was  sent  in 
by  the  Department  of  Sarthe,  where  in  the  city  of  Le  Mans 
alone  there  were  1,181  deaths,  nor  by  the  Department  of 
Haute-Garonne,  where  there  were  1,328  deaths  in  Toulouse. 
The  total  number  of  unreported  deaths,  therefore,  must  have 
been  at  least  20,000.     It  is  almost  impossible  to  estimate 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         207 

the  number  of  deaths  that  occurred  in  the  year  1870.  From 
the  available  statistics  Vacher  estimates  the  number  of 
deaths  caused  by  the  disease  in  the  two  years  1870-1  at 
89,954,  a  figure,  as  he  himself  says,  '  which  represents  only 
a  part  of  the  reality.'  Another  estimate  made  by  Vacher, 
putting  the  number  of  deaths  caused  by  small-pox  in  the 
years  1869-70  at  200,000,  is  in  all  probability  not  an 
exaggeration. 

In  the  year  1872,  to  be  sure,  small-pox  appeared  in  the  form 
of  epidemics  in  numerous  parts  of  France,  but  nowhere  did 
it  spread  so  widely  as  in  the  two  previous  years.  According 
to  a  report  worked  out  by  Delpech  for  the  years  1870-2,  no 
less  than  42  Departments  failed  to  make  any  report  at  all 
in  the  year  1872,  while  only  18  of  the  remaining  41  Depart- 
ments sent  in  reports  regarding  epidemic  outbreaks  of  small- 
pox. The  epidemic  lasted  until  1873,  in  which  year  reports 
regarding  small-pox  epidemics  came  in  from  10  Departments  ; 
but  only  in  the  Departments  of  Morbihan  and  Pyrenees- 
Orientales  was  the  epidemic  apparently  somewhat  more 
intense.^* 

2.  Small-pox  among  the  French  Prisoners 

Thanks  to  the  well-vaccinated  condition  of  the  German 
troops,  the  army  suffered  comparatively  little  from  small-pox. 
In  the  field  army  4,385  men  (61-3  per  1,000)  contracted  the 
disease,  and  278  of  them  (3-5  per  cent  of  those  who  contracted 
it)  died.  Including  the  officers,  physicians,  and  officials, 
the  number  taken  sick  was  4,991  and  the  number  that  died 
was  297.  The  number  of  men  in  the  individual  army 
corps  that  contracted  the  disease  varied  greatly  according 
to  the  nature  and  place  of  their  activity  ;  particularly  hard 
hit  were  the  army  divisions  in  the  south-western  and  northern 
scenes  of  the  war,  where  the  military  operations  were  carried 
on  in  fearfully  cold  weather,  and  where  it  was  impossible 

2*  M.  Woillez,  Rapport  giniral  sur  Us  dpidimies  pendant  Vannie  1873, 
M&m.  de  VAcad.  de  MM.,  vol.  xxxi,  p.  clvii.    1875. 


208        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

to  quarter  the  infected  soldiers  in  isolated  places  by  them- 
selves. The  French  army  was  attacked  much  more  severely 
by  small-pox,  although  there  are  no  accurate  reports  available 
regarding  the  prevalence  of  the  disease.  According  to 
a  report  found  in  the  Vienna  Medical  Weekly^^^  the  total 
number  of  French  soldiers  that  succumbed  to  small-pox  was 
23,469^®;  but  the  accuracy  of  this  number,  to  be  sure,  is 
questionable,  since,  assuming  that  there  was  a  very  high 
mortality,  it  would  mean  that  some  120,000  troops  contracted 
the  disease.  At  all  events,  the  French  army,  taken  as  a  whole, 
was  badly  infected  with  small-pox,  and  it  was  inevitable 
that  among  the  French  prisoners  brought  to  Germany  there 
should  be  numerous  small-pox  patients,  some  in  the  incuba- 
tion stage,  and  some  in  the  convalescent  stage  of  the  disease, 
and  that  they  should  infect  other  people  there. 

The  number  of  French  prisoners  taken  to  Germany  in 
the  first  few  months  of  the  year  1871  was  no  less  than  372,918  ; 
the  prisoners  who  at  the  very  beginning,  but  especially 
after  the  surrender  of  Metz,  were  transported  in  large 
numbers  to  Germany,  had  to  be  distributed  throughout  the 
entire  Empire,  clear  over  to  the  eastern  boundaiy.  Owing 
to  the  fact  that  new  transports  of  French  prisoners  were 
constantly  arriving  at  the  German  frontier,  which,  in  conse- 
quence of  severe  hardships  and  privations,  they  reached  in 
such  a  weak  physical  condition  that  they  could  not  be  taken 
very  far  inland,  it  became  necessary  to  transfer  some  of 
the  earlier  arrivals  to  other  places  of  detention,  and  this, 
of  course,  favoured  the  further  dissemination  of  the  disease. 
This  transference  was  rendered  particularly  necessary  by 
the  arrival  of  large  numbers  of  prisoners  after  the  battle 
of  Sedan  (September  1),  after  the  capitulation  of  Metz 
(October  27),  and  after  the  battles  of  Orleans  and  Le  Mans 
(December  and  January  respectively).  Small-pox  occasion- 
ally broke  out  among  these  prisoners  while  they  were  on  their 
way  to  Germany,  rendering  it  necessary  to  leave  them 
^  1872,  p.  896.  -'  German  Health  Report,  vol.  vi,  p.  81. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         209 

behind,  or  else  the  disease  made  its  appearance  when  they 
reached  their  destination  ;  as  a  rule,  however,  the  first  cases 
of  the  disease  were  observed  a  few  days  after  their  arrival 
at  their  place  of  detention,  where  they  soon  infected  the 
other  prisoners.  The  further  dissemination  of  the  disease 
among  them  was  checked  by  means  of  wholesale  vaccination. 
Of  the  prisoners,  14,178,  all  told  (38  per  cent  of  the  total 
number  taken),  contracted  small-pox,  and  of  these  1,963 
(5-26  per  cent)  died.  The  statistics  in  the  German  Health 
Report  indicate  distinctly  the  number  of  prisoners  in  the 
various  states  and  provinces  that  contracted  and  succumbed 
to  the  disease ;  but  the  total  number  of  prisoners  taken  is 
known  only  in  the  case  of  the  larger  states  in  the  Confedera- 
tion, since  the  statistics  in  the  Report  are  compiled  on  the 
basis  of  the  army-corps  districts,  which  do  not  coincide  with 
the  political  divisions.  The  figures  for  the  larger  states  are 
as  follows  : 

Maximum  no. 
prisoners. 
N.  Germany,  excluding 

Kingdom  of  Saxony  .     283,750 


Kingdom  of  Saxony 

Bavaria 

Wiirttemberg 

Baden 

Grand  Duchy  of  Hesse 

All  Germany 


10,234 
40,083 
12,958 
12,083 
13,810 


). 

Patients 

Deaths  per 

Patients 

.  Deaths. 

per  1,000. 

1 00  cases. 

10,547 

1,527 

37-2 

14-5 

248 

18 

24-2 

7-3 

1,607 

196 

40-0 

I2'2 

390 

28 

38-1 

7-2 

512 

21 

42-4 

4-1 

874 

U3 

63-3 

19-8 

372,918    14,178    1,963        38-0  13-8 


The  number  of  people  who  contracted  the  disease  varied 
greatly  in  the  different  territories,  depending  upon  the 
locality  whence  the  prisoners  came.  Accordingly,  the  figures 
in  the  case  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Hesse  were  rendered  large 
by  the  fact  that  a  severe  epidemic  of  small-pox  broke  out 
in  the  stronghold  of  Mayence  on  the  occasion  of  the  arrival 
there  of  prisoners  from  Metz.  The  number  of  prisoners  that 
contracted  and  succumbed  to  small-pox  in  the  larger  military 
prison- depots  is  shown  by  the  following  table,  which  covers 
only  those  places  in  Prussia  and  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Hesse 

156913  P 


210 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


in  which  the  maximum  number  of  prisoners  held  in  confine- 
ment exceeded  5,000  : 


Maodmum  no. 

Patients 

Deaths  pel 

prisoners. 

Patients. 

Deaths. 

per  1,000. 

100  cases. 

Spandau 

6,856 

77 

25 

I  I -2 

32-5 

Jiiterbog 

5,002 

196 

23 

39-2 

117 

Danzig 

9,189 

188 

24 

20-5 

12-8 

Konigsberg 

7.324 

221 

22 

302 

9.9 

Stettin 

21,000 

1,303 

194 

62-0 

14-9 

Erfiirt 

12,400 

203 

28 

16-4 

13-8 

Magdeburg 

25,450 

1,902 

271 

74-7 

14-3 

Torgau 

9,359 

603 

128 

64-4 

21-2 

Wittenberg 

9,753 

51 

10 

5-2 

19-6 

Posen  . 

10,303 

191 

29 

18-5 

15-2 

Glogau 

13,621 

1,198 

170 

88 -o 

14-2 

Neisse  . 

12,801 

385 

117 

30-I 

30-4 

Minden 

5,071 

98 

13 

19-3 

13-3 

Wesel  . 

16,299 

1,042 

127 

63-9 

12-2 

Cologne 

•      13.774 

175 

24 

12-7 

137 

Coblenz 

.      15,011 

571 

III 

38-0 

19-4 

Lockstedt 

5,000 

47 

7 

9-4 

149 

Mayence 

14,669 

759 

165 

517 

217 

In  the  case  of  the  Kingdom  of  Saxony  and  of  the  South 
German  States  no  j&gures  for  the  individual  places  are 
available.  We  see  from  the  above  table  that  of  the  large 
prison-depots,  Glogau,  Magdeburg,  Torgau,  Wesel,  Stettin,  and 
Mayence  had  the  most  cases  of  the  disease ;  generally  speak- 
ing, the  smaller  places  were  less  severely  attacked,  although 
there  are  a  few  exceptions  to  this  statement ;  in  Stralsund, 
for  example,  there  were  78-2  cases  of  the  disease  per  1,000 
prisoners,  in  Papenberg  and  Hanover  63-4,  in  Colberg  53-9, 
and  in  Minister  52-8. 


3.  Small-pox  in  the  Immobile  German  Army 

The  occurrence  of  small-pox  in  the  immobile  German  army 
was  closely  related  to  its  prevalence  among  the  prisoners, 
and  it  attacked  the  immobile  troops  much  more  severely 
than  the  field-troops.  The  latter,  to  be  sure,  were  no  less 
exposed  to  the  infection,  but  the  former,  taken  as  a  whole, 
were  not  nearly  so  well  vaccinated ;   for  it  was  impossible 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)        211 

in  the  short  time  available  to  see  to  it  that  all  the  reserves 
were  vaccinated,  since  the  troops  designated  for  the  field 
were  given  the  precedence.  Thus  between  conscription  and 
vaccination  there  was  more  or  less  of  an  interval,  during 
which  a  large  number  of  the  reserves  were  not  protected 
against  the  disease.  The  total  number  of  men  in  the  immo- 
bile army  that  contracted  small-pox  was  3,472  (excluding 
Baden  and  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Hesse,  regarding  which  we 
have  no  statistics).  Assuming  that  the  average  number  of 
reserves  in  the  immobile  army  was  300,424,  this  means  that 
about  11-6  per  1,000  contracted  the  disease.  The  number 
of  cases  among  the  immobile  troops  in  the  individual  states 
of  the  Confederation  varied  greatly,  as  indicated  by  the 
following  table : 


Average  no 

Patients 

Deaths  per 

reserves. 

Patients. 

Deaths. 

per  1,000. 

100  cases. 

N.   Germany,  excluding 

Kingdom  of  Saxony.     238,040 

1,703 

92 

7-15 

5-4 

Kingdom  of  Saxony      .       17,628 

506 

30 

28-70 

5-9 

Bavaria        .          .          .       34,634 

1,183 

39 

34-16 

3-3 

Wiirttemberg       .          .        10,122 

80 

I 

7-90 

1-3 

In  the  larger  Prussian  garrisons,  and  in  Mayence,  the 
following  number  of  men  contracted  and  succumbed  to 
small-pox :  . 


Average 

Patients 

Deaths  per 

no.  men. 

Patients. 

Deaths. 

per  1,000. 

100  cases. 

Berlin 

9,110 

57 

4 

6-3 

7-0 

Danzig 

7,376 

45 

5 

6-1 

1 1 -I 

Konigsberg 

6,426 

lOI 

II 

157 

IO-9 

Stettin 

7,000 

74 

5 

IO-6 

6-8 

Magdeburg 

11,296 

84 

8 

7-4 

9-5 

Posen 

9,482 

"3 

6 

1 1 -9 

5-3 

Breslau 

8,029 

20 

— 

2-5 

— 

Wesel 

7,284 

117 

7 

16-0 

6-0 

Cologne 

9,207 

19 

I 

2-1 

5-3 

Coblenz 

8,710 

83 

4 

9-5 

4-8 

Mayence 

9,046 

122 

9 

13-5 

7-4 

Wherever,  as  in  Breslau,  there  were  few  prisoners,  the 
small-pox  percentage  in  the  immobile  army  is  low.  Regard- 
ing the  above  figures,   it  must  be  remarked  that   those 

P2 


212 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


pertaining  to  the  garrisons  were  compiled  on  the  basis  of  the 
average  number  of  troops,  whereas  in  the  case  of  the  French 
prisoners  the  maximum  number  was  used  as  a  basis.  The 
relative  number  of  small-pox  cases  in  the  latter  table, 
accordingly,  is  somewhat  too  low.  Among  the  prisoners 
and  among  the  immobile  troops,  the  climax  of  the  pestilence 
was  in  January,  as  indicated  by  the  following  table  : 


July  (1870) 

August 

September 

October    . 

November 

December 

January  (1871) 

February 

March 

April 

May 

June 

The  number  of  French  prisoners  taken  to  Germany  in  the 
month  of  July  1870  was  small.  Of  the  sixteen  immobiles 
who  contracted  the  disease  during  that  month,  nine  belonged 
to  the  Ninth  Army  Corps,  most  of  them  having  been  infected 
inland  before  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  That  the  month  of 
July  did  not  constitute  the  starting-point  of  the  subsequent 
epidemic  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  the  prevalence  of  the 
disease  decreased  in  August,  as  well  as  from  countless 
individual  observations. 


French 

Immobile 

Prisoners. 

German  troops. 

2 

i6 

27 

9 

85 

47 

273 

49 

1,041 

128 

3.107 

358 

4. 139 

802 

3.151 

719 

1,521 

457 

586 

451 

209 

291 

36 

145 

4.    The  Epidemic  of  Small-pox  in  the  Civil  Population 
of  Germany  in  1871-2 

In  the  summer  of  1870  Germany  was  almost  free  from 
small-pox.  Later  on,  thousands  of  French  prisoners,  almost 
all  of  them  hailing  from  infected  locaUties,  were  within 
a  short  time  scattered  throughout  the  entire  German  Empire, 
and  since  the  inhabitants  of  many  parts  of  the  country,  as 
stated  above,  were  very  insufficiently  vaccinated,  it  was 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)        213 

inevitable  that  epidemics  of  small-pox  should  break  out 
everywhere.  The  disease  was  disseminated  in  several  ways  : 
by  prisoners  who  had  contracted  it  on  their  way  to  Germany, 
or  who  had  to  be  transported  from  an  infected  to  an  unin- 
fected locality,  by  persons  into  whose  systems  the  infection 
had  entered  but  had  not  yet  revealed  its  presence,  and  by 
uninfected  persons  who  had  come  in  contact  with  infected 
persons ;  numerous  persons,  moreover,  contracted  the 
disease  by  handling  the  clothing,  blankets,  and  other  effects 
of  small-pox  patients. 

'  The  dissemination  of  the  disease,'  says  the  German 
Health  Report,^'  '  which  broke  out  simultaneously  in  various 
parts  of  Germany,  was  helped  along  in  numerous  ways. 
From  the  lazarets  and  from  the  prisons  it  was  communi- 
cated by  nurses  and  guards,  and  by  working  men  and  trades- 
men, to  the  civil  population  and  to  the  local  garrison,  and 
from  there  it  spread  to  the  surrounding  country.  It  was 
conveyed  from  place  to  place,  often  considerable  distances, 
by  the  moving  population  itself,  not  infrequently  by  march- 
ing troops,  and  particularly  by  the  removal  of  prisoners  from 
one  place  of  detention  to  another ;  the  latter  measure  had 
to  be  adopted  in  order  to  make  room  for  the  fresh  transports 
of  prisoners  that  were  constantly  arriving,  many  of  them 
in  such  an  exhausted  condition  that  it  was  necessary  to 
spare  them  the  long  and  trying  journey  to  the  far  East. 
Thus  the  prisons  at  Mayence,  Coblenz,  Wesel,  Minden, 
&c.  became  the  foci  from  which  the  disease  was  transplanted 
into  hitherto  uninfected  places.' 

The  result  was  that  there  broke  out  in  Germany  an 
epidemic  of  small-pox  which  raged  more  furiously  and 
extensively  than  any  other  epidemic  in  the  course  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Whereas  among  the  prisoners-of-war  and 
among  the  immobile  German  troops  (who  were  particularly 
exposed  to  the  infection)  the  disease  reached  its  climax  as 
early  as  January  1871,  among  the  civil  inhabitants  of  the 

27  Vol.  vi,  p.  29. 


214        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


country  this  climax  did  not  come  until  later  in  the  year ; 
in  the  more  out-of-the-way  regions,  moreover,  where  there 
was  less  intercourse,  the  height  of  the  epidemic  was  not 
reached  until  the  year  1872. 

(a)   The  Dissemination  of  Small-pox  in  Prussia  and  in 
the  smaller  North  German  States 

After  the  prevalence  of  small-pox  in  Prussia  had  again 
increased  somewhat  in  the  years  1864-7,  in  the  following 
years  the  number  of  cases  of  the  disease  grew  steadily  smaller, 
so  that  around  the  middle  of  the  year  1870  the  country  was 
practically  free  from  it.  Its  prevalence  again  increased  in 
the  first  months  of  the  year  1871.  The  following  table  indi- 
cates the  number  of  deaths  caused  by  the  disease  in  Prussia 
in  the  course  of  twelve  years  : 


1862  . 

1863  . 

1864  . 

1865  . 

1866  . 

1867  . 

1868  . 

1869  . 

1870  . 

1871  . 

1872  . 

1873  . 

In  the  year  1874  only  one  person  per  10,000  inhabitants 
succumbed  to  the  disease.  Among  the  French  prisoners 
small-pox  usually  broke  out  every  soon  after  their  arrival 
at  their  place  of  detention,  while  among  the  inhabitants  of 
the  places  in  which  the  prisons  were  located  it  usually  did 
not  make  its  appearance  until  several  months  later.  Gutt- 
stadt,^®  in  his  excellent  work  on  the  Epidemic  of  Small-pox 

^  According  to  a  written  communication  from  the  Royal  Prussian 
Bureau  of  Statistics. 

*  A.  Guttstadt,  Die  Pockenepidemie  in  Preussen,  insbesondere  in  Berlin 
1870-2.    Zeitschrift  des  Kgl.  Preuss.  Statist.  Bureaus,  vol.  xiii,  p.  116.    1873. 


Total  no. 

Deatlis  per 

deaths. 

10,000  inhabitants. 

3.894 

2-1 

6-250 

3-4 

8,904 

4-6 

8,403 

4-4 

11.937 

6-2 

8,500 

4-3 

4.510 

1-8 

4,65  s 

1-9 

4,200 

17 

59,839 

24-3 

66,660  28 

26-9 

8,932 

3-6 

THE  FRANCaGERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)        215 

in  Prussia  in  the  Years  1870-1,  has  compiled  a  table  of 
statistics  indicating  in  a  number  of  places  when  the  disease 
first  made  its  appearance  among  the  prisoners  and  among 
the  civil  inhabitants.  We  reproduce  this  table  below,  with 
a  few  small  alterations.  In  some  of  the  places  mentioned 
there  was  no  military  prison ;  only  prisoners  suffering  from 
small-pox  were  taken  to  them,  usually  resulting  in  an  epidemic 
of  the  disease  among  the  civil  inhabitants.  The  table  clearly 
indicates  the  connexion  between  the  small-pox  epidemics 
among  the  civil  inhabitants  and  the  outbreaks  of  the  disease 
among  the  prisoners  ;  regarding  the  manner  of  dissemination 
in  the  case  of  the  individual  epidemics  we  shall  have  more 
to  say  further  on. 

Thk  Appeabance  of  Small-pox  among  Prisoners-of-Wak  and  among  the 
Civiii  Inhabitants  in  the  German  Cities  in  the  years  1870-1 


French  Prisoners. 

Civil  Inhabitants. 

Cities, 

St  arrival 

infected 

ersons. 

1 

1 

^■1 

it 

1   . 
g'o 

09 

§^»- 

1 

il 

ft. 

0 

«^ 

0^^ 
'< 

I .  East  Prussia 

Konigsberg 

Aug.  1 5 

7.324 

Aug.  1 5 

221 

Aug.  (end) 

74 

55» 

2.  West  Prussia 

Danzig  . 

Aug.  2  5 

9,189 

Aug.  28 

188 

Sep. 16 

5 

709 

Graudenz 

Aug.  5 

1.437 

Aug.  28 

9 

Fall 

0 

II 

Thom     . 

Aug.  21 

2,001 

Aug.  27 

XI 

Fall 

8 

147 

3.  Brandenburg 

Berlin     . 

— 

— 

Aug.  20 

24 

Nov. 

170 

5.212 

Frankfurt- 

o.-t.-O. 

— : 

756 

Nov.  12 

8 

Jan. 

3 

117 

Kiistrin . 

Aug.  7 

2,204 

Aug.  17 

9 

End  (1870) 

I 

32 

Landsberg- 

o.-t.-W. 

Nov. 

133 

Nov. 

I 

Nov.  20 

0 

97 

4.  Pomerania 

Colberg  . 

Nov.  4 

3.246 

Nov.  14 

175 

Jan.  7 

0 

27 

Greifswald 

— 

— 

Oct.  18 

3 

Dec.  13 

I 

109 

Schivelbein      . 

Jan. 24 

603 

Jan. 26 

24 

Feb.  20 

0 

43 

The  book  contains  a  survey  of  the  small-pox  mortality  in  Prussia  in  the 
year  1871  according  to  Governmental  Districts  and  Communities.  The 
figures  for  the  year  1872  have  not  been  published  ;  they  were  placed  at  my 
disposal,  in  manuscript  form,  by  the  Royal  Prussian  Bureau  of  Statistics. 


216        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


The  Appearance  of  Smaix-pox  among  Prisonebs-of-War,  etc.  {continued) 


French  Prisoners. 

Civil  Inhabitants. 

Cities. 

St  arrival 

infected 

ersons. 

rst  Case. 

.a: 

II 

Hoc 

1    . 

;^ 

'^ 

ft^ 

0 

i"^ 

i"^ 

Stettin  . 

Aug.  12 

21,000 

Aug.  22 

1,303 

Dec. 

13 

42 

Stralsund 

Dec.  4 

2,991 

Dec.  9 

234 

Jan.  7 

0 

36 

Stolp      . 

Jan. 

1,376 

Feb.  3 

5 

Aug.  (1871) 

0 

I 

5. Posen 

Bromberg 

— 

— 

Dec.  15 

14 

Feb. 10 

0 

28 

Posen     . 

Oct.  4 

10,303 

Sep. 

191 

Feb. 

79 

46 

Schneidemiihl 

Nov. 

940 

Jan. 

5 

Jan. 

0 

4 

6.  Silesia 

Breslau  . 

— 

— 

Nov. 

4 

— 

28 

74 

Glatz      . 

Oct.  12 

2,284 

Oct.  6 

96 

Feb. 

2 

3 

Glogau  . 

Sep.  I 

13,621 

Sep. 16 

1,198 

Oct.  7 

10 

II 

Gorlitz   . 

— 

326 

Nov. 

5 

Jan. 

0 

16 

Oppeln  . 

Nov.  6 

1,027 

Jan. 

23 

Jan. 

0 

3 

Schweidnitz    . 

Jan. 28 

1,821 

Jan. 

75 

March 

0 

5 

7.  Saxony 

Aschersleben  . 

Dec.  2 

1,618 

Jan. 

12 

Dec. 

0 

5 

Erfurt    . 

Sep.  12 

12,400 

Sep.  14 

203 

Dec. 

18 

23 

Halberstadt    . 

Jan. 

619 

Jan. 28 

6 

Feb. 

0 

2 

Halle-o.-t.-S. 

— 

— 

Nov.  I 

28 

March 

0 

19 

Magdeburg 

Aug.  30 

25,450 

Sep. 15 

1,902 

Nov.  18 

22 

64 

Miilhausen 

Dec. 

1,065 

Dec.  (early) 

57 

Feb.  I 

4 

2 

Nordhausen    . 

— 

— 

Sep. 

8 

Jan. 

0 

23 

Quedlinburg    . 

— 

927 

Nov.  27 

29 

Nov. 

I 

Torgau  . 

Sep.  (end) 

9,359 

Oct.  4 

603 

Nov. 

0 

6 

Wittenberg      . 

Aug.  27 

9,723 

Sep.  5 

51 

Oct.  3 

5 

10 

8.  ScMeswig-Hol- 

stein 

Lockstedt 

— 

5, 000 

Oct. 

47 

End  1870 

— 

Rendsburg 

Nov. 

2,590 

Nov.  26 

44 

End  1870 

0 

II 

Schleswig 

Dec.  3 

1,570 

Dec.  13 

17 

End  1870 

10 

3 

9.  Hanover 

Stade      . 

— 

2,284 

Jan. 28 

32 

1871 

0 

10.  Westphalia 

Hamm  . 

— 

— 

Oct. 

12 

Nov.  22 

9 

ii< 

Minden  . 

Sep. 10 

5,071 

Sep. 

98 

Nov.  2 

5 

II. 

Miinster 

Jan.  (end) 

2,709 

Jan.  (end) 

143 

Feb. 12 

2 

6. 

1 1 .  Hesse-Nassau 

Cassel     . 

— 

— 

Nov. 

13 

Nov. 

6 

9< 

Frankfurt 

— 

— 

Dec. 

8 

Jan. 

23 

12 

12.  Rhine  Province 

Diisseldorf 

— 

981 

Aug.  15 

13 

Oct.  (1 870) 

6 

52. 

Coblenz . 

Sep. 15 

15,011 

Sep.  23 

571 

Nov.  2 

0 

8 

Cologne . 

Sep.  I 

13,774 

Sep.  I 

175 

Sep. 12 

65 

4ii 

Wesel     . 

Sep.  9 

16,299 

Sep. 20 

1,042 

Nov. 

9 

8. 

THE  FRANCOGERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         217 

The  small-pox  mortality  varied  greatly  in  the  different 
Prussian  Governmental  Districts  ;  particularly  noteworthy 
is  the  fact  that  it  was  considerably  higher  in  the  eastern 
provinces,  especially  in  the  year  1872,  than  in  the  western 
provinces,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  latter  were 
exposed  to  the  infection  much  sooner  and  much  more  fre- 
quently in  consequence  of  the  arrival  and  passing  through 
of  French  prisoners.  The  only  plausible  explanation  of  this 
is  the  fact  that  the  inhabitants  of  eastern  Prussia  were 
not  so  thoroughly  vaccinated  as  those  in  the  west ;  this, 
however,  was  not  because  the  anti- vaccinationists  were  more 
influential  in  the  east,  but  because  the  eastern  provinces 
had  fewer  physicians  than  the  western  provinces,  where 
medical  advice  and  help  were  far  more  accessible,  and  where 
the  population  was  more  enlightened.  The  effect  of  vac- 
cination is  clearly  revealed  in  those  Governmental  Districts 
in  the  west  which  introduced  compulsory  vaccination  before 
they  were  incorporated  into  Prussia ;  Schleswig-Holstein 
did  this  in  1811,  Hanover  in  1821,  the  Governmental  Dis- 
trict of  Wiesbaden  in  1820,  and  the  Governmental  District 
of  Cassel  in  1828.  All  these  parts  of  the  country  had  fewer 
cases  of  small-pox.  The  Governmental  Districts  in  which 
large  military  prisons  were  located,  and  those  in  which, 
owing  to  a  higher  industrial  development,  there  was  more 
intercourse  of  all  kinds,  were  attacked  earlier  by  small-pox 
than  the  others.  Of  the  western  provinces  only  the  two 
highly  industrial  districts  of  Arnsberg  and  Diisseldorf,  and 
the  district  of  Treves,  were  very  severely  attacked.  The  living 
conditions  among  the  working  people  were  not  so  good  at 
that  time  as  they  are  to-day,  and  the  close  quarters  must 
necessarily  have  favoured  the  dissemination  of  small-pox ; 
furthermore,  the  constant  moving  about  of  the  working 
inhabitants,  many  of  whom  did  not  live  where  they  were 
employed,  helped  to  spread  it.  Thus  it  was  observed  in  the 
vicinity  of  Leipzig,  that  the  villages  inhabited  by  working 
people  were  much  more  severely  attacked  by  small-pox  than 


218        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

those  inhabited  by  farmers,  with  their  stationary  and  settled 
population.  The  high  figures  in  the  case  of  the  Governmental 
District  of  Treves  may  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  its  loca- 
tion made  it  necessary  for  a  large  proportion  of  the  French 
prisoners  that  were  taken  into  Prussia  to  pass  through  it. 
The  number  of  deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants  in  the  various 
Governmental  Districts  of  Prussia  is  indicated  by  the  follow- 
ing table  (the  districts  which  introduced  compulsory 
vaccination  in  the  year  1870  are  designated  with  an  asterisk) : 


Governmental  District. 

1870. 

1871. 

1872 

Konigsberg 

•       3-5 

24-5 

37-8 

Gumbinnen 

■       4-1 

97 

40-0 

Danzig 

2-8 

42-4 

67-6 

Marienwerder 

37 

177 

76-2 

Berlin 

2-1 

63-1 

31-4 

Potsdam     . 

1-8 

25-8 

287 

Frankfurt  . 

o-i 

1 8-6 

40-0 

Stettin 

1-6 

299 

21-4 

Koslin 

2-2 

12-2 

367 

Stralsund   . 

0'2 

34-0 

3-9 

Posen 

6-0 

48-3 

58-0 

Bromberg  . 

S-3 

24-1 

86-6 

Breslau 

3-1 

27-5 

33-6 

Oppeln 

1-7 

22-5 

42-1 

Liegnitz      . 

0-5 

1 1 -2 

i6-8 

Magdeburg 

0-6 

27-5 

i6-3 

Merseburg 

i-o 

28-8 

20-2 

Erfurt 

1-4 

25-3 

14-4 

Schleswig-Holstein  * 

0-2 

i8-o 

S-o 

Hanover  * 

0-3 

5-3 

8-8 

Hildesheim  * 

O-I 

13-8 

19-6 

Liineburg  * 

0-2 

7-8 

6-5 

Stade  *       . 

1-3 

S-6 

4-9 

Osnabriick  * 

0-3 

6-0 

0-8 

Aurich  *     . 

o-o 

S-4 

i-i 

Miinster      . 

0-3 

11-6 

IO-8 

Minden 

0-2 

13-4 

8-9 

Arnsberg    . 

0-4 

39-1 

33-8 

Cassel  * 

o-S 

9'0 

6-2 

Wiesbaden  * 

1-7 

97 

2-5 

Ck>blenz 

1-2 

22-8 

6-6 

Diisseldorf 

0-3 

32-9 

20-5 

Cologne 

1-4 

14-6 

2-8 

Treves 

2-5 

34-0 

3-1 

Aix-la-Chapelle  . 

0-8 

14-5 

7-8 

HohenzoUern 

1-7 

19-9 

— 

THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         219 

In  East  Prussia  small-pox  broke  out  very  frequently  in 
the  city  and  vicinity  of  Konigsberg.  According  to  Gutt- 
stadt,  small-pox  patients,  in  consequence  of  the  proximity 
of  the  Russian  border,  kept  coming  to  the  hospital  in  Konigs- 
berg, into  which  twelve  persons  suffering  from  the  disease 
were  received  between  January  1  and  August  1,  1870.  The 
first  prisoners-of-war  arrived  at  Konigsberg  on  August  15, 
1870,  and  among  them  was  a  small-pox  patient.  Shortly 
afterwards  two  more  cases  of  the  disease  occurred  among 
the  prisoners.  The  first  case  among  the  civil  population 
occurred  in  the  hospital  on  September  2.  Owing  to  the 
constant  intercourse  between  the  prisoners  and  the  civil 
inhabitants  the  epidemic  spread  very  rapidly.  The  districts 
surrounding  Konigsberg  were  very  severely  attacked  in  the 
year  1871,  while  the  more  remote  districts,  especially  those 
along  the  boundary  of  West  Prussia,  were  not  attacked  until 
the  year  1872.  In  the  districts  around  Konigsberg  the 
mortality  per  10,000  inhabitants  was  as  follows  : 


1871. 

1872 

Konigsberg  (city)  . 

•        49-8 

ye 

Konigsberg  (vicinity) 

•        78-4 

^■3 

Labiau 

.       42-4 

30-6 

Wehlau 

•     I03-I 

8-9 

Insterburg    . 

32-2 

47-3 

Fischhausen 

.    387 

17-9 

In  the  districts  of  East  Prussia  more  remote  from  Konigs- 
berg the  following  number  of  deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants 
were  reported  : 

Memel 

Gerdauen 

Rastenburg 

Friedland 

Eylau  . 

Heiligenbeil 

Braunsberg 

Heilsberg 

Rossel 

Allenstein 

OrtelsbuTg 


1871. 

1872. 

5-5 

37 -o 

i8-9 

53-1 

65-9 

26-8 

137 

35-5 

15-2 

297 

197 

8-1 

2-9 

lO-I 

6-3 

27-2 

257 

52-2 

7-4 

108-5 

20-6 

124-4 

220 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


1871. 

1872 

Neidenburg  .          .          .          .          17 

45  G 

Osterode 

47 

76-5 

Mohrungen  . 

2-1 

36-2 

Prus.  Holland 

I-I 

8-3 

Heydekrug   . 



43-3 

Niederung     . 

•         237 

84-6 

Tilsit   . 

5-4 

46-3 

Ragnit 

.         4-6 

517 

Pillkallen      . 

07 

17-4 

Stalluponen  . 

07 

i4'0 

Giimbinnen  . 

ij'i 

35-8 

Darkehmen  . 

3-8 

25-3 

Angerburg    . 

IO-9 

81 -o 

Goldap 

2-3 

41-2 

Oletzko 

I-O 

247 

Lyk      . 

2-4 

17-8 

Lotzen 

5-1 

28-3 

Sensburg 

13-3 

52-1 

Johannisburg 

.        15-8 

12-4 

Several  of  the  last  fifteen  districts  (Heydekrug  to  Johan- 
nisburg in  the  above  table)  had  relatively  few  cases  of  small- 
pox ;  the  reason  for  this  was  that  the  governmental  district 
of  Gumbinnen  had  but  little  intercourse,  that  few  prisoners 
were  taken  there  at  all,  and  that  there  were  no  cases  of 
small-pox  among  the  few  that  were  taken  there. 

Danzig  was  the  chief  seat  of  the  pestilence  in  West  Prussia, 
since  large  numbers  of  prisoners  were  confined  there ;  per 
10,000  inhabitants  79-6  succumbed  to  small-pox  in  the  year 
1871,  and  35-9  in  the  year  1872.  Says  Lievin:^"  'For 
a  considerable  length  of  time  no  cases  of  small-pox  occurred 
in  Danzig,  but  in  the  month  of  September  1870  the 
beginnings  of  an  epidemic  were  observed.  Although  this 
happened  shortly  after  the  arrival  of  the  first  prisoners, 
nevertheless  the  beginning  of  the  epidemic  was  probably  not 
connected  in  any  causal  way  with  this  circumstance.  For, 
in  the  first  place,  the  prisoners  were  French  soldiers  captured 
in  the  battles  of  Weissenburg  and  Worth,  and  were  in  all 
probability  healthy  men,  judging  from  the  fact  that   not 

3*  A.  Lievin,  Die  Pockenepidemie  in  den  Jahren  1871  und  1872  in  Danzig. 
Viertelj.fur  off.  Ges.-pflege,  vol.  v,  p.  366.    1873. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         221 

a  single  case  of  the  disease  occurred  among  them  in  the  first 
few  months  ;  in  the  second  place,  the  disease  broke  out 
very  sporadically  in  the  first  three  or  four  months,  individual 
outbreaks  occurring  here  and  there  in  the  city,  just  as  has 
been  the  case  in  Danzig  almost  every  year.  But  during 
this  indigenous  pestilence  a  large  number  of  badly  infected 
prisoners  arrived  from  the  Metz  garrison  ;  this  gave  rise  to 
an  epidemic  which,  had  the  prisoners  not  arrived,  would 
probably  have  progressed  in  the  usual,  scarcely  noticeable 
manner ;  as  it  was,  however,  the  epidemic  attained  to  the 
largest  dimensions  known  to  the  memory  of  man.' 

According  to  Lievin,  the  total  number  of  small-pox  cases 
in  Danzig  and  its  suburbs  (including  the  garrison  and  the 
prisoners-of-war)  was : 


1870 

1871. 

1872 

Patients. 

Deaths. 

Patients. 

Deaths. 

Patients. 

Deaths 

January 

— 

— 

123 

24 

245 

77 

February 

— 

— 

129 

28 

222 

77 

March 

— 

— 

20I 

51 

153 

7S 

April   . 

— 

— 

365 

70 

89 

33 

May     . 

— 

— 

459 

109 

34 

17 

June    . 

— 

— 

442 

123 

19 

12 

July     . 

— 

— 

182 

71 

13 

3 

August 

— 

— 

130 

49 

8 

7 

September 

2 

— 

III 

37 

5 

2 

October 

4 

2 

124 

S7 

2 

— 

November    . 

13 

2 

136 

42 

— 

— 

December     , 

34 

3 

135 

39 

— 

— 

Of  the  9,189  prisoners  in  Danzig,  188  contracted  the 
disease,  and  24  died ;  the  largest  number  of  cases  was 
reported  in  the  month  of  January.  Of  the  garrison,  which 
consisted  of  7,376  men,  only  45  contracted  the  disease,^^  and 
5  died. 

As  in  East  Prussia,  so  also  in  West  Prussia,  only  those 
districts  suffered  severely  from  small-pox  in  which  large 
military  prisons  were  located ;  in  the  remaining  districts 
the  pestilence   did   not    acquire   much   severity   until  the 

^  According  to  the  German  Health  Report.  Lievin  reports  seventy-one 
cases  of  the  disease  and  nine  deaths,  since  he  includes  all  the  German 
soldiers,  even  the  transients  in  the  immobile  army. 


222 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


following  year.  Of  the  three  strongholds,  Danzig,  Thorn, 
and  Graudenz,  the  last  two  had  but  few  cases  of  small-pox 
among  the  prisoners  ;  in  the  districts  surrounding  them  the 
following  number  of  deaths  per  1 ,000  inhabitants  were  reported : 


1871. 

1872 

Danzig  (city) 

•     79-6 

35-9 

Danzig  (district) 

.     91  -2 

59-2 

Prussian  Stargard 

•     55-5 

105-0 

Rosenberg 

•     40-5 

66-5 

Thorn 

.     46-0 

417 

In  the  remaining  districts  of  West  Prussia  the  mortality- 
due  to  small-pox  was  as  follows  : 


1871. 

1872. 

Elbing       ....     187 

71-8 

Marienburg 

i6-o 

68-6 

Berent 

6-6 

477 

Karthaus  . 

77 

67-9 

Neustadt  . 

22-9 

89-0 

Stuhm 

21-4 

97-8 

Marienwerder 

21-3 

62-3 

Lobau 

4-9 

88-0 

Strassburg 

6-1 

807 

Kulm 

25-9 

65-5 

Graudenz  . 

5-4 

55-9 

Schwetz    . 

II'O 

1 1 8-6 

Konitz 

97 

797 

Schlochau 

6-9 

69-5 

Flatow      . 

23-4 

74-1 

Deutsch-Krone 

IO-2 

92-1 

All  these  districts,  especially  Prussian-Stargard  and  Schwetz, 
which  lay  side  by  side  along  the  Vistula,  had  an  unusually 
high  mortality  in  the  year  1872. 

The  Governmental  District  of  Posen,  in  the  Province  of 
Posen,  was  much  more  severely  attacked  by  small-pox  in 
the  year  1871  than  the  Governmental  District  of  Bromberg, 
whereas  in  the  year  1872  the  condition  was  reversed.  In 
the  former  district  cases  of  small-pox  had  occurred  even 
before  a  transport  of  French  prisoners  arrived  there  in  the 
middle  of  September;   in  that  month  two  of  the  prisoners 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1) 


contracted  the  disease,  and  these  two  cases  constituted  the 
beginning  of  a  large  epidemic  among  the  prisoners.  Accord- 
ing to  Guttstadt,  the  epidemic  among  the  civil  inhabitants 
did  not  commence  until  February  1872,  and  it  lasted  until 
the  middle  of  that  year.  The  districts  along  the  boundary 
of  Posen  (Schroda,  Wreschen,  Schrimm,  Kosten,  and  Samter) 
had  the  largest  number  of  cases  and  deaths  in  the  year  1871, 
whereas  in  the  remaining,  more  distant,  districts  the  figures 
for  the  year  1871  are  for  the  most  part  small,  and  do  not 
begin  to  grow  large  until  the  year  1872.  The  following  table 
indicates  the  number  of  deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants  in 
the  districts  mentioned  : 


1871. 

1872. 

Posen  (city)        .          .          .       82-5 

4-4 

Posen  (district) 

103-2 

53 -o 

Schroda     . 

105-6 

61 -3 

Wreschen 

116-5 

63-1 

Schrimm  , 

61-5 

88-4 

Kosten 

75-9 

72-4 

Samter 

66-9 

83-4 

Pleschen    . 

17-9 

567 

Buk 

38-2 

42-2 

Obornik    . 

22-2 

76-3 

Bimbaum 

IS-4 

63-6 

Meseritz    . 

13-0 

53-3 

Bomst 

20-5 

34-1 

Fraustadt 

21-5 

26-0 

Groben 

-       55-8 

79-5 

Krotoschin 

22-1 

62-0 

Adelnavi    . 

26-3 

29-4 

Schildberg 

14-6 

91-6 

The  first  prisoners  that  contracted  small-pox  in  the  city  of 
Bromberg  were  committed  to  the  lazaret  on  December  15 ; 
the  epidemic  among  the  civil  inhabitants  began  there  on 
February  10,  1871.  The  figures  for  1871  were  higher  than 
those  for  1872  in  only  three  districts — ^Bromberg  itseK,  the 
adjacent  Schubin,  and  Czarnikau ;  the  last-named  district 
lies  in  the  west  and  borders  on  Samter  in  the  Governmental 
District  of  Posen.  All  the  other  districts  that  are  not  men- 
tioned had  higher  figures  in  the  year  1872.    The  following 


224        EProEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

table  indicates  the  number  of  deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants 


5tricts  named  : 

1871. 

1872. 

Czarnikau 

47 -o 

69-8 

Wirsitz 

147 

65-4 

Bromberg 

897 

72-3 

Schubin     . 

59-4 

96-5 

Inowrazlaw 

20-4 

102-5 

Mogilno     . 

22-6 

96-5 

Chlodziesen 

24-7 

79-7 

Wongrowitz 

26-3 

I53-I 

Gnesen 

32-9 

56-0 

Of  the  prisoners  in  the  Governmental  District  of  Liegnitz, 
those  in  the  stronghold  of  Glogau  were  the  most  severely 
attacked.  In  the  garrison,  too,  the  number  of  small-pox 
patients  was  quite  large.  The  first  prisoners  arrived  on 
September  1,  and  the  first  cases  of  small-pox  among  them 
appeared  on  September  16 ;  the  maximum  number  of 
prisoners  there  was  1S,621,  and  of  these  1,198  contracted 
the  disease.  The  first  case  among  the  civil  inhabitants  was 
reported  on  October  7  ;  in  December  the  disease  was  con- 
veyed to  the  surrounding  villages,  especially  by  tradespeople 
who  had  visited  the  markets  in  Glogau.  The  adjacent 
districts  suffered  relatively  little  in  the  year  1871.  In  the 
governmental  district  of  Liegnitz,  with  the  exception  of 
Glogau,  where  there  were  31-2  deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants, 
only  Gorlitz  and  Liegnitz  had  high  figures  in  the  year  1871. 
In  the  city  of  Gorlitz  a  prisoner  was  committed  to  the 
lazaret  in  November  1870,  and  in  December,  when  a  trans- 
port of  prisoners  passed  through  the  city,  one  of  them  was 
left  behind  there  ;  the  epidemic  among  the  civil  inhabitants 
began  in  January  1871 .  Again  in  the  year  1872  small-pox  did 
not  become  very  widespread  except  in  the  districts  of  Liegnitz, 
Jauer,  Hirschberg,  and  Gorlitz ;  Liegnitz,  with  a  mortality 
of  35-2  per  10,000  inhabitants,  had  the  highest  figures. 

In  the  Governmental  District  of  Breslau  cases  of  small-pox 
were  frequently  reported.  In  the  city  of  Breslau  the  first  case 
among  the  prisoners  occurred  on  November  11,  the  second 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         225 


on  January  27,  the  third  and  fourth  in  April  and  May,  1871  ; 
the  first  cases  in  the  garrison  likewise  occurred  in  Novem- 
ber ;  from  January  on,  the  number  of  cases  grew  steadily 
larger.    The  number  of  reported  cases  in  the  city  was  : 


32 


January 

.       33 

September 

361 

February     . 

68 

October    . 

699 

March 

90 

November 

1,026 

April  . 

68 

December 

1,229 

May    . 

134 

January    . 

i,3H 

June  . 

235 

February  . 

790 

July    . 

287 

March 

462 

August 

271 

April 

242 

The  epidemic  was  very  severe.  Whereas  during  the  previous 
epidemics  (1856-7, 1863-4,  and  1868-9)  only  about  seven  per 
cent  of  the  patients  treated  in  the  hospital  died,  in  1871-2  no 
less  than  322  out  of  2,416  patients  (13-4  per  cent)  taken  there 
were  carried  away  by  the  disease.  Of  the  322  patients,  more- 
over, 182  had  hemorrhagic  small-pox,  and  of  these  166  died. 

The  immediate  vicinity  of  Breslau  was  very  severely 
attacked ;  in  the  districts  lying  to  the  south  of  the  Oder 
small-pox  raged  extensively  in  the  year  1871,  whereas  those 
districts  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  did  not  suffer  very 
severely  until  the  year  1872.  This  may  be  explained  by  the 
fact  that  the  extensive  industrial  activity  of  the  districts 
south-west  of  the  Oder  rendered  considerable  intercourse 
with  Breslau  necessary.  The  following  table  indicates  the 
number  of  deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants  in  the  districts 
north-east  of  the  Oder 


1871. 

1872. 

Namslau     . 

.       4-0 

48-5 

Wartenberg 

.      14-0 

55-4 

Oels   . 

•       22-3 

71 -o 

Trebnitz      . 

.       8-6 

27-8 

Militsch 

.       lO'O 

37-2 

Gurau 

.     15-5 

20-2 

Steinau 

.        I2-I 

34-2 

Wohlau 

.     4I-I 

38-4 

8*  von  Pastau,  Beitrdge  zur  Pockenstatistik  nach  den  Erfahrungcn  aus  der 
Pockenepidemie  1871-2  in  Breslau.  Deutsches  Arch.fiir  klin.  Med.,  vol.  xii, 
p. 112.    1873. 

1569.13  Q 


226        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


and  in  the  districts  south-west  of  the  Oder  : 


1871. 

1872. 

Neumarkt  .          .          .          •      i35 

6i-5 

Breslau  (city) 

357 

27-3 

Breslau  (district) 

57-3 

74-9 

Ohlau 

12-2 

23-3 

Brieg 

5-2 

17-2 

Strehlau 

30-3 

33-8 

Nimptsch    . 

23-5 

37-4 

Miinsterberg 

S3-0 

29-0 

Frankenstein 

■     34-3 

14-3 

Reichenbach 

,      32 -o 

19-8 

Schweidnitz 

.     26-3 

13-4 

Striegau 

.      i6-9 

48-2 

Waldenburg 

•      577 

36-2 

Glatz 

.      39-1 

13-4 

Neurode 

.       20-2 

35-6 

Habelschwerdt 

8-2 

7-3 

In  Upper  Silesia  the  stronghold  of  Neisse  had  a  maximum 
number  of  12,801  prisoners,  among  whom  there  were  385 
cases  of  small-pox  and  117  deaths ;  in  the  garrison,  which 
averaged  4,452  men,  there  were  39  cases  and  1  death.  The 
first  cases  among  the  prisoners  were  reported  on  September  25, 
and  in  the  garrison  in  November.  The  civil  inhabitants 
suffered  very  little  in  the  year  1871,  and  the  number  of 
deaths  among  them  did  not  begin  to  grow  large  until  1872. 
Only  in  the  district  of  Neisse  and  in  the  neighbouring  district 
of  Grottkau  was  the  number  of  deaths  larger  in  1871  than  in 
1872 ;  in  all  the  other  districts  there  were  more  deaths 
in  1872.  The  districts  which  were  most  severely  attacked 
in  the  year  1872  were— Kreuzburg  (78-2  deaths  per  10,000 
inhabitants),  Posenberg  (58-6),  Gross-Strelitz  (600),  Beuthen 
(56-5),  and  Kosel  (62-4). 

In  the  Province  of  Pomerania  the  city  of  Stettin  came  to 
be  a  general  rendezvous  for  prisoners  of  war  ;  the  maximum 
number  of  them,  owing  to  the  continual  arrival  of  new 
transports,  was  no  less  than  21,000.  The  first  transport 
arrived  on  August  12,  and  the  first  small-pox  patient  among 
them  was  committed  to  the  hospital  on  August  28.  Of  the 
prisoners,  1,303  contracted  the  disease  and  194  succumbed 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         m 


to  it.  The  climax  of  the  epidemic  came  in  January,  when 
there  were  462  cases  reported.  The  first  cases  in  the  garrison, 
which  averaged  7,000  men,  occurred  in  October,  the  first 
man  to  contract  the  disease  being  a  sick-attendant,  and  the 
second  an  artilleryman ;  after  that,  all  the  branches  of 
service  were  attacked.  The  epidemic  in  the  garrison, 
however,  was  confined  to  74  men,  only  5  of  whom  died.  In 
December  the  disease  spread  to  the  civil  population ;  the 
number  of  cases  (including  the  garrison)  was  422  (55-5  per 
10,000)  in  the  year  1871,  and  113  (14-8  per  10,000)  in  the 
following  year.  In  the  Governmental  District  of  Stettin  only 
the  communities  surrounding  the  city  of  Stettin  had  high 
small-pox  figures  in  the  year  1871,  and  these  communities 
were  also  more  severely  attacked  in  the  year  1872.  The 
following  table  indicates  the  number  of  deaths  per  10,000 
inhabitants  in  the  communities  mentioned  : 

1871.  1872. 

2-6 

15-8 
1 6-2 
26-4 
29-3 
26-3 
23-1 
27-4 
32-6 

13-3 
10-4 

27 -s 

At  the  stronghold  of  Kolberg  (Governmental  District  of 
ICoslin)  3,500  prisoners  arrived  on  November  4,  and  in 
December  and  January  they  were  followed  by  the  arrival 
x)f  more  transports.  The  first  cases  among  these  prisoners 
were  reported  on  November  14 ;  all  told,  175  of  them 
contracted  small-pox  and  24  succumbed  to  it.  On  January  7 
the  disease  spread  to  the  civil  population,  but  did  not  rage 
very  extensively  in  the  city ;  127  civilians  contracted  it 
and  24  succumbed  to  it,  and  in  August  1871  it  disappeared  ; 
•only  two  men  in  the  garrison  were  taken  sick.     Many  of 

Q2 


Demmin 

i-i 

Anklam 

4-3 

Usedom-Wollin 

16-4 

Uckermiinde 

247 

Randow 

70-4 

Greifenhagen 

37-8 

Pyritz 

15-3 

Saazig 

27-8 

Naugard 

32-4 

Kammin 

IO-3 

Greifenberg 

4-3 

Regenwalde 

16-4 

228        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

the  prisoners  in  Kolberg  were  transported  to  Stettin,  Koslin, 
and  Stolp,  and  in  all  three  of  these  places  the  disease  broke 
out  among  the  civil  inhabitants.  In  Schivelbein  an  infected 
soldier  was  found  among  the  prisoners  who  arrived  on 
January  24,  1871,  and  on  January  26  he  was  committed  to 
the  lazaret;  in  February  a  working-man  contracted  the  disease 
in  the  same  lazaret,  and  after  that  the  epidemic  spread 
throughout  the  city  and  did  not  disappear  until  October  1872 ; 
it  carried  away  a  relatively  large  number  of  people  and  spread 
to  two  neighbouring  villages.  But  taking  the  Governmental 
District  of  Koslin  as  a  whole,  it  may  be  said  that  the 
dissemination  of  small-pox  was  moderate ;  the  district  of 
Schlawe  had  the  largest  number  of  deaths  (22-7  per  10,000 
inhabitants).  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  year  1872  small-pox 
caused  a  very  large  number  of  deaths  in  the  districts  of 
Neustettin,  Dramburg,  Schlawe,  Rummelsburg,  and  Stolp. 

The  number  of  cases  of  the  disease  in  the  Governmental 
District  of  Stralsund  was  very  large.  Small-pox  broke  out 
very  severely  among  the  French  prisoners  in  the  city  of 
Stralsund,  the  maximum  number  of  whom  was  2,991  ;  of 
these  234  contracted  the  disease  and  35  succumbed  to  it. 
The  prisoners  arrived  on  December  4,  and  among  them  was 
a  small-pox  patient ;  he  was  committed  to  the  lazaret  on 
December  9.  In  the  garrison,  which  averaged  3,700  men, 
there  were  only  thirty-one  cases  of  the  disease  and  one 
death.  The  first  case  among  the  civil  inhabitants  occurred 
on  January  7  ;  the  patient  was  a  clerk  who  lived  near  the 
lazaret  and  had  had  more  or  less  intercourse  with  the 
prisoners.  Of  twenty-three  more  cases  that  occurred  before 
January  15,  at  least  six  were  shown  to  be  directly  attributable 
to  the  epidemic  among  the  prisoners ;  one  of  the  six  was 
a  sick-attendant,  two  were  working-men  in  the  military 
lazaret,  and  the  other  three  were  members  of  the  families 
of  attendants.  The  epidemic  then  became  very  widespread ; 
to  the  end  of  the  year  1871  the  number  of  deaths  was  366, 
and  the  number  of  reported  cases  was  1,807.    In  Greifswald 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         229 

a  French  prisoner  contracted  small-pox  on  October  18,  1870, 
in  the  military  reserve  lazaret,  another  on  November  1,  and 
a  third  on  November  16.  The  first  civiHan,  an  attendant, 
contracted  the  disease  on  December  13,  and  on  January  6, 
1871,  a  working-man,  who  had  transported  the  attendant 
from  the  military  lazaret  to  the  town  small-pox  hospital, 
was  taken  sick.  Until  February  14,  ten  more  cases  were 
reported,  and  then  the  epidemic  began.  Up  to  the  end  of 
the  year  1871  no  less  than  578  cases  of  the  disease  and  111 
deaths  caused  by  it  were  reported  to  the  authorities.  In  the 
year  1872  there  were  only  a  few  deaths  caused  by  small-pox 
throughout  the  entire  Governmental  District  of  Stralsund. 
In  the  case  of  the  two  adjacent  confederate  states  of 
Mecklenburg-Schwerin  and  Mecklenburg-Strelitz  no  small- 
pox mortality  statistics  are  available.  On  September  20, 
prisoners  from  Metz  were  taken  to  the  reserve  lazaret  in 
Schwerin,  and  among  them  was  a  small-pox  patient  who 
died  eight  days  later.  In  the  same  month  an  assistant  in 
the  lazaret  was  taken  sick,  and  in  October  and  December 
two  more  members  of  the  lazaret  staff  contracted  the  disease. 
The  pestilence  spread  to  the  civil  population  because  the 
attendants  who  were  commissioned  to  dispose  of  the  effects 
of  the  dead,  instead  of  destroying  them,  sold  or  gave  them 
to  the  inhabitants.  The  epidemic,  which  spread  rapidly 
throughout  the  surrounding  country,  was  quite  severe  and 
lasted  until  March  1871.  In  Wismar  two  cases  of  small-pox 
were  reported  among  the  prisoners  in  December,  and  these 
were  followed  by  six  more  cases  in  January  and  February ; 
in  the  garrison,  which  averaged  1,219  men,  there  were  48 
cases  of  the  disease  (5  in  January,  32  in  February,  9  in  March, 
and  2  in  April) ;  3  of  the  48  were  fatal.  At  Rostock  649 
prisoners  arrived  on  November  11,  and  these  were  followed 
by  544  more  on  December  14 ;  among  the  latter  there  were 
two  small-pox  patients,  and  in  the  course  of  the  next  few 
months  forty-one  more  cases  of  the  disease  and  six  deaths 
were  reported. 


230        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


Berlin  suffered  severely  from  an  epidemic  of  small-pox  in 
the  years  1871-2.  The  last  large  epidemic  there  had  occurred 
in  the  year  1801,  and  had  carried  away  1,626  out  of  176,700 
inhabitants.  In  the  year  1864  another  rather  mild  epidemic 
had  broken  out,  but  had  quickly  disappeared.  In  the  year 
1870  the  number  of  small-pox  patients  in  Berlin  was  small ; 
an  average  of  nine  persons  per  month  succumbed  to  the 
disease  between  the  first  part  of  August  and  the  last  part 
of  November.  In  the  month  of  December  1870  the  death- 
rate  began  to  increase,  at  first  rather  slowly  ;  the  number 
of  deaths  in  that  month  was  22,  and  in  March  1872  it  was 
176.  The  epidemic  now  began  to  spread  rapidly,  and  in 
June  it  reached  its  climax  with  648  deaths ;  during  the 
summer  it  abated  a  little,  but  in  the  fall  it  began  to  rage 
more  and  more  furiously  until  December,  when  it  reached 
a  second  climax  with  671  deaths.  The  progress  of  the 
epidemic  is  shown  by  the  following  table,  taken  from 
Guttstadt's  excellent  book.  The  number  of  deaths  caused 
by  small-pox  in  Berlin  was  : 


November  (1870) 

9 

October 

600 

December 

22 

November  . 

660 

January  ( 1 871)  . 

48 

December  . 

671 

February  . 

80 

January  (1872)    . 

445 

March 

176 

February    . 

256 

April 

349 

March 

151 

May 

430 

April 

117 

June 

648 

May  . 

76 

July 

532 

June  . 

33 

August 

528 

July  . 

18 

September 

490 

August 

10 

The  disease  was  unusually  severe  and  virulent ;  fifteen 
per  cent  of  the  patients  died  in  the  hospitals.  The  total 
number  of  deaths  ^  in  the  year  1871,  when  the  population 
of  the  city  was  826,341,  was  5,212,  or  631  per  10,000  inhabi- 
tants ;  thus  the  total  mortality,  which  in  the  years  1867-70 

^  Reports  vary ;  Guttstadt  himself  gives  two  figures  for  1871 — 5,212 
and  5,084  ;  for  1872  he  gives  1,106,  whereas  a  report,  in  manuscript,  of 
the  Prussian  Bureau  of  Statistics,  gives  the  figure  2,598. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         2S1 

had  been  31-8  per  cent  (including  the  still-births),  reached 
the  prodigious  height  of  40-4  per  cent.  The  cause  of  the 
wide  dissemination  of  small-pox  in  Berlin  was  the  fact 
that  large  numbers  of  people,  including  children,  had  never 
been  vaccinated,  and  only  a  few  had  ever  been  revaccinated. 
According  to  a  rough  estimate  made  by  Guttstadt,  of 
Berlin's  total  population  in  the  year  1871  some  20,000  people 
had  never  been  vaccinated,  530,000  had  been  vaccinated 
only  once,  and  only  270,000  had  been  revaccinated  ;  fourteen 
per  cent  of  those  who  had  never  been  vaccinated,  two  per 
cent  of  those  who  had  been  vaccinated  once,  and  0-5  per  cent 
of  those  who  had  been  revaccinated,  contracted  the  disease. 
In  the  garrison,  which  averaged  9,110  men,  only  57  cases  of 
the  disease  and  4  deaths  were  reported  between  July  1, 1870^ 
and  June  30,  1871.  But  few  prisoners  were  taken  to  Berlin  ; 
only  24  prisoners  suffering  from  small-pox  were  committed 
to  the  lazarets,  and  of  these  only  4  died  ;  the  first  two  cases 
were  in  August  and  September. 

In  the  Governmental  District  of  Potsdam  only  those 
districts  which  bordered  directly  on  Berlin  were  severely 
attacked  by  small-pox  in  the  year  1871,  e.g.  the  districts 
of  Niederbarnim,  Teltow,  Jiiterbog,  Luckenwalde,  and  East 
and  West  Havelland  ;  in  the  following  years  those  districts 
bordering  on  Niederbarnim  (as  Oberbamim,  Angermiinde,  and 
Templin)  also  suffered  severely.  In  the  city  of  Potsdam  two 
Frenchmen  contracted  the  disease  on  February  6,  shortly 
after  their  arrival  there,  and  on  February  19  a  soldier  who 
had  accompanied  them  was  taken  sick.  In  April  an  epidemic 
of  rather  wide  extent  was  raging  in  the  city  ;  the  number  of 
deaths  caused  by  small-pox  in  April  1871  was  157  (34-5 
per  10,000  inhabitants),  and  in  April  1872  it  was  71  (16-2  per 
10,000).  In  the  city  of  Brandenburg-on-the-Havel  an 
infected  French  soldier  arrived  in  February  1871  ;  he 
communicated  the  disease  to  his  attendant,  and  in  that 
very  month  cases  of  small-pox  were  reported  among  the  civil 
inhabitants  of  the  city,  although  it  was  impossible  to  prove 


232        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


a  connexion  between  them  and  that  of  the  French  soldier. 
The  number  of  deaths,  all  told,  was  59.  The  number  of 
deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants  in  the  Governmental  District 
of  Potsdam  was  : 


1871, 


1872. 


Prenzlau 

7-5 

ii-i 

Templin 

17-5 

28-4 

Angermunde 

I5-0 

53-4 

Oberbarnim 

l8-2 

33-8 

Niederbarnim 

36-5 

27-1 

Teltow 

46-4 

40-4 

Beesko  w- Storko  w 

20-6 

39-8 

Jiiterbog-Luckenwalde 

43-4 

387 

Zauch-Belzig 

14-6 

38-1 

East  Havelland    . 

377 

147 

West  Havelland  . 

32-3 

33-4 

Ruppin 

26-8 

13-3 

East  Priegnitz 

14-9 

12-6 

West  Priegnitz     . 

i6-8 

23-3 

In  the  Governmental  District  of  Frankfurt  small-pox  raged 
only  to  a  moderate  extent  in  the  year  1871.  In  Frankfurt- 
on-the-Oder  itself  there  were  sporadic  outbreaks  of  the  disease 
every  year.  On  November  12  two  infected  prisoners  from 
Metz  were  committed  to  the  hospital,  and  before  the  end  of 
that  month  two  attendants  contracted  the  disease ;  a  few 
cases  also  occurred  in  the  garrison  in  the  month  of  November. 
Of  the  French  prisoners,  whose  maximum  number  was  756, 
eight  contracted  the  disease  and  two  succumbed  to  it ;  in  the 
garrison,  which  averaged  1,881  men,  there  were  21  cases  of 
the  disease  and  no  deaths.  Among  the  civil  inhabitants,  on 
the  other  hand,  a  somewhat  more  severe  epidemic  raged  ; 
whereas  in  the  year  1870  only  21  cases  of  the  disease  were 
reported,  in  the  year  1871  there  were  19  cases  in  the  month 
of  January  alone ;  until  May  some  196  persons  contracted 
the  disease,  which  after  that  began  to  abate.  The  number 
of  deaths,  all  told,  in  the  year  1871  was  117,  and  in  1872  it 
was  70.  In  Landsberg-on-the-Warthe  small-pox  broke  out 
in  the  middle  of  November  in  consequence  of  the  arrival  of 
an  infected  prisoner  ;  the  first  case  among  the  civil  inhabitants 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         233 

was  reported  on  November  20.  The  total  number  of  deaths 
in  the  year  1871  was  97.  At  Kottbus  an  infected  French 
prisoner  arrived  on  October  1,  resulting  in  a  rather  severe 
epidemic  among  the  civil  inhabitants  (114  deaths  in  the  year 
1871).  Not  until  the  year  1872  did  the  disease  become  very 
widespread  in  the  Governmental  District  of  Frankfurt ;  with 
the  exception  of  the  city  of  Frankfurt  there  was  no  district 
which  suffered  more  severely  in  the  year  1871  than  in  1872. 
In  most  of  the  districts  small-pox  broke  out  very  virulently, 
the  only  exceptions  being  the  districts  of  Liibben  and 
Spremberg. 

Regarding  the  dissemination  of  small-pox  in  the  Province 
of  Saxony  Guttstadt  gives  us  very  detailed  information. 
In  the  years  1871-2  the  disease  was  equally  prevalent  in 
all  three  governmental  districts  in  the  Province.  In  the  city 
of  Magdeburg  the  last  case  was  reported  on  May  24, 1870,  and 
from  then  until  November  there  was  not  a  single  case  among 
the  civil  inhabitants.  The  first  prisoners  arrived  at  Magde- 
burg in  the  latter  part  of  August,  and  on  September  14  a  case 
of  small-pox  was  observed  among  them ;  this  was  followed 
by  ten  more  cases  in  that  month.  Of  the  prisoners  brought 
to  Magdeburg,  the  maximum  number  of  whom  was  no  less 
than  25,450,  some  1,092  contracted  the  disease,  and  of  these 
271  died.  The  largest  number  of  cases  was  reported  in  the 
month  of  February  1871.  Of  the  garrison,  which  averaged 
11,296  men,  there  were  only  84  cases  of  the  disease  (7-4  per 
cent),  and  of  these  8  died.  The  first  case  among  the  civil 
inhabitants  was  reported  on  November  18,  1870,  and  this 
was  followed  by  seven  more  cases  in  that  month,  occurring 
in  various  parts  of  the  city.  The  number  of  deaths  in 
the  year  1871  was  646  (56-4  per  10,000  inhabitants),  and 
in  the  year  1872  only  45  deaths  were  reported.  From  the 
city  of  Magdeburg  small-pox  spread  to  the  surrounding 
country. 

On  November  25  a  transport  of  prisoners  from  Metz,  after 
having  been  detained  for  two  or  three  weeks  in  the  badly 


234        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

infected  city  of  Minden,  arrived  at  Quedlinburg ;  two  days 
later  the  first  ease  of  small-pox  occurred  among  them, 
A  second  transport,  which  arrived  on  January  31,  1871, 
likewise  brought  infected  men  with  it.  Among  the  civil 
inhabitants  small-pox  did  not  become  veiy  widespread,  and 
only  three  civilians  succumbed  to  the  disease  in  the  year 
1871.  In  Aschersleben  small-pox  broke  out  among  the 
prisoners  in  January  1871,  a  few  days  after  their  arrival  from 
Mayence,  and  the  number  of  cases  reported  in  the  months 
of  January  and  February  was  only  twelve.  According  to 
Guttstadt,  small-pox  was  already  prevalent  in  the  civil 
population  in  December,  when  the  disease  was  given  an 
opportunity  to  spread  to  the  surrounding  country.  According 
to  the  German  Health  Report,  on  the  other  hand,  small-pox 
did  not  appear  in  the  city  until  February,  when  the  pro- 
prietor of  an  inn,  which  had  been  converted  into  a  small-pox 
hospital,  contracted  it.  The  total  number  of  deaths  in  the 
year  1871  amounted  to  53  (31-6  per  10,000  inhabitants). 
On  January  26  and  27,  1871,  some  360  prisoners,  four  of 
them  infected  with  small-pox,  arrived  at  Halberstadt,  having 
come  from  Mayence.  The  number  of  deaths  in  the  city  of 
Halberstadt  in  the  year  1871  was  29  (11-4  per  10,000  inhabi- 
tants). Only  those  districts  in  the  Governmental  District  of 
Magdeburg  which  bordered  on  the  city  of  Magdeburg  were 
more  severely  attacked ;  Kalbe  (43- 1  deaths  per  10,000 
inhabitants),  Wanzleben  (37-7),  and  Wollmirstedt  (29-2).  In 
addition  to  these  the  district  of  Wernigerode  also  had  a  very 
high  small-pox  mortality  in  the  year  1871  (70-5  per  10,000). 
In  those  districts  further  away  from  Magdeburg — Osterburg, 
Salzwedel,  Aschersleben,  and  Halberstadt — ^the  climax  of 
the  small-pox  mortality  was  not  reached  until  the  year  1872, 
whereas  in  the  other  districts  it  was  reached  in  1871. 

In  the  Governmental  District  of  Merseburg  small-pox  broke 
out  very  severely  in  the  stronghold  of  Torgau,  where  in  the 
last  part  of  September  and  in  the  first  part  of  December 
prisoners  arrived  from  Strassburg  and  Metz,  respectively ;  in 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         235 

both  transports,  but  especially  in  the  second,  there  were 
infected  men.  The  first  cases  of  the  disease  were  reported 
on  October  4.  Of  the  prisoners,  the  maximum  number  of 
whom  was  9,359,  some  603  (64-4  per  1,000)  contracted  the 
disease  and  128  (21-2  per  cent  of  those  who  contracted  it) 
died.  The  epidemic,  accordingly,  was  unusually  severe 
among  the  prisoners,  and  it  reached  its  climax  in  January. 
In  the  German  garrison,  which  averaged  3,943  men,  there 
were,  all  told,  75  cases  of  the  disease  (190  per  1,000)  and  five 
deaths.  Among  the  civil  inhabitants  the  first  persons  to 
contract  the  disease  in  the  last  part  of  November  and  first 
part  of  December  were  a  woman,  who  was  employed  as 
a  laundress  in  the  garrison  lazaret,  her  sons,  and  a  woman 
who  had  visited  the  place  where  the  prisoners  were  confined. 
The  epidemic  did  not  break  out  until  December  22,  on  which 
day  a  single  case  was  reported  ;  on  the  following  day  twelve 
more  cases  were  reported.  The  total  number  of  deaths  was 
67  (61  -7  per  10,000).  Very  soon  the  infection  spread  through- 
out the  entire  vicinity  of  Torgau,  which  in  the  year  1871 
had  a  very  high  small-pox  mortality ;  by  1872  the  disease 
had  almost  disappeared  from  the  city. 

In  Wittenberg,  which  before  the  arrival  of  the  prisoners 
was  absolutely  free  from  small-pox,  a  transport  arrived  on 
August  27,  and  on  September  5  the  first  small-pox  patients 
were  taken  to  the  lazaret.  Among  the  Frenchmen  the  disease 
did  not  rage  very  extensively  ;  of  a  maximum  number  of 
9,753,  only  fifty-one  (5-2  per  cent)  contracted  the  disease 
and  ten  succumbed  to  it.  Of  the  garrison,  which  averaged 
2,845  men,  seventeen  contracted  the  disease  and  two  died. 
Among  the  civil  inhabitants  the  first  case  of  small-pox  was 
reported  on  October  3 ;  it  was  that  of  a  pastor  who  had 
been  serving  as  curate  among  the  prisoners.  This  case  was 
followed  by  several  others,  most  of  the  victims  being  persons 
who  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  the  pastor's  dwelling-place.  The 
pestilence  then  began  to  spread  rapidly  among  the  civil 
inhabitants,  finally  developing  into  a  severe  epidemic.    There 


236 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


were  768  cases  reported,  distributed  as  indicated  by  the 
following  table : 


October  (1870)    . 
November  . 
December  . 

.       26 
.       66 
.      102 

April 
May    . 
June  . 

.     76 
.     83 
.     61 

January  (1871)  . 
February   . 
March 

.      107 

97    . 
.      113 

July    . 
August 
September  . 

•     27 
8 
I 

Of  those  who  contracted  the  disease  five  died  in  the  year 
1870  and  100  died  in  the  following  year  (86-5  per  10,000 
inhabitants).  Likewise  in  the  country  surrounding  Witten- 
berg small-pox  was  very  widespread  in  the  year  1871. 

Among  the  French  prisoners  in  Halle-on-the-Saale  there 
were  twenty-eight  cases  of  small-pox  in  January  and 
February,  and  at  the  same  time  a  few  cases  of  the  disease 
were  reported  in  the  regiment  that  was  transferred  from 
Halle  to  Miilhausen.  In  the  first  part  of  March  1871,  cases 
were  reported  among  the  civil  inhabitants,  and  they  con- 
stituted the  beginning  of  a  large  epidemic.  In  the  year  1871 
there  were  195  deaths  due  to  the  disease  (37  0  per  10,000 
inhabitants)  and  in  the  year  1872  there  were  forty-one 
more  deaths. 

Generally  speaking,  small-pox  was  rather  uniformly  spread 
throughout  the  Governmental  District  of  Merseburg  in  the 
year  1871  ;  the  districts  of  Torgau  and  Wittenberg  were 
the  only  ones  that  were  attacked  with  particular  severity. 
In  the  western  part  of  the  governmental  district  small-pox 
raged  more  furiously  in  1872  than  in  1871. 

The  city  of  Erfurt  (Governmental  District  of  Erfurt)  in 
the  year  1869  had  been  the  scene  of  a  small-pox  epidemic, 
which  lasted  well  into  the  following  year.  The  last  cases 
of  the  disease  occurring  in  connexion  with  this  epidemic 
were  reported  on  August  13,  1870.  To  be  sure,  the  disease 
revealed  its  presence  on  September  27  and  30  among  the 
French  prisoners,  who  had  arrived  on  August  21,  and  these 
cases  were  followed  by  many  more  when  a  new  transport 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         237 

of  prisoners  arrived  from  Metz  ;  but  of  all  the  prisoners  in 
Erfurt,  the  maximum  number  of  whom  was  no  less  than 
12,400,  only  203  men  (16-4  per  cent),  all  told,  contracted  the 
disease,  and  of  these  only  28  died.  In  the  garrison,  which 
averaged  4,627  men,  there  were  25  cases  of  small-pox  and 
no  deaths.  On  the  other  hand,  in  December  there  began 
among  the  civil  inhabitants  an  epidemic  which  spread  rapidly 
and  reached  its  climax  in  April  1871 ,  with  244  cases.  Accord- 
ing to  Guttstadt,  the  number  of  deaths  due  to  small-pox 
was  253  (53-9  per  10,000  inhabitants)  in  the  year  1871,  and 
33  in  the  year  1872.  The  epidemic  did  not  come  to  an  end 
until  June  1872.'*  In  Miilhausen,  prisoners  from  Mayence, 
where  small-pox  was  prevalent,  arrived  in  the  first  part  of 
December,  and  some  of  them  were  already  infected  with  the 
disease.  On  February  1  the  pestilence  spread  to  the  civil 
population,  and  carried  away  twenty-five  persons  in  the 
course  of  the  entire  year.  Nordhausen  was  free  from  small- 
pox in  the  summer  of  1870  ;  but  the  disease  was  twice  borne 
into  the  city,  in  October  1870  and  in  January  1871,  by 
prisoners.  The  first  cases  among  the  civil  inhabitants  were 
reported  in  the  latter  month,  after  which  they  increased 
rapidly  in  number.  In  the  year  1870  there  were  233  deaths 
(109-5  per  10,000  inhabitants)  due  to  the  pestilence.  Except 
in  these  two  cities  of  Erfurt  and  Nordhausen  the  disease  did 
not  become  very  widespread  in  the  year  1871  in  any  part 
of  the  Governmental  District  of  Erfurt. 

Regarding  the  appearance  of  small-pox  in  Brunswick,  the 
Thuringian  States,  and  Anhalt,  only  a  small  amount  of 
information  is  available.  In  the  city  of  Brunswick  a  German 
soldier,  who  had  come  from  Carignan,  contracted  the  disease 
in  September,  and  in  November  and  January  six  Frenchmen 
were  taken  sick ;  two  of  the  latter  died.  In  the  garrison, 
which  averaged  1,389  men,  there  were  four  cases  of  small-pox 
in  March  and  June.  According  to  a  manuscript  report  of  the 
Brunswick  Bureau  of  Statistics,  the  number  of  deaths  due 

«*  Loth,  loc.  cit. 


238        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

to  small-pox  throughout  the  entire  Duchy  was  2  in  the 
year  1870,  269  in  the  year  1871,  and  215  in  the  year  1872. 
At  Gotha  a  French  prisoner  suffering  from  small-pox  was 
left  behind  in  January,  and  another  prisoner  in  the  same 
transport  contracted  the  disease  a  few  days  later  ;  in  February 
there  were  a  few  isolated  cases  in  the  garrison.  At  Weimar 
a  German  field-soldier  suffering  from  small-pox  arrived  in 
February ;  he  infected  the  woman  who  took  care  of  him, 
and  presently  the  disease  broke  out  in  the  city.  In  Alten- 
burg  two  infected  sub-officers  of  the  field-army  and  two 
Frenchmen,  likewise  suffering  from  the  disease,  were  com- 
mitted to  the  reserve-lazaret,  and  shortly  afterwards  a  small 
epidemic  broke  out  in  the  garrison.  There  were  ten  cases 
of  the  disease  and  no  deaths  among  the  Frenchmen,  and  in 
the  garrison,  which  averaged  1,178  men,  there  were  eleven 
cases  and  one  death.  Among  the  civil  inhabitants  the  first 
to  be  attacked  were  a  sick-attendant  and  a  journeyman 
mason ;  the  latter  had  removed  the  soot  from  a  stove  in 
a  room  occupied  by  small-pox  patients. 

In  the  Duchy  of  Saxe-Meiningen,  according  to  a  manuscript 
report  of  the  local  Bureau  of  Statistics,  the  number  of  deaths 
due  to  small-pox  in  the  years  1860-71  was  133,  in  the  year 
1872  it  was  37,  and  in  the  year  1873  it  was  47.  The  figures 
for  the  several  years  before  1871  are  not  available.  Every 
transport  of  sick  soldiers  from  France  brought  small-pox 
patients  to  the  city  of  Meiningen ;  five  cases,  the  first  in 
January,  were  reported  in  the  garrison,  which  consisted  of 
1,663  men,  and  in  the  same  month  there  were  cases  among 
the  civil  inhabitants.  It  was  impossible,  however,  to  estab- 
lish a  connexion  between  those  in  the  garrison  and  those  in 
the  city. 

In  Dessau,  one  French  prisoner  in  October  and  two  in 
November  contracted  the  disease,  which  in  January  appeared 
throughout  the  city  and  became  epidemic.  In  the  garrison, 
which  consisted  of  1,228  men,  there  were  ten  cases  of  the 
disease,  none  of  which  terminated  fatally. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         239 


Hamburg,^  after  the  by  no  means  mild  epidemic  that 
raged  there  in  the  year  1864  (19-7  deaths  per  10,000 
inhabitants)  suffered  very  little  from  the  disease  in  the  fol- 
lowing years ;  in  1868  there  were  five  deaths  reported,  and 
in  1869  the  number  increased  to  twenty.  After  the  Franco- 
German  War  an  epidemic  of  small-pox  raged  in  Hamburg, 
which  was  more  extensive  and  more  furious  than  almost  any 
other  epidemic  that  Germany  had  ever  experienced.  In  the 
years  1870-2  no  less  than  4,053  persons  succumbed  to  small- 
pox in  Hamburg.  Among  the  French  prisoners  there  were 
twenty-two  cases  of  the  disease  and  one  death,  and  among 
the  German  troops  there  were  twelve  cases  and  no  deaths. 
The  disease  first  made  its  appearance  in  the  summer  of  1870, 
when  there  were  a  few  cases  in  the  city ;  but  in  October 
they  began  to  increase  in  number,  and  by  the  first  of  the 
year  the  disease  was  spreading  rapidly.  The  number  of 
deaths  in  Hamburg  was  : 


1870. 

1871. 

1872 

January        .          .          .     — 

69 

158 

February 

— 

107 

74 

March 

— 

163 

47 

April   . 

— 

226 

16 

May     . 

— 

364 

17 

.Tune    . 

2 

503 

4 

July    . 

2 

554 

2 

August 

6 

578 

2 

September 

5 

373 

I 

October 

lO 

3" 

I 

November 

.       24 

229 

— 

December 

•     34 

170 

I 

Entire  year 

.     83 

3»647 

323 

Per  io,ooo  ii 

ihabit 

.ants 

3-6 

1 54-4 

9-5 

The  figures  for  1870  and  1871  include  the  city  and  suburbs, 
and  those  for  1872  the  entire  State — a  fact,  however,  which 
makes  but  little  difference.  This  severe  epidemic  gave  rise 
to  the  passing  of  a  law  on  January  30,  1872,  rendering 


3*  Die  Gesundheitsverhdltnisse  Hamburgs  im  19.  Jahrhundert.   Hamburg, 
1901.    P.  16a . 


240        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

vaccination  compulsory;  the  enforcement  of  this  law  was 
greatly  facilitated  in  the  following  years  by  the  fact  that 
everybody  very  soon  came  to  recognize  the  superiority  of 
animal  lymph. 

In  Schleswig-Holstein  the  city  of  Altona,  which  bordered 
on  Hamburg,  was  very  severely  attacked  by  small-pox. 
No  detailed  information  regarding  the  epidemic  there  is 
available ;  the  population  of  the  city  in  the  year  1871  was 
83,177,  and  in  the  same  year  965  persons  (1160  per  10,000 
inhabitants)  succumbed  to  small-pox  ;  in  the  following  year 
there  were  only  two  deaths.  In  the  year  1871  only  three 
districts  were  more  severely  attacked  by  the  disease  than 
Altona — ^Rendsburg,  Steinburg,  and  StoUmarn.  The  city 
of  Rendsburg  was  an  important  seat  of  the  disease,  which 
broke  out  there  on  November  16  among  the  prisoners, 
shortly  after  their  arrival ;  the  epidemic,  however,  was 
rather  mild,  since  of  2,590  prisoners  only  forty-four  con- 
tracted the  disease  and  only  three  died.  The  garrison, 
which  averaged  2,876  men,  was  somewhat  more  severely 
attacked ;  109  men  contracted  the  disease  (37-9  per  1,000), 
and  four  succumbed  to  it.  The  epidemic  became  unusually 
widespread  in  the  city ;  114  inhabitants  (98-8  per  10,000) 
succumbed  to  small-pox  there  in  the  year  1871. 

Of  5,000  prisoners  confined  in  Lockstedt,  47  contracted 
small-pox,  the  first  in  October,  and  the  rest  in  February ; 
only  a  few  men  in  the  German  garrison  were  attacked  by 
the  disease.  From  Lockstedt  the  disease  spread  to  the 
surrounding  country,  including  Itzehoe,  where  it  caused 
102  deaths  (110-6  per  10,000  inhabitants)  in  the  year  1871. 
From  there  small-pox  spread  in  all  directions ;  it  was  con- 
veyed to  Stollmarn  chiefly  by  working-men  from  Hamburg 
and  Altona  who  lived  in  the  country. 

In  the  city  of  Liibeck,  the  population  of  which  in  the  year 
1871  was  52,158,  the  following  number  of  people,  according 
to  the  report  of  the  local  Bureau  of  Statistics,  contracted 
and  succumbed  to  small-pox  : 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         241 

Patients.  Deaths. 

1870  ....   24  I 

1871  .    .    .    .  31S  36 

1872  ....   99  15 

Judging  from  this  table,  the  city  was  not  very  severely 
attacked  by  the  disease. 

In  the  province  of  Hanover,  small-pox  did  not  become 
very  widespread  in  the  years  1871  and  1872,  thanks  to  the 
introduction  of  compulsory  vaccination ;  this  is  evident 
from  one  of  the  tables  reproduced  above.  In  the  year  1871 
the  districts  of  Osterode  and  Harburg  had  the  highest  figures, 
32-4  and  18-7  deaths  respectively  per  10,000  inhabitants, 
and  in  the  following  year  Osterode  had  47*4  and  Einbeck 
was  second  with  24-6.  In  the  city  of  Hanover  the  cases 
of  the  disease  in  the  garrison  were  few  and  far  between ; 
the  first  cases  among  the  prisoners  were  reported  in  August ; 
their  maximum  number  was  2,299,  and  fifty-six  of  them 
contracted  the  disease  and  three  died.  In  the  city  seventy- 
one  persons  succumbed  to  the  disease  in  the  year  1871,  and 
eighty-nine  persons  in  the  year  1872  (81  and  10-2,  respec- 
tively, per  10,000  inhabitants).  In  Hildesheim,  cases  of  the 
disease,  which  had  been  brought  there  from  France,  were 
reported  in  March  1871  ;  seven  soldiers  in  the  garrison  were 
taken  sick.  In  Gottingen  (Governmental  District  of  Hil- 
desheim) persons  who  had  contracted  the  disease  in  France 
were  taken  to  the  lazaret  in  March  1871  ;  whether  or  not 
this  was  responsible  for  the  communication  of  the  disease 
to  the  civil  inhabitants,  among  whom  a  severe  epidemic  had 
never  before  raged,  cannot  be  ascertained.  At  Einbeck 
(Governmental  District  of  Hildesheim)  several  small-pox 
convalescents  belonging  to  the  field-army  arrived  in  February 
1871.  In  Osnabriick  a  soldier  belonging  to  the  field-army 
contracted  the  disease  in  December.  In  Papenburg  (Govern- 
mental District  of  Osnabriick)  the  depot  where  the  prisoners 
were  confined  was  very  severely  attacked  ;  of  993  prisoners,, 
sixty-three  contracted  the  disease  and  two  died.    In  Lingen 

1569.13  R 


242        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

(Governmental  District  of  Osnabriick)  there  was  a  rather 
large  number  of  Frenchmen  suffering  from  small-pox — 
fifty-three,  all  told,  of  whom  three  died.  In  Stade  thirty- 
two  out  of  2,284  prisoners  contracted  the  disease  in  January 
and  February,  and  five  of  them  died. 

In  Bremen  the  epidemic  of  small-pox  did  not  become  very 
widespread.  According  to  a  report  issued  by  the  local 
Bureau  of  Statistics,  there  were  only  twenty-six  cases  of 
the  disease  there  in  the  year  1870  and  no  deaths ;  in  the 
following  years  the  number  of  deaths  was  as  follows :  ^ 

Bremen — City.  Rest  of  State. 

1871  ...       45  9 

1872  ...       20  21 

1873  .  •  •  3  — 

In  the  case  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Oldenburg  the  number 
of  deaths  due  to  small-pox  is  unknown.  In  the  city  of 
Oldenburg  three  French  prisoners  (two  in  October  and  one 
in  November)  contracted  small-pox,  and  one  case  of  the 
disease  was  reported  in  the  garrison  in  March.  Regarding 
the  appearance  of  small-pox  among  the  civil  inhabitants  no 
information  is  available. 

The  governmental  districts  of  Miinster  and  Minden 
(Province  of  Westphalia)  were  only  moderately  afflicted  by 
small-pox  in  the  years  1870-2.  According  to  Guttstadt, 
a  few  cases  of  the  disease  were  reported  in  the  city  of  Miinster 
in  May  1869,  and  these  were  followed  by  seven  more  in  July 
1870.  After  that  no  cases  were  reported  until  November  9, 
1870,  when  a  pastor,  who  had  been  ministering  to  the  prisoners 
in  Lingen,  contracted  the  disease ;  another  pastor  fared  in 
the  same  way.  These  were  followed  by  eight  more  cases  in 
two  buildings  in  Miinster  itself,  and  another  two  in  the  com- 
munity of  Uberwasser,  which  bordered  on  the  city  of  Miinster. 
In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1870  no  cases  were  reported  in 

3*  The  figures  have  reference  to  all  the  deaths  that  occurred  among  all 
persons  in  the  city  and  in  the  city-state  ;  the  older  year-books  of  the 
State  of  Bremen  include  only  the  resident  inhabitants,  so  that  the  above 
figures  do  not  concur  with  the  figures  found  in  the  older  records. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         243 


the  garrison.  In  the  latter  part  of  January  1871  some  3,000 
prisoners  were  brought  from  Wesel,  which  was  badly  infected 
with  the  disease,  to  Miinster,  and  there  four  of  them  were 
immediately  taken  sick.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  rather 
extensive  epidemic  among  the  prisoners,  143  of  whom  con- 
tracted the  disease  and  thirteen  died  ;  the  maximum  number 
of  cases  (107)  was  reported  in  February.  In  the  garrison, 
which  numbered  3,910  men,  a  small  number  of  cases  was 
reported  from  February  on  ;  of  twenty-one  cases  reported, 
one  resulted  fatally.  In  the  same  month  a  small  epidemic 
raged  among  the  civil  inhabitants,  reaching  its  climax  in 
May.  The  following  table  indicates  the  number  of  people 
who  contracted  the  disease  : 


November  (1870) 

2 

December    . 

8 

January  (187 1 )     . 

0 

February 

•      13 

March 

•      30 

April  . 

.     48 

May  . 
June  . 
July    . 

August 

September 

October 


91 

84 

43 

9 

5 

I 


The  number  of  deaths  in  the  year  1871  was  sixty-seven 
{26-9  per  10,000  inhabitants),  and  in  the  year  1872  it  was 
twenty-two  ;  most  of  the  cases  occurred  in  the  quarters 
of  the  city  known  as  Jiidefeld  and  Lamberti,  on  account  of 
the  proximity  of  the  prison  along  the  Buddenturm.  In  the 
surrounding  communities  the  epidemic  reached  its  climax 
in  July,  and  after  that  began  to  abate  rapidly.  The  only 
other  region  in  the  Governmental  District  of  Miinster  in 
which  small-pox  made  its  appearance  was  Recklinghausen, 
which  borders  on  the  Rhenish- Westphalian  coal-fields,  whence 
the  infection  doubtless  came  ;  in  Recklinghausen  there  were 
28-8  deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants  in  the  year  1871,  and 
46-4  per  10,000  in  the  year  1872. 

In  the  Governmental  District  of  Minden  only  the  city  and 
vicinity  of  Minden  were  severely  attacked ;  before  the  war 
began  they  were  free  from  small-pox.  On  September  10  the 
first  prisoners  arrived,  and  among  them  cases  of  small-pox 
had  already  been  observed  in  the  first  part  of  that  month ; 


R2 


244 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


in  the  course  of  the  next  eight  days  more  cases  were  reported, 
and  of  a  total  number  of  5,071  prisoners  98  contracted  the 
disease  and  13  succumbed  to  it.  In  the  garrison,  which 
numbered  5,071  men,  one  case  was  reported  in  October, 
four  in  December,  and  fifty-two  in  the  following  months; 
only  two  cases  terminated  fatally.  The  first  case  among^ 
the  civil  inhabitants  was  reported  on  November  5 ;  the 
victim  was  a  laundress  who  had  done  washing  for  the 
prisoners.  This  constituted  the  beginning  of  an  epidemic 
in  which  651  persons  contracted  the  disease  and  114  suc- 
cumbed to  it ;  the  population  of  the  city  was  16,862.  The 
epidemic  spread  to  the  surrounding  localities,  presumably 
because  the  woollen  blankets  which  the  patients  had  used 
were  sold  there.  Throughout  the  entire  district  of  Minden 
391  persons  (51  0  per  10,000  inhabitants)  succumbed  to 
small-pox  in  the  year  1871,  whereas  in  the  following  year 
only  34  deaths  were  reported,  all  told. 

In  the  Governmental  District  of  Arnsberg  the  districts  of 
Dortmund  and  Bochum,  which  belonged  to  the  Rhenish- 
Westphalian  coal  region,  and  were  even  at  that  time  densely 
populated,  were  severely  attacked  by  small-pox ;  the  dis- 
tricts of  Hamm  and  Hagen,  which  bordered  on  the  latter, 
were  likewise  very  hard  hit.  The  following  table  indicates 
the  number  of  persons  per  10,000  inhabitants  that  succumbed 
to  small-pox  in  the  districts  mentioned : 

Arnsberg 

Meschede 

Brilon 

Lippstadt 

Soest 

Hamm 

Dortmund 

Bochum 

Hagen 

Iserlohn 

Altena 

Olpe 

Siegen 

Wittgenstein 


1871. 

1872. 

127 

11-4 

6-5 

4-3 

lO-O 

23-1 

2-9 

9-8 

9-6 

26-0 

38-1 

30-0 

55-3 

38*4 

123-1 

71-8 

137 

54-2 

4-3 

167 

18.5 

127 

i8-8 

9-4 

92 

7-4 

lO-I 

II-6 

THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         245 

In  the  city  of  Bochum  alone  698  persons  (3290  per  10,000 
inhabitants)  succumbed  to  small-pox  in  the  year  1871  ; 
almost  one-half  of  the  deaths  that  year  were  caused  by 
small-pox.  The  city  of  Dortmund  itself  was  less  severely 
attacked  in  the  year  1871  than  the  country  surrounding  it ; 
in  the  city  alone  96  persons  (21-5  per  10,000)  died  of  the 
disease,  whereas  in  the  district  of  Dortmund,  excluding  the 
city,  there  were  661  deaths  (71-4  per  10,000).  The  near-by 
city  of  Hamm  was  very  severely  attacked ;  114  persons 
(67-3  per  10,000)  succumbed  there  in  the  year  1871,  whereas 
the  total  number  of  deaths  in  the  rest  of  the  district  amounted 
to  113  (26-5  per  10,000).  According  to  Guttstadt,  a  prisoner 
contracted  the  disease  there  on  November  2  and  subse- 
quently died.  The  first  cases  among  the  civil  inhabitants 
were  reported  on  November  22 ;  the  victims  were  an 
occupant  of  a  public-house  situated  near  the  lazaret,  and 
a  Catholic  priest  who  had  visited  the  patients. 

In  the  Rhine  Province  the  districts  of  the  Rhenish- 
Westphalian  industrial  centre  belonging  to  the  Governmental 
District  of  Diisseldorf  also  suffered  severely  from  small-pox  : 
e.  g.  the  districts  of  Crefeld,  Duisburg,  Diisseldorf,  Essen, 
Mettmann,  Elberfeld,  and  Barmen ;  later  on,  in  the  year 
1872,  the  districts  of  Lennep  and  Solingen  were  also  severely 
attacked.  The  districts  in  the  Governmental  District  of 
Diisseldorf  lying  on  the  left  side  of  the  Rhine  were  all,  with 
the  exception  of  Crefeld,  mildly  attacked.  The  following 
table  indicates  the  number  of  deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants 
in  the  various  districts  mentioned  : 

The  districts  on  the  left  side  of  the  Rhine : 


1871. 

1872 

Cleve         ....         4-8 

I -5 

Geldern     . 
Mors 

7-8 
8-4 

0-8 
8-8 

Kempen    . 

7-}, 

13-3 

Gladbach  . 

\'6 

5-5 

Grevenbroich 

T-8 

2-3 

Neuss 

9-3 

4-3 

Crefeld      . 

547 

337 

246        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


The  districts  on  the  right  side  of  the  Rhine : 


1871. 

1872. 

Rees           ....       23-5 

4-6 

Duisburg  . 

1007 

IO'2 

Essen 

52-9 

37 -o 

Diisseldorf 

56-2 

3-5 

Elberfeld  (city) 

47-5 

44 -o 

Barmen     . 

24-8 

49-1 

Mettmann . 

31-3 

367 

Lennep 

3-3 

31-4 

Solingen    . 

5-1 

36-3 

On  August  17  and  18,  seven  infected  Frenchmen  arrived 
at  the  city  of  Diisseldorf  and  were  at  once  isolated  in  a  house 
outside  the  city  limits ;  in  November  a  few  more  infected 
prisoners  arrived.  In  the  small  German  garrison  (523  men) 
no  cases  were  observed  until  later  (April  and  May).  In 
December  1870,  20  cases  among  the  civil  inhabitants  were 
reported ;  they  constituted  the  beginning  of  an  epidemic 
which  developed  rapidly,  reached  its  climax  in  July  with 
648  cases,  and  then  quickly  disappeared.  In  the  following 
year,  524  small-pox  patients  (750  per  10,000  inhabitants) 
died  in  the  city  of  Diisseldorf. 

In  the  district  of  Duisburg  eleven  cases  of  small-pox  were 
reported  in  December  1870,  and  here  again  the  epidemic 
developed  rapidly,  reaching  its  climax  (1,549  cases)  in  May 
1871.  The  city  of  Duisburg  was  most  severely  attacked; 
529  persons  (173-2  per  10,000  inhabitants)  died  there  of 
small-pox  in  the  year  1871. 

In  the  stronghold  of  Wesel  (district  of  Rees),  where  the 
prisoners  were  confined  in  the  stronghold  itseK  on  Buderich 
Island  and  Spellmer  Heath,  persons  suffering  from  small-pox 
arrived  in  August  and  September ;  and  still  more  arrived 
in  November  with  a  transport  of  prisoners  from  Metz.  Of 
the  16,299  prisoners,  1,042  (63-9  per  1,000)  contracted 
small-pox,  and  127  (12-2  per  cent  of  those  taken  sick)  died  ; 
the  largest  number  of  cases  was  reported  in  January.  In  the 
garrison,  which  numbered  7,284  men,  there  were  117  cases 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         Ul 

of  the  disease  and  seven  deaths.  Since  the  inhabitants  of 
the  city  of  Wesel  and  of  the  surrounding  country  had 
continual  intercourse  with  the  prisoners,  the  dissemination 
of  the  disease  was  inevitable  ;  the  epidemic  among  the  civil 
inhabitants  began  in  November  and  carried  away  nine 
persons  in  1870  and  eighty-four  persons  in  1871. 

In  Elberfeld  the  epidemic  did  not  become  very  wide- 
spread until  December  1871.  The  first  fatal  case  in  the  city 
of  Essen  was  reported  in  January  1871  ;  the  epidemic  then 
increased  in  fury  until  June  1871  (48  deaths),  when  it  began 
to  abate.  In  the  following  year  it  revived  a  little  in  May, 
when  26  cases  were  reported.  All  told,  272  persons  (530 
per  10,000  inhabitants)  died  of  small-pox  in  Essen  in  the 
year  1871,  and  112  persons  (21  0  per  10,000)  in  the  year 
1872.^'' 

In  the  Governmental  District  of  Cologne  small-pox  became 
more  or  less  widespread  in  the  years  1871-2  in  the  city  and 
immediate  vicinity  of  Cologne ;  in  the  few  years  preceding 
the  war  Cologne  had  had  numerous  cases  of  the  disease,  and 
in  the  year  1866  a  small  epidemic  (223  cases)  had  occurred 
there ;  in  the  year  1869  some  forty  cases  were  officially 
reported.  According  to  Guttstadt,  the  first  transport  of 
prisoners,  among  them  a  small-pox  patient,  passed  through 
Cologne  early  in  September.  Of  the  gradually  increasing 
number  of  prisoners  (the  maximum  number,  including  Deutz, 
was  13,774)  175,  all  told,  contracted  the  disease  and  twenty- 
four  succumbed  to  it.  In  the  garrison,  which  numbered 
9,207  men,  there  were  only  nineteen  cases  of  the  disease  and 
one  death.  Among  the  civil  inhabitants  an  epidemic  broke 
out  as  early  as  September  12  ;  it  reached  its  climax  in  April 
1871,  abated  somewhat  during  the  summer,  and  in  October 
and  November  started  up  again.  The  following  table  indi- 
cates the  number  of  people  that  contracted  and  succumbed 

3*  M.  Wahl,  Statistik  der  Geburts-  und  Sterblichkeitsverhaltnisse  der 
Stadt  Essen,  1868-1879.  Zentralblatt  fur  allg.  Ges.-pflege,  vol.  i,  p.  852. 
1882. 


us 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


to  the  disease  in  the  months  mentioned  (the  population  of 
the  city  at  that  time  was  129,000) : 


Patients. 


Deaths. 


September  (1870) 

24 

3 

October 

65 

18 

November 

80 

15 

December 

97 

27 

January  (1871) 

194 

53 

February 

336 

79 

March   . 

434 

87 

April     . 

510 

71 

May 

318 

50 

June 

159 

34 

July      . 

75 

13 

August . 

35 

10 

September 

16 

3 

October 

66 

5 

November 

34 

9 

December 

7 

2 

According  to  this  table,  63  persons  (4-9  per  10,000  inhabi- 
tants) died  in  the  months  September-December  1870,  and 
416  persons  (32-2  per  10,000)  died  in  the  year  1871  ;  in  the 
following  year  25  more  deaths  (1-9  per  10,000)  were  reported. 
In  the  district  of  Cologne  (excluding  the  city)  212  persons 
{24-3  per  10,000  inhabitants)  succumbed  to  small-pox  in 
the  year  1871 ;  in  all  the  other  districts  the  number  of  deaths 
caused  by  the  disease  was  small. 

In  the  Governmental  District  of  Coblenz  the  city  of 
Coblenz  and  the  adjacent  districts  of  Neuwied  and  May  en, 
as  well  as  the  district  of  Kreuznach,  which  lay  in  the  extreme 
south  and  very  near  the  scene  of  the  war,  were  most  severely 
attacked  in  the  year  1871.  In  the  stronghold  of  Coblenz, 
according  to  Guttstadt,  a  locksmith  contracted  the  disease 
in  the  latter  part  of  August ;  he  had  become  infected  while 
sitting  beside  the  body  of  his  brother,  who  had  succumbed 
to  the  disease  in  Casbach,  a  village  near  Lingen,  in  Hanover. 
The  first  prisoners  arrived  in  Coblenz  on  September  15,  and 
on  September  23  one  of  them  was  found  to  be  suffering  from 
small-pox  and  was  taken  to  the  lazaret ;    new  transports 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         U9 

of  prisoners  kept  bringing  more  cases  of  the  disease.  Of  the 
15,011  French  prisoners  that  arrived  there,  a  large  number 
contracted  the  disease ;  the  maximum  number  was  in  January, 
when  571  (380  per  1,000)  were  taken  sick,  and  111  died 
(19-4  per  cent  of  the  patients).  In  the  garrison,  which  con- 
sisted of  8,710  men,  there  were  83  cases  of  the  disease  and 
four  deaths  in  the  month  of  November.  Among  the  civil 
inhabitants  of  Coblenz  81  persons  (24-2  per  10,000)  died 
of  small-pox  in  the  year  1871  ;  in  the  rest  of  the  district 
of  Coblenz  277  persons  (671  per  10,000)  died;  in  the 
district  of  Mayen  there  were  234  deaths  (43-9  per  10,000),  in 
the  district  of  Neuwied  220  deaths  (32-3),  and  in  the  district 
of  Kreuznach  129  deaths  (21-2).  In  the  year  1872  the 
epidemic  was  not  at  all  widespread  in  any  of  the  districts. 

In  the  Governmental  District  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  only  the 
district  of  Malmedy  suffered  severely  in  the  year  1871  ; 
being  in  the  south-western  part  of  the  governmental  district 
it  was,  like  the  border  districts  in  the  Governmental  District 
of  Treves  mentioned  below,  exposed  to  the  first  onrush  of 
the  transports  of  prisoners.  The  number  of  deaths  there  in 
the  year  1871  was  333  (1110  per  10,000),  whereas  in  the 
following  year  not  a  single  death  due  to  small-pox  was 
reported  in  the  district.  At  Jiilich  a  Frenchman  suffering 
from  small-pox  arrived  in  July,  and  in  November  an  epidemic 
broke  out  among  the  prisoners  ;  188  cases  of  small-pox  were 
reported,  and  of  these  only  three  terminated  fatally.  In  the 
garrison  only  one  man  contracted  the  disease. 

The  governmental  district  of  Treves  had  a  very  large 
number  of  small-pox  cases  in  the  year  1871,  since  a  large 
part  of  it  bordered  directly  on  the  enemy's  country,  so  that 
large  numbers  of  sick  and  convalescent  prisoners  passed 
through  it.  In  the  year  1872  only  a  few  cases  of  small-pox 
were  reported,  except  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Treves, 
where  the  pestilence  became  quite  widespread.  The  following 
table  indicates  the  number  of  deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants 
in  the  districts  mentioned  : 


250 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


1871. 

1872 

3.0 

1-9 

187 

1-3 

6-1 

o-s 

20 -o 

— 

36-2 

0-4 

12'6 

4-1 

17-2 

20 -6 

33-2 

09 

23-6 

1-4 

60-9 

10 

51-5 

2-8 

So-o 

0-2 

49-5 

0-3 

Daun 

Wittlich   . 
Bernkastel 
St.  Wendel 
Ottweiler 
Treves  (city) 
Treves  (district) 
Priim 
Bitburg    . 
Saarburg  . 
Merzig 
Saarlouis  . 
Saarbriicken 


The  province  of  Hesse-Nassau  suffered  very  little  from 
small-pox  in  the  years  1871-2,  since  a  compulsory  vaccination 
law  had  long  been  in  force  there.  Large  epidemics  did  not 
occur  anywhere.  In  Cassel  a  case  of  small-pox  had  occurred 
in  the  summer  of  1870,  and  after  that  there  were  no  more 
cases  until  November  9  ;  on  that  day  a  man  was  taken  sick 
who  had  been  acting  as  a  sutler  among  the  German  troops 
before  Paris  and  had  there  been  infected.  On  November  18 
a  nurse  employed  in  a  house  in  which  a  field-soldier  was 
quartered  contracted  the  disease,  and  this  case  was  fol- 
lowed by  six  more  cases  among  the  civil  inhabitants; 
all  told,  six  persons  succumbed  to  small-pox  in  the  city  of 
Cassel  in  the  year  1870,  ninty-nine  persons  (21-4  per  10,000 
inhabitants)  in  the  year  1871,  and  four  persons  in  the 
year  1872. 

In  Frankfurt-on-the-Main  a  few  cases  of  small-pox  were 
reported  in  the  course  of  the  year  1870 ;  the  disease  was 
perhaps  conveyed  thither  from  Stuttgart.  After  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war  it  was  borne  into  the  city  by  numerous 
transports  of  soldiers  and  prisoners,  and  a  widespread 
epidemic  soon  developed.  In  the  garrison  thirty-two  cases 
of  the  disease  were  reported.  After  the  Rochus  Hospital 
was  opened  to  small-pox  patients,  in  April,  the  epidemic 
reached  its  climax  ;  the  following  table,  found  in  the  German 
Health  Report,  indicates  the  number  of  patients  received 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         251 

into  the  above-mentioned  hospital  and  the  number  that  died 
there : 


No.  patients. 

No.  deatfis 

January  . 

.       8i 

13 

February 

.     148 

16 

March 

.     168 

17 

April 

.      177 

25 

May 

— 

— 

June 

.       36 

12 

In  August  the  epidemic  came  to  an  end.  All  told,  there 
were  23  deaths  due  to  small-pox  in  Frankfurt-on-the-Main 
in  1870,  125  deaths  (13-7  per  10,000  inhabitants)  in  1871, 
and  25  deaths  in  1872. 

In  Wiesbaden  an  epidemic  began  in  December  1870,  and 
reached  its  climax  in  February.  The  population  of  the  city 
was  35,463,  and  of  these  6  succumbed  to  small-pox  in  1870, 
71  in  1871,  and  two  in  1872.  Regarding  the  origin  of  this 
small  epidemic  no  information  is  available. 

(b)  The  Dissemination  of  Small-pox  in  Saxony  in  the  Years 

1870-2 

The  kingdom  of  Saxony  experienced  a  very  severe 
epidemic  of  small-pox  in  consequence  of  the  Franco-German 
War.  The  wide  dissemination  of  the  disease  is  attributed  by 
Wunderlich  to  the  fact  that  vaccination,  in  consequence  of 
the  wild  agitation  of  the  anti-vaccinationists,  was  insuffi- 
ciently practised;  prior  to  the  year  1874  vaccination  was 
not  compulsory  in  Saxony.  Even  before  the  war  broke  out 
small-pox  had  appeared  in  Saxony  in  the  form  of  epidemics, 
e.  g.  in  Chemnitz  and  Freiberg.  The  following  table  indicates 
the  number  of  persons,  all  told,  that  succumbed  to  small- 
pox in  Saxony  ;  ^' 

1871  .  .     9,935  (estimate)     38-8  per  10,000  inhabitants. 

1872  .  .        5,863  22-8     „  „  „ 

1873  .  .      1,772  6-9    „  „  „ 

37  Vierter  und  fiinfter  Jahresbericht  iiber  das  Medizinahvcsen  im  Konig- 
reich  Sachsen  auf  die  Jahre  1870-1  und  1872-3.    Dresden,  1874  and  1875. 


252        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


Of  the  immobile  troops  stationed  in  Saxony,  the  total 
number  of  whom  was  17,628,  some  506,  all  told,  contracted 
the  disease  and  30  succumbed  to  it. 

Regarding  the  dissemination  of  small-pox  in  Leipzig  and 
vicinity  we  have  accurate  information.^  In  Leipzig  itself 
small-pox  patients  were  housed  only  in  the  city  hospital. 
A  small  epidemic  of  the  disease  had  raged  there  in  the  years 
1868-9.  In  the  year  1870,  eighteen  patients  were  committed 
to  the  hospital  in  the  months  of  January-July,  after  which 
there  were  no  more  cases  until  October ;  on  the  22nd,  23rd, 
and  31st  of  that  month  a  single  patient,  each  time  a  French 
prisoner,  was  taken  to  the  hospital.  On  November7  a  laundress 
employed  in  the  hospital  contracted  the  disease ;  the  first 
case  among  the  civil  inhabitants  was  reported  onNovemberlO. 
In  December  an  epidemic  began  which  spread  rapidly  and 
reached  its  climax  in  April.  The  following  table  indicates 
the  number  of  patients  committed  to  the  hospital  in  the 
months  mentioned : 

March  (1871) 384 

April 388 

May 361 

June  .  .  .  .  .  .  .231 

July 7Z 

The  epidemic  lasted  until  the  year  1872,  and  the  highest 
mortality  was  in  the  month  of  May  1871  ;  the  number  of 
deaths  caused  by  the  disease  in  the  various  months  was  as 
follows  : 


October  (1870)    . 
November  . 

I 
2 

December  . 

9 

January  (187 1 )   . 
February   . 
March 

20 

47 
117 

April 
May  . 
June 

233 
246 
205 

July    . 
August 
September  . 
October 

.     91 
32 
24 
14 

November   . 

13 

December    . 

10 

January  (1872)     . 
February     . 
March  and  April 

4 
5 
4 

**  C.  A.  Wunderlich,  Mitteilungeniiber  die gegenwartige Pockenepidemie  in 
Leipzig.   Arch.fiir  Heilkunde,  vol.  xiii,  p.  97.    1872. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         253 


Among  these  1,077  victims  of  the  disease  were  21  soldiers 
and  27  outsiders  from  the  surrounding  villages.  The  disease 
was  very  virulent.  Of  the  1,727  patients  treated  in  the 
hospital  253  died  (14-7  per  cent).  The  population  of  Leipzig 
in  the  year  1871  was  106,922,  so  that  the  1,052  deaths  of 
the  year  1871  correspond  to  a  mortality  of  98-4  per  10,000 
inhabitants.  Of  3,726  prisoners,  98  (76-3  per  10,000)  con- 
tracted the  disease  and  9  died. 

In  the  district  of  Leipzig  no  case  of  small-pox  was  officially 
reported  between  the  months  of  May  and  October.  When 
the  disease  broke  out  in  the  city  of  Leipzig  it  was  of  course 
inevitable,  in  view  of  the  constant  intercourse  between  the 
city  and  the  surrounding  country,  that  it  should  spread 
rapidly  among  the  working  people  who  were  employed  in 
the  city  and  lived  in  the  country,  first  to  the  immediate 
vicinity,  and  then,  following  the  chief  lines  of  traffic,  to  the 
more  remote  localities.^^  Of  113  places  106  were  attacked  ; 
only  two  peasant-villages  and  five  isolated  farm-estates  were 
spared.  The  villages  inhabited  by  working  people  were  much 
more  severely  attacked  than  those  inhabited  by  farmers 
and  peasants.  The  progress  of  the  epidemic  is  indicated 
by  the  following  figures,  which  Siegel  says  are  incomplete, 
since  not  all  the  cases  were  reported,  and  which  correspond 
at  best  to  only  one-half  of  the  actual  number  of  cases  and 
deaths  : 


Cases. 


October  (1870) 

2 

November     . 

9 

December 

22 

January  (1871) 

107 

February 

216 

March  . 

398 

April    . 

816 

May 

944 

June     . 

732 

July     . 

288 

Deaths. 

3 

5 

16 

42 

103 

255 

311 
161 


^  Siegel,  Die  Pockenepidemie  des  Jahres  1871  im  Umkreise  von  Leipzig 
Arch,  fur  Heilkunde,  vol.  xiv,  p.  125.    1873. 


254 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


Cases. 

Deaths 

August           ....       94 

68 

September     . 

45 

35 

October 

38 

16 

November     . 

41 

25 

December 

44 

18 

January  (1872) 

26 

12 

February 

.        28 

20 

March  . 

18 

11 

April    . 

6 

10 

May     . 

5 

6 

June    . 

2 

I 

July     . 

.  .    — 

— 

According  to  this  table  the  number  of  deaths  in  the  district 
of  Leipzig,  the  population  of  which  was  97,100,  was  eight  in  the 
year  1870,  1,417  (145-9  per  10,000  inhabitants)  in  the  year 
1871,  and  60  in  the  year  1872.  Accurate  figures  regarding 
the  ratio  of  deaths  to  total  cases  cannot  be  computed ;  at 
all  events  small-pox  raged  very  severely,  owing  partly  to 
insufficient  vaccination,  and  partly  to  the  wretched  conditions 
in  which  the  working  people  lived. 

In  Dresden,  mild  epidemics  of  small-pox  had  raged  in 
the  year  1864  and  again  in  the  years  1867-8 ;  between  the 
months  of  January  and  August  1870  not  a  single  small-pox 
patient  was  taken  to  the  city  hospital ;  the  first  case  was 
committed  to  the  hospital  on  September  27  of  that  year, 
and  after  that  two  more  persons  contracted  the  disease  in 
a  barrack.  The  disease  spread  from  there,  at  first  along  the 
streets  in  the  vicinity  of  the  barrack,  and  then  throughout 
the  Antonstadt,  Neustadt,  and  finally  the  Altstadt.  The 
epidemic  reached  its  climax  among  the  civil  inhabitants  in 
April  1871,  in  the  garrison  in  January.  The  following  table 
indicates  the  number  of  patients  committed  to  the  city 
hospital  in  the  months  mentioned  :  *° 


*"  A.  Fiedler,  Statistische  Mitieilungen  und  aphoristische  Bemerkungen  iiber 
die  Pockenepidemie  zu  Dresden  in  den  Jahren  1870  und  1871,  nach  Beobach- 
tungen  im  Stadtkrankenhaus  daselbst.  Jahresberichte  der  Ges.fiir  Naiur-  und 
Heilkunde  in  Dresden.    1872. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         255 


September  (1870) 

2 

August 

■     38 

October 

12 

September 

18 

November  . 

22 

October 

32 

December  . 

31 

November    . 

40 

January  (1871)  . 

60 

December    . 

62 

February   . 

82 

January  (1872)     . 

59 

March 

95 

February     . 

57 

April 

186 

March 

30 

May  . 

173 

April  . 

40 

June 

148 

May    . 

13 

July 

78 

June   . 

13 

All  told,  there  were  fifteen  deaths  due  to  the  disease  in 
Dresden  in  the  year  1870,  570  deaths  (32-7  per  10,000 
inhabitants)  in  the  year  1871,  and  151  deaths  (8-4  per  10,000) 
in  the  year  1872.  Among  the  prisoners  there  were  150 
cases  of  the  disease,  and  of  these  nine  were  fatal ;  in  the 
garrison  there  were  413  cases  and  twenty-one  deaths. 

The  epidemic  of  small-pox  in  Chemnitz,  at  least  the  begin- 
ning of  it,  was  in  no  way  connected  with  the  war.  An  exhaus- 
tive report  made  out  by  Flinzer,*^  who  carefully  investigated 
the  conditions  relative  to  vaccination  in  the  year  1871, 
furnishes  us  the  following  figures ;  of  64,255  inhabitants 
53,891  were  vaccinated,  5,712  were  unvaccinated,  4,652  had 
survived  a  previous  attack  of  small-pox,  and  only  1,928 
persons  had  been  vaccinated  more  than  once.  The  epidemic 
of  small-pox  began  in  January  1870,  and  reached  its  climax 
in  December  of  that  year.  From  March  1871  to  September 
1872,  only  a  few  cases  of  the  disease  were  observed,  but  after 
September  the  number  of  cases  suddenly  began  to  grow 
larger,  resulting  in  a  second  severe  epidemic,  which  continued 
to  increase  in  severity  until  March  1873.  The  mortality 
statistics  found  in  Flinzer's  report  are  reproduced  below ; 
they  go  only  as  far  as  April  1873,  but  after  that  the  epidemic 
abated  considerably  : 


*^  M.  Flinzer,  Die  Blatternepidemie  in  Chemnitz  und  Umgegend  in  den 
Jahren  1870  und  1871.  Mitteilungen  des  Statistischen  Bureaus  der  Stadt 
Chemnitz,  fascicle  1.    Chemnitz,  1873. 


256 


EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


1870. 

1871. 

1872. 

1878 

January  . 

I 

25 

3 

43 

February 

3 

15 

I 

68 

March 

5 

4 

5 

74 

April 

8 

3 

4 

37 

May 

8 

3 

6 

— 

June 

8 

I 

10 

— 

July 

19 

— 

14 

— 

August    . 

27 

— 

6 

— 

September 

20 

I 

6 

— 

October  . 

28 

I 

12 

— 

November 

28 

I 

27 

— 

December 

38 

2 

32 

— 

Total 

193 

"56 

126 



A  particularly  good  idea  of  the  protection  against  small-pox 
afforded  by  vaccination  is  given  in  the  Chemnitz  statistics 
for  the  years  1870-1.  Of  53,891  vaccinated  persons  95S 
(1-8  per  cent)  contracted  the  disease  in  those  two  years  and 
seven  succumbed  to  it,  all  of  whom  were  more  than  ten  years 
of  age ;  of  5,712  unvaccinated  persons,  almost  one-half 
contracted  the  disease  (2,643  or  46-3  per  cent,  to  be  precise), 
and  of  these  243  (9- 16  of  those  taken  sick)  died.  Of  those 
who  died,  102  were  less  than  one  year  old,  51  were  less  than 
two  years  old,  47  were  in  their  fourth  or  fifth  year,  and  20 
were  from  five  to  ten  years  of  age. 

How  dangerous  small-pox  showed  itself  to  be  after  the 
Franco-German  War  is  indicated  by  a  report  of  Geissler" 
regarding  the  epidemic  in  Meerane,  a  manufacturing  town 
of  some  20,000  inhabitants.  There,  between  October  1871 
and  May  1872,  no  less  than  460  persons  (434  children  and 
26  adults)  succumbed  to  small-pox,  i.e.  230  per  10,000 
inhabitants.  Of  the  children  80-3,  and  of  the  adults  26-3, 
succumbed  to  the  disease  in  the  course  of  the  epidemic. 

(c)  Small-pox  in  Bavaria  in  the  Years  1871-2 

In  the  year  1866  Bavaria  had  an  epidemic  of  small-pox, 
which,  although  it  abated  considerably  in  the  following 

*2  A.  Geissler,  Einige  Bemerkungen  iiber  Pocken  und  Vakzination.  Arch, 
fiir  Heilkunde,  vol.  xiii,  p.  547.    1872. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         257 


years,  did  not  leave  the  country  entirely  free  from  the  disease  ; 
it  was,  however,  confined  to  a  very  few  localities  in  the  year 
1870.  In  Upper  Bavaria  cases  were  reported  in  that  year 
only  in  Altotting  and  Friedberg  ;  in  Lower  Bavaria  absolutely 
no  cases  were  reported  ;  in  Upper  Franconia  a  small  epidemic 
raged  in  August  1870,  in  the  district  of  Forchheim ;  in 
Central  Franconia,  where  in  the  year  1868  a  rather  severe 
epidemic  had  raged,  the  disease  had  almost  entirely  dis> 
appeared  by  1870  ;  Lower  Franconia  and  Swabia,  finally, 
had  only  sporadic  cases  of  the  disease.  French  prisoners  and 
homeward-bound  soldiers,  away  on  furlough,  caused  the 
pestilence,  as  was  reported  from  all  sides,  to  break  out  anew  ; 
the  rapid  dissemination  of  the  disease,  according  to  these 
reports,  was  helped  by  persons  coming  in  direct  contact 
with  French  prisoners  in  crowded  places,  by  teamsters  re- 
turning from  France,  by  German  fugitives  from  France, 
by  persons  handling  the  linen  and  clothes  of  patients,  and 
by  the  sale  of  woollen  blankets  and  other  things  which  the 
French  prisoners  brought  with  them.  The  following  table 
indicates  the  number  of  people  who  succumbed  to  small-pox 
in  Bavaria :  *^ 


Oct. 


1865-oct.  I, 

1866 

1866-  „  I, 

1867 

1867-  „  I, 

1868 

1868-  „  I, 

1869 

1869-  „  I, 

1870 

1870-Dec.  31 

1870 
I87I 
1872 
1873 
1874 
187s 

Per  10,000 

Total. 

inhabitants. 

577 

1-2 

1,210 

2-5 

917 

1-9 

487 

I-O 

363 

0-8 

224 

— 

5,070 

10-4 

2,992 

6-1 

869 

1-8 

263 

o-s 

87 

0-2 

Munich  fared  pretty  well,  and  the  civil  population  suffered 
less  than  the  soldiers.**  Not  a  single  case  of  small-pox  occurred 

*'  G .  Mayr,  Bewegung  der  Bevolkerung  des  Kgr.  Bay  em  im  letzten  Vierteljahr 
des  Kalenderjahres  1870  und  im  Kalenderjahr  1871.  Zeitschrift  des  bayr. 
Stat.  Bureaus,  vol.  iv,  p.  244.    1872. 

**  F.  Seitz,  Krankheits-  und  Sterblichkeitszustand  zu  Miinchen  im  Jahr 

136913  g 


258        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

there  during  the  entire  year  of  1870.  In  November  an  officer 
suffering  from  dysentery  returned  home  from  France,  and 
shortly  after  his  arrival  he  was  taken  sick  with  small-pox, 
which  later  attacked  two  members  of  his  family.  In  the 
first  part  of  the  year  1871  small-pox  became  more  and  more 
widespread,  and  reached  its  climax  in  June.  The  total 
number  of  deaths  in  the  year  1870  was  7,  in  the  year  1871 
it  was  150  (8-9  per  10,000  inhabitants),  and  in  the  year  1872 
it  was  108  (6-4  per  10,000  inhabitants).  The  following  table 
indicates  the  number  of  deaths  that  occurred  in  the  months 
mentioned ; 


November  (1870) 

2 

October 

7 

December    . 

5 

November   . 

10 

.January  (1871)     . 

18 

December    . 

7 

February     . 

17 

January  (1872)     . 

10 

March 

15 

February 

21 

April  . 

17 

March 

20 

May    . 

20 

April  . 

20 

•Tune  . 

22 

May    . 

21 

July    . 

7 

June  . 

II 

August 

4 

July-December    . 

5 

September 

.       6 

In  Nuremberg  **  sixteen  isolated  cases  of  smaU-pox  were 
observed  up  to  the  end  of  September  in  the  year  1870,  and 
twenty  cases  from  October  to  December  (five  in  October,  four 
in  November,  and  eleven  in  December) ;  not  a  single  patient 
succumbed  to  the  disease  in  the  course  of  that  year.  In 
January  the  number  of  people  to  contract  the  disease 
increased  rapidly,  and  the  climax  of  the  epidemic  was 
reached  in  April.  The  following  table  indicates  the 
number  of  deaths  caused  by  the  disease  in  the  months 
mentioned : 


1870.  Arztl.  Intelligenzblatt,  1871.  P.  414.— C.  Majer,  Die  Sterblichkeit  in 
Miinchen,  Numberg  und  Augsburg  wahrend  der  Jahre  1871  und  1872.  Arztl. 
Intelligenzblatt,  1873.    P.  677. 

**  C.  Martins,  Die  Blatternepidemie  zu  Nurnberg,  1870-2.    Arztl.  Intelli- 
genzblatt, 1872.    P.  639. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         259 


January  (i8 

February 

March 

71)     . 

I 
3 

lO 

October 
November   . 
December    . 

I 
2 
5 

April  . 
May    . 
June  . 

i8 

13 
ir 

January  (1872)     . 
February     . 
March 

7 

13 

6 

July   . 
August 
September 

6 
o 

3 

April 
May    . 
June  . 

9 
2 

2 

In  the  second  half  of  the  year  1872  there  were  two  more 
deaths  due  to  small-pox.  The  total  number  of  deaths  caused 
by  the  disease  was  73  (8-8  per  10,000  inhabitants)  in  the  year 
1871,  and  40  (4-8  per  10,000)  in  the  year  1872. 

Augsburg  was  very  severely  attacked.  A  Bavarian  soldier 
and  two  French  prisoners  succumbed  there  to  small-pox  in 
December  1870.  In  January  the  disease  spread  to  the  civil 
population,  increased  rapidly  in  severity,  and  reached  its 
climax  in  May.  After  abating  a  little  in  September,  the 
epidemic  started  up  anew  and  did  not  disappear  entirely 
until  May  1872.  The  number  of  deaths  is  indicated  by  the 
monthly  reports  found  in  the  Bavarian  Arztliches  Intelli- 
genzhlatt,  a  few  of  which  we  reproduce  : 


January  (1871)     . 

8 

October 

9 

February     . 

14 

November   . 

14 

March 

24 

December    . 

— 

April  . 

35 

January  (1872)     . 

17 

May    . 

42 

February 

18 

June  . 

34 

March 

II 

July    . 

17 

April  . 

8 

August 

14 

May    . 

6 

September 

2 

June  and  July 

5 

The  total  number  of  deaths,  some  of  which  are  not  included 
in  the  monthly  lists,  was  234  (45-7  per  10,000  inhabitants) 
in  the  year  1871,  and  71  (13-8  per  10,000)  in  the  year  1872. 
In  Regensburg  sixteen  persons  (eleven  prisoners,  three 
soldiers,  and  two  civilians)  contracted  the  disease  in  the 
latter  part  of  1870 ;  in  1871  as  many  as  123  persons  con- 
tracted the  disease,  and  of  these  thirty-three  died.  In 
Bamberg  the  first  two  cases  were  reported  in  December 

S2 


260        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

1870,  the  disease  having  been  brought  there  from  Wiirz- 
burg  ;  up  to  August  1871  some  ninety  persons  contracted 
the  disease,  among  them  twenty-three  prisoners  and  five 
soldiers  ;  of  these,  eight  died.  After  a  short  lull,  new  cases 
were  reported  (between  December  1, 1871,  and  August  1872) ; 
there  were  thirty-one  cases,  all  told  (seventeen  of  the  patients 
being  soldiers),  and  only  one  death.- 


46 


(d)  Small-pox  in  Wiirttemberg  in  the  Years  1871-2 
In  Wiirttemberg,  where  vaccination  had  been  compulsory 
since  1818,  but  had  been  frequently  evaded  in  the  'sixties 
in  consequence  of  the  agitation  of  the  anti-vaccinationists, 
an  epidemic  of  small-pox  raged  in  the  years  1863-7,  causing, 
all  told,  804  deaths.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1869 
a  new  epidemic  began  and  carried  away  many  people,  par- 
ticularly in  Stuttgart,  but  also  in  the  rest  of  the  Neckar 
district.  With  the  arrival  of  the  French  prisoners  the 
number  of  cases  increased  rapidly,  and  the  disease  appeared 
in  many  places  which  had  never  before  been  attacked.  The 
following  table  indicates  the  number  of  reported  cases  and 
deaths  :  *' 


Deaths  per  10,000 

Year. 

Cases. 

Deaths. 

inhcUntants. 

1868    . 

559 

34 

©•2 

1869    . 

1,488 

133 

07 

1870    . 

5,208 

529 

2-9 

1871    . 

10,848 

2,050 

1 1 -3 

1872    . 

? 

1,164 

6.4 

But  the  reports  were  not  always  complete,  for  the  reason 
that  many  cases  were  kept  secret.  The  following  table 
indicates  the  number  of  deaths  caused  by  small-pox  in  the 
various  districts  : 

*•  Rapp,  Ueber  den  Nutzen  der  EpidemieenMuser.  ArzU.  InteUigen:d)latt, 
1872,  p.  2. 

*'  G.  Cless,  Impfung  und  Pocken  in  Wiirttemberg.  Stuttgart,  1871. — 
Reuss,  Generalimpfbericht  vom  Jahre  1869.  Wiirtt.  drztl.  Corr.-Blatt.  For 
1871,  vol.  xli,  p.  220  ;  for  1870,  vol.  xlii,  p.  61,  1872  ;  for  1871,  vol.  xliv, 
p.  213.    1874. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         261 


Neckar 

Schwar2wald 

Jagst 

Donau 

district. 

district. 

district. 

district. 

1868 

I 

19 

3 

II 

1869 

77 

5 

40 

II 

1870 

•      381 

71 

40 

37 

I87I 

.      883 

570 

173 

424 

In  the  years  1869-70  Stuttgart  *®  was  the  principal  seat 
of  the  epidemic  ;  sixty- six  cases  were  reported  there  in  1866, 
fifteen  cases  in  1867,  and  seventeen  cases  in  1868  ;  only  one 
case  terminated  fatally  in  the  year  1868.  In  the  year  1869, 
after  an  average  of  twenty  cases  per  month  had  been  officially 
reported  up  to  August,  the  disease  raged  more  and  more 
furiously,  so  that  the  total  number  of  cases  for  the  entire 
year  was  no  less  than  744.  In  the  following  year  the  disease 
continued  to  increase  in  severity  until  February,  when  it 
began  to  abate  somewhat,  so  that  in  October  1870  only 
thirteen  cases  were  reported.  Then  the  number  of  cases 
steadily  increased  again  until  June  1871,  when  the  epidemic 
once  more  subsided  a  little,  only  to  reach  another  moderate 
climax  in  November.  In  the  middle  of  the  year  1872  the 
epidemic  suddenly  came  to  an  end.  The  following  table 
indicates  the  number  of  deaths  caused  by  smaU-pox  in  the 
Stuttgart  epidemic  : 


January     . 

February  . 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December  . 

Entire  year 


869. 

1870. 

1871. 

1872. 

I 

21 

7 

17 

— 

19 

8 

14 

— 

20 

10 

12 

2 

22 

25 

6 

— 

21 

22 

3 

I 

14 

23 

3 

3 

2 

12 

4 

2 

5 

IS 

— 

2 

2 

6 

— 

S 

I 

21 

— 

13 

2 

19 

— 

21 

5 

19 

— 

50 


134 


187 


59 


**  Sigel :  Die  Mortalitat  in  Stuttgart  im  Jahre  1870. — Wiirtt.  med.  Corr.-Bl., 
1872,  p.  209.  For  the  year  1871,  p.  273 ;  for  the  year  1872,  vol.  xliii,  p.  313. 
1873. 


262        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

It  is  impossible  to  prove  that  the  recrudescence  of  the  disease 
in  Stuttgart  in  the  latter  part  of  1870  was  in  any  way  con- 
nected with  the  arrival  of  infected  persons  from  France. 
In  the  garrison,  which  numbered  some  3,000  men,  only  four 
mild  cases  occurred,  inasmuch  as  all  recruits  had  been  vac- 
cinated in  Wiirttemberg  since  the  year  1833.  But  m  the 
latter  part  of  the  year  1870  there  arrived  a  battalion  of  the 
Landwehr,  a  third  of  whom  had  never  done  active  service, 
and  had  therefore  never  been  revaccinated  in  accordance 
with  the  military  regulation  ;  after  this,  numerous  cases 
were  reported  in  the  garrison  (October  1870  to  April  1871), 
although  none  of  them  resulted  fatally. 

The  connexion  between  the  epidemic  in  the  stronghold 
of  Ulm  and  the  war  was  very  obvious.  Says  Volz :  *® 
'  After  the  summer  of  1870  had  produced  only  a  few  cases 
of  small-pox,  and  a  long  pause  (August  to  the  beginning  of 
November)  had  intervened,  during  which  we  saw  absolutely 
no  traces  of  the  disease,  the  arrival  of  French  prisoners 
caused  the  disease  to  spread  far  and  wide,  constituting 
a  part  of  the  epidemic  which  raged  throughout  almost  all 
of  Europe.  In  the  latter  part  of  September  the  first  cases 
of  small-pox  were  observed  among  the  prisoners.  But 
a  month  and  a  half  elapsed  before  the  disease  made  its  appear- 
ance among  the  civil  inhabitants  ;  one  of  the  first  cases  was 
traced  to  the  beds  in  the  barracks.  In  January  1871  the 
disease  was  conveyed  to  Soflingen  by  a  woman  from  that 
place  who  had  been  employed  as  a  nurse  in  the  mi  itaiy 
hospital  at  New  Ulm.  The  constant  intercourse  between 
Soflingen  and  Ulm  soon  asserted  itself  through  the  infection 
of  working-men  who  were  employed  in  the  latter  place  and 
lived  in  the  former.  At  the  same  time  the  disease  frequently 
appeared  among  the  laundry-owners,  washerwomen,  scrub- 
women, innkeepers,  sutler-women,  and  generally  among  per- 
sons who  were  employed  in  any  capacity  in  the  field-hospitals 
and  forts.  Then,  too,  patients  kept  arriving  who  had  been 
infected  in  Baden,  Switzerland,  Bavaria,  North  Germany, 
*•  Volz,  op.  cit.,  p.  59. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1) 


263 


and  in  regions  which,  like  ours,  had  been  infected  by  prisoners 
and  fugitives  arriving  from  France.  In  the  district  of 
Beimerstetten  the  disease  also  made  its  appearance,  having 
been  brought  there  in  a  carpet  which  a  woman  purchased 
from  a  Bavarian  soldier  who  had  accompanied  a  transport 
of  prisoners.  In  addition  to  this  woman,  sixteen  more  per- 
sons contracted  the  disease,  and  three  of  them  died.' 

In  the  city  of  Ulm  thirty-six  civilians  (13-7  per  10,000 
inhabitants)  succumbed  to  the  disease,  while  in  the  district 
of  Ulm  forty-six  persons  (21-2  per  10,000)  died.  The  climax 
of  the  epidemic  was  reached  in  May ;  after  a  short  lull  in 
August  and  September  it  started  up  again  and  lasted  until 
the  autumn  of  1872.  The  garrison  at  Ulm  was  also  attacked, 
but  not  very  severely. 

Of  the  immobile  troops  in  Wiirttemberg,  who  averaged 
10,122  men,  7-9  per  1,000  contracted  the  disease.  Of  the 
French  prisoners  that  were  held  in  Wiirttemberg,  390  con- 
tracted the  disease  (the  climax,  199  cases,  was  reached  in 
December).  The  maximum  number  of  prisoners  was  12,958, 
and  30  1  per  1,000  contracted  the  disease  and  twenty- eight 
died  (7-2  per  cent  of  those  taken  sick). 

In  Heilbronn,^"  as  in  Stuttgart,  a  small  epidemic  had  raged 
before  the  war  broke  out ;  from  February  to  July  1870  some 
forty  persons  had  contracted  the  disease.  From  August  to 
October  no  more  cases  were  reported,  but  in  November 
a  new  epidemic  began  and  spread  with  great  rapidity.  The 
following  table  indicates  the  number  of  cases  and  deaths  in 
the  small-pox  hospital  at  Heilbronn : 

Patients.  Deaths. 


November  ( 1 870) 

2 

— 

December 

19 

2 

January  (1871) 

51 

3 

February 

66 

9 

March    . 

95 

13 

April 

83 

14 

May 

95 

17 

June 

•       47 

II 

July 

18 

2 

^  Horing,  Die  Pocken  in  Heilbronn 

.    Wurtt.  med.  Corr. 

•BI.,1S 

.  189. 

264        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

In  addition  to  these,  twenty-seven  cases  of  the  disease  were 
reported  in  the  city,  so  that  the  total  number  of  patients 
was  perhaps  as  large  as  1,000.  All  told,  seventy-one  persons 
died  in  Heilbronn  in  the  course  of  the  epidemic. 

{e)  Small-pox  in  Baden  in  the  Years  1871-2 
In  Baden  a  great  many  cases  of  small-pox  were  reported 
among  the  French  prisoners  ;  their  maximum  number  was 
12,083,  and  of  these  512  (42-4  per  1,000)  contracted  the 
disease,  and  21  (41  per  cent  of  those  taken  sick)  succumbed 
to  it.  The  largest  number  of  cases  (133)  was  observed  in 
January.  Regarding  the  distribution  of  the  French  prisoners 
among  the  various  depots  no  information  is  available,  while 
regarding  the  immobile  German  troops  we  know  absolutely 
nothing.  Among  the  civil  inhabitants  a  small  epidemic 
raged  as  early  as  the  year  1869,  particularly  in  the  district 
of  Mannheim.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1870  a  consider- 
able number  of  cases  was  reported,  and  a  rather  severe 
epidemic  rapidly  developed.  According  to  a  written  report 
of  the  Baden  Bureau  of  Statistics,  the  number  of  deaths  due 
to  small-pox  per  10,000  inhabitants  was  as  follows  : 


District. 

1870. 

1871. 

1872 

Constance    . 

0-6 

i8-8 

3-2 

Freiburg  im  Breisgau     . 

3-5 

27-5 

2-3 

Karlsruhe    . 

37 

33-1 

5-2 

Mannheim   . 

I-O 

6-5 

SA 

All  Baden    . 

2-4 

217 

3-5 

Of  those  cities  which  at  that  time  had  more  than  10,000 
inhabitants,  Mannheim  and  Karlsruhe  suffered  very  little ; 
Rastatt,  Freiburg,  and  Constance  were  the  most  severely 
attacked.    The  number  of  deaths  caused  by  small-pox  was  : 

Population.      1870.         1871.         1872. 


Mannlieini  . 

39,606 

3 

33 

4 

Karlsruhe  . 

36,582 

4 

25 

9 

Freiburg  ini  Breisgau 

24,668 

10 

138 

17 

Heidelberg 

19,983 

2 

37 

2 

Pforzheim  . 

19,803 

2 

34 

2 

Rastatt 

11,560 

10 

99 

I 

Baden 

10,080 

4 

9 

4 

Constance  . 

1 0,06 1 

2 

39 

2 

THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         265 


(/)  Small-pox  in  Hesse  in  the  Years  1871-2 

Regarding  the  epidemics  of  small-pox  that  raged  in  the 
Grand  Duchy  of  Hesse  in  the  course  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  Reissner  and  Neidhart  ^^  have  published  an  excellent 
book.  Vaccination,  at  least  once,  was  made  compulsory  in 
Hesse  in  the  year  1807.  According  to  the  above-mentioned 
book,  small-pox  was  prevalent  in  Hesse  all  the  time ;  the 
average  number  of  deaths  per  annum  in  the  years  1863-8 
was  0-47  per  10,000  inhabitants.  After  the  year  1868  the 
statistics  read  as  follows  : 


Deaths — 

Per  10,000 

Total. 

inhabitants 

1869    . 

20 

0-24 

1870    . 

248 

2-95 

I87I     . 

1,028 

I2-08 

1872    . 

167 

1-95 

1873   . 

3 

0-03 

The  increased  prevalence  of  the  disease  began  in  September ; 
the  following  table  indicates  the  number  of  deaths  in  the 
several  months  : 


1870. 

1871. 

1872. 

January 

— 

163 

27 

February 

3 

148 

30 

March  . 

3 

136 

33 

April    . 

9 

163 

35 

May 

9 

143 

22 

June     . 

10 

105 

17 

July      . 

S 

73 

2 

August 

5 

30 

I 

September     . 

13 

21 

— 

October 

30 

15 

— 

November 

45 

15 

— 

December 

116 

14 

— 

Entire  year    . 

.     248 

1,026  52 

167 

While  small-pox  made  its  appearance  here  and  there  in 
he  first  half  of  the  year  1870,  it  did  not  acquire  epidemic 

*^  Reissner-Neidhart,  Zur  Geschichte  und  Statistik  der  Menschenblattem 
und  der  Schutzpockenimpfung  im  Grossherzogtum  Hessen.  Beitrage  zur  Stat, 
des  Grossh.  Hessen^  vol.  xxviii,  fascicle  3.    Darmstadt,  1888. 

**  Two  cases  not  datable. 


266        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

dimensions  until  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  In  many 
places,  to  be  sure,  it  was  impossible  to  prove  that  the  disease 
was  directly  connected  with  the  war.  Reissner  and  Neidhart 
mention  numerous  cases  in  which  the  disease  was  communi- 
cated by  field-soldiers  who  were  sent  from  France  to  Hessian 
reserve-lazarets  (Pfungstadt,  Lampertheim,  Crumstadt,  and 
others),  by  furloughed  field-soldiers  (Lauterbach,  Lorsch, 
EschoUbriicken,  and  others),  by  fugitives  from  Paris  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war  (Giessen,  Gross-Eichen),  by  French 
prisoners  who  had  contracted  the  disease  in  camp  or  during 
transport,  by  teamsters  returning  home  from  France  (Worms, 
Grossgerau),  by  military  effects — such  as  carpets,  clothing, 
tent-canvas  (three  places  in  the  district  of  Grossgerau), 
and  especially  by  people  who  had  visited  the  prisons  where 
the  French  soldiers  were  confined  (Mayence,  Darmstadt,  &c.). 
Not  a  single  district  in  Hesse  was  spared  during  the  epi- 
demic of  the  years  1870-2.  The  district  of  Mayence  suffered 
worst  of  all ;  then  came  Giessen,  Offenbach,  and  Darmstadt, 
all  districts  in  which  moderately  large  cities  were  located. 
The  following  table  indicates  the  number  of  deaths  per 
10,000  inhabitants  in  the  various  cities  and  districts  : 


1870. 

1871. 

1872. 

Mayence  (city)    . 

13-5 

37-4 

3-2 

Mayence  (district) 

3-2 

33-3 

0-3 

Darmstadt  (city) 

3-5 

12-9 

o-S 

Darmstadt  (district) 

2-9 

217 

1-8 

Giessen  (city) 

7-4 

90 

— 

Giessen  (district) 

n-8 

9-6 

I-O 

Offenbach  (city) 

0-4 

iS-9 

6-6 

Offenbach  (district) 

07 

127 

4-7 

In  the  city  of  Mayence  about  thirty  cases  of  small-pox  were 
reported  in  the  year  1870  before  the  war  broke  out.  '  Shortly 
after  the  beginning  of  the  war,'  say  Reissner  and  Neidhart, 
'  numerous  prisoners  were  interned  in  Mayence,  and  among 
them  cases  of  small-pox  had  not  infrequently  been  observed 
beforehand.  Notwithstanding  the  admonitions  of  the 
military  physician,  a  barrack  inside  the  city  was  set  aside 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         267 

as  a  lazaret  for  them.  At  first  in  the  near-by  streets,  but 
later  on  throughout  the  entire  city,  an  epidemic  now  began 
to  rage  such  as  Mayence  had  never  before  experienced  in 
the  memory  of  man.  It  lasted  throughout  the  entire  year 
of  1871  and  did  not  come  to  an  end  until  the  middle  of  the 
following  year.'  The  epidemic  reached  its  climax  in  Mayence 
in  January  1871,  abated  a  little  until  March,  started  up 
again  in  April,  and  then  slowly  decreased  in  fury  until  it 
finally  disappeared  altogether.  In  the  garrison  at  Mayence 
190  men  contracted  the  disease  in  the  years  1870-2  and  nine 
succumbed  to  it ;  of  the  prisoners  of  war  934  contracted  the 
disease  and  seventeen  per  cent  of  them  died.  The  pestilence 
was  disseminated  in  all  directions  from  Mayence,  partly  by 
people  from  the  surrounding  country  who  visited  the  city, 
and  partly  by  other  means.  Thus,  for  example,  the  disease 
broke  out  with  unusual  severity  in  Bretzenheim,  a  village 
situated  a  mile  or  so  away  from  the  barracks  where  the 
prisoners  were  confined ;  the  inhabitants  of  the  village  in 
many  instances  used  the  contents  of  the  ditches  in  which 
the  defecations  of  the  prisoners  were  thrown  to  fertilize  their 
fields,  and  they  also  bought  straw  and  other  waste  products 
in  the  city. 

In  the  city  of  Giessen  no  cases  of  small-pox  occurred  in 
the  year  1870  prior  to  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  The  first 
cases  observed  there  were  in  September,  but  the  epidemic, 
which  reached  its  climax  in  December,  did  not  become  very 
widespread.  In  Darmstadt  50  cases  of  small-pox  were 
reported  in  the  year  1870  prior  to  the  outbreak  of  the  war, 
and  after  the  war  began  some  50-60  cases  were  observed 
before  the  end  of  the  year.  The  epidemic,  which  became 
only  moderately  widespread,  lasted  throughout  the  entire 
year  of  1871  and  did  not  disappear  until  the  middle  of  the 
year  1872. 


268        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

{g)  General  Observations  regarding  the  Epidemic  of  Small-pox 
in  Germany  in  the  Years  1871-2 

In  connexion  with  the  Franco-German  War  an  epidemic 
of  small-pox  raged  throughout  Germany,  the  extent  and 
virulence  of  which  exceeded  that  of  any  other  epidemic  that 
occurred  in  the  entire  course  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Unfortunately,  in  the  case  of  a  number  of  small  States,  we 
have  no  statistics  relating  to  the  number  of  deaths  caused 
by  the  disease.  The  figures  which  I  was  able  to  obtain 
I  have  compiled  in  the  following  table.  In  the  case  of  Alsace 
and  Lorraine,  as  well  as  of  Oldenburg,  the  two  Mecklenburgs, 
and  the  other  small  North  German  States,  absolutely  no 
figures  are  available ;  judging  by  their  population  and  by 
the  prevalence  of  small-pox  in  the  States  surrounding  them, 
we  may  safely  estimate  the  number  of  deaths  caused  by  small- 
pox in  them  in  the  years  1871-2  at  some  4,000. 


states  in  the 

Population 
Dec.  1, 1871. 

Deaths  caused  by  small-pox. 

Confederation. 

1869. 

1870. 

1871. 

1872. 

1873. 

Prussia     . 
Bavaria    . 
Saxony     . 
Wiirttemberg    . 
Baden «»  . 
Hesse 

Brunswick  ^      . 
Liibeck     . 
Bremen  ^ 
Hamburg 
Other  States     . 
Alsace-Lorraine 

24,691,085 
4,863,450 
2,556,244 
1,818,539 
1,461,562 

852,894 
312,170 

52,158 
122,402 

338,974 
2,439,576 
1.549,738 

4.655 
456" 
9 

133 
67 
20 

? 

20 

? 

? 

4,200 
516" 
? 
529 

343 

248 

2 

I 

83 

? 

? 

59,839 
5,070 

9,935 
2,050 

3.176 

1,028 

269 

36 

54 

3.647 

4,000" 

9 

66,660 
2,992 
5.863 
1,164 

511 

167 

215 

15 

41 

323 

4,000" 

? 

8,932 

869 

1,772 

55 
? 

3 
? 

3 
3 

? 

? 

All  Germany     . 

41,058,792 

-- 

— 

89,104 

81,951 

— 

The  above  compilation  leaves  no  doubt  that  the  disease 
was  borne  into  Germany  from  France.  The  contagion  was 
conveyed  into  Germany  by  prisoners  and  field-soldiers,  some 

"  According  to  MS.  reports.  **  Estimate. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         269 

of  whom  were  infected  beforehand  and  were  sick  when  they 
got  there,  others  of  whom  were  still  apparently  healthy,  and 
still  others  of  whom  had  reached  the  convalescent  stage  of 
the  disease,  and  less  frequently  by  civil  persons  (teamsters 
and  fugitives) ;  but  the  prisoners  were  by  far  the  most 
active  influence  in  spreading  the  disease.  The  dissemination 
usually  took  place  in  the  following  manner ;  in  the  depots 
where  the  prisoners  were  confined,  small-pox  epidemics  of 
varying  severity  broke  out ;  from  all  sides  the  people 
streamed  in  to  see  the  prisoners,  and  when  they  went  away 
they  conveyed  the  infection  wherever  they  went,  at  first, 
of  course,  around  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  This  is  most 
evident  in  the  eastern  provinces,  where  these  depots  soon 
came  to  be  dangerous  seats  of  small-pox  infection  ;  the  near- 
by districts  were  very  severely  attacked  as  early  as  the  year 
1871,  whereas  the  more  remote  districts  did  not  begin  to 
suffer  severely  until  the  year  1872. 

The  development  of  a  small  trade  between  the  prisoners 
and  civil  inhabitants  in  articles  belonging  to*  dead  soldiers, 
or  in  personal  effects,  also  helped  to  spread  the  disease ;  more- 
over, certain  unscrupulous  sick-attendants,  when  they  were 
instructed  to  destroy  such  articles,  frequently  disobeyed  the 
order  and  secretly  sold  them,  thereby  giving  an  additional 
impetus  to  the  dissemination  of  the  disease. 

The  fact  that  a  large  part  of  the  population  was  not 
vaccinated,  and  that  the  necessity  of  revaccination  was  not 
properly  recognized  (only  soldiers  were  revaccinated),  also 
helped  to  increase  the  severity  of  the  pestilence.  In  all  the 
South  German  States  compulsory  vaccination  had  existed 
for  decades,  but  its  strict  enforcement  was  everywhere 
hindered  by  the  activity  of  the  anti- vaccinationists  ;  Prussia 
and  Saxony  did  not  introduce  compulsory  vaccination  until 
the  year  1874.  Revaccination  among  the  civil  inhabitants 
was  rarely  practised  in  either  North  or  South  Germany. 
These  differences  in  the  vaccination  laws  account  for  the  fact 
that  small-pox  raged  more  severely  in  North  Germany  than 


270        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

in  South  Germany  ;  this  is  also  distinctly  shown  by  the  tables 
reproduced  in  the  course  of  this  chapter.  The  fact  that  the 
civil  inhabitants  in  general  were  more  thoroughly  vaccinated 
also  explains  why  the  percentage  of  children  that  succumbed 
to  small-pox  was  so  much  smaller  in  South  Germany  than  in 
North  Germany. 

The  number  of  deaths  caused  by  small-pox  in  the  epidemic 
of  the  years  1870-2  was  greatly  increased  by  the  extremely 
virulent  character  of  the  disease.  Of  course  one  cannot 
estimate  the  number  of  deaths  caused  by  small-pox  among 
the  civil  inhabitants  from  the  number  of  reported  cases  of 
the  disease,  since  the  reports  sent  in  were  always  very  incom- 
plete. We  know  that  the  mortality  of  small-pox  depends 
very  much  upon  vaccination ;  vaccinated  persons  succumb 
far  less  frequently  to  the  disease  than  unvaccinated  persons. 
This  fact  explains  why  among  the  German  field-soldiers,  who 
were  constantly  subjected  to  hardships  and  privations  of  all 
kinds,  only  5-75  per  cent  of  the  patients  died,  whereas  of  the 
French  prisoners  some  13-85  per  cent  died.  The  mortality 
among  the  civil  inhabitants  of  Germany  was  also  very  high  ; 
this  was  chiefly  due  to  the  fact  that  severe  forms  of  the 
disease,  particularly  hemorrhagic  small-pox,  were  of  frequent 
occurrence.  As  authority  for  this  we  can  only  refer  to  these 
reports  of  the  hospitals ;  but  since  small  children,  amongst 
whom  the  mortality  of  small-pox  is  very  high,  are  less 
represented  in  them,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  since  mild 
cases  among  adults  can  more  readily  be  withdrawn  from 
hospital  treatment,  one  cannot  accept  without  qualification 
the  experience  of  the  hospitals.  According  to  Wunderlich, 
of  681  patients  treated  in  the  Leipzig  hospital  between  the 
year  1852  and  July  1870,  only  29  (4-2  per  cent)  died,  whereas 
in  the  years  1870-1,  of  1,727  patients  treated,  253  (14-7  per 
cent)  died.  In  Breslau,  whereas  in  former  epidemics  an 
average  of  seven  per  cent  of  the  patients  died,  in  the  epidemic 
of  the  years  1871-2  no  less  than  13-4  per  cent  died.  Guttstadt 
also  states  that  the  moi-tality  in  the  Berlin  hospitals  was 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         271 

fifteen  per  cent,  whereas  the  number  of  deaths  caused  by 
the  disease  in  former  years  was  much  smaller.  We  have 
seen  above  that  21-7  per  cent  of  the  patients  taken  to  the 
Hotel-Dieu  in  Lyons  died.  It  is  unnecessary  to  adduce 
further  statistics  ;  all  contemporary  observers  agreed  that 
the  epidemic  involved  an  extremely  severe  and  virulent  form 
of  the  disease,  and  that  this  same  virulence  characterized  the 
disease  wherever  it  made  its  appearance. 

5.  The  Epidemics  of  Small-'pox  that  raged  in  the  European^ 
and  in  a  few  of  the  non-European  States  in  connexion  with 
the  Franco-German  War  of  1870-1 

{a)  Szvitzerland 

Switzerland  was  exposed  to  great  danger  in  consequence  of 
the  passage  of  General  Bourbaki's  army,  which  consisted 
partly  of  very  young  soldiers  who  had  suffered  great  hardships, 
including  cold  and  hunger,  and  which  contained  large  numbers 
of  men  who  were  suffering  from  small-pox.  The  little 
country  was  called  upon  to  take  in  some  85,000  men  ;  when 
the  latter  were  examined  on  the  frontier  a  large  number  of 
them  were  found  to  be  infected  with  small-pox  and  were 
held  at  Verriere  in  France.  But  this  did  not  prevent  the 
disease  from  being  conveyed  across  the  border.  Of  the 
French  prisoners  confined  there,  137,  all  told,  succumbed  to 
small-pox. 

Unfortunately  no  mortality  statistics  giving  the  cause  of 

death  were  compiled  in  Switzerland  until  the  year  1876,  so 

that  we  have  no  figures  indicating  the  prevalence  of  small-pox. 

The  western  cantons  were  most  exposed  to  the  infection. 

In  Berne,  which  at  that  time  had  a  population  of  506,511, 

no  less  than  2,637  persons,  excluding  the  French  prisoners 

interned  there,  contracted  the  disease  between  October  1870 

and  September  1872  ;  in  the  year  1871  there  were  9-6  deaths 

per  10,000  inhabitants.^^    In  the  city  of  Basel,  which  was 

^^  A.  Vogt,  Die  Pockenseuche  und  Impfverhdltnisse  in  der  Schweiz.  Berne, 
1882. 


272        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

attacked  as  early  as  November  1870,  the  epidemic  reached 
its  climax  in  February  ;  the  number  of  deaths  there  was  as 
follows  :  ^* 


Per  10,000 

Total  no. 

inhabitants. 

7 

1-6 

64 

14-0 

13 

27 

1870  .... 

1871  .... 

1872  .... 

The  Canton  of  Basel  (Land)  was  attacked  somewhat  less 
severely  ;  in  the  year  1871  only  59  persons  (10-9  per  10,000 
inhabitants)  succumbed  there  to  small-pox.  In  the  Canton  of 
Solothum,  which  was  infected  from  Olten,  a  railway  junction, 
13-9  persons  per  10,000  inhabitants  died  in  the  year  1871. 
In  the  Canton  of  Waadt  small-pox  broke  out,  according  to 
Vogt,  in  the  district  of  Vivis  in  November  1870,  and  200 
persons  contracted  the  disease  in  the  course  of  that  month. 
In  the  two  small-pox  hospitals  at  Lausanne,  351  patients 
were  treated  between  November  20,  1870,  and  the  end  of 
1871,  and  62  of  them  died. 

The  small-pox  epidemic  spread  very  rapidly  from  the  West 
throughout  all  the  rest  of  Switzerland,  partly  in  consequence 
of  the  distribution  of  the  French  prisoners  among  the  other 
cantons,  and  partly  in  consequence  of  inland  intercourse. 
Of  the  French  prisoners  interned  in  the  Canton  of  Zurich  180, 
according  to  A.  Brunner,^'  contracted  the  disease  and  31  died 
of  it.  The  patients  were  sheltered  in  the  small-pox  camp 
at  Winterthur,  whence  the  infection  spread  to  many  places. 
In  February  1871  there  was  a  rapid  increase  in  the  number 
of  cases  ;  the  epidemic  reached  its  climax  in  March  and  April, 
and  then  steadily  abated  until  June.  The  statistics  for  the 
Canton  of  Zurich,  which  had  a  population  of  285,915,  were 
as  follows  : 

••  A.  Burckhardt,  Demographic  und  Epidemiologic  in  der  Sladt  Basel, 
1601-1900.    Leipzig,  1908.    P.  105. 

"  A.  Brunner,  Die  Pocken  im  Kanton  Ziirich.  Zurich,  1873. — S.  Rabino- 
witsch-Tonkonogowa,  tjber  das  Vorkommen  der  Pocken  im  Kanton  Ziirich 
im  19.  Jahrhundert.    Karlsruhe,  1903. 


*atients. 

Deaths. 

85 

6 

1,068 

137 

200 

18 

22 

— 

THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)        273 

1870 .... 

1871  .... 

1872  .... 

1873  .... 

In  the  Canton  of  Thurgau,  according  to  Vogt,  there  were 
9-2  deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants  in  the  year  1871,  in  the 
Canton  of  Schaffhausen  4  0,  and  in  the  Canton  of  St.  Gall  3-3. 
During  the  small-pox  epidemic  that  raged  in  the  Canton  of 
Schwyz  in  the  year  1871  the  communities  of  Gersau  and 
Kiissnacht  were  severely  attacked ;  throughout  the  entire 
canton  56  persons  (11-7  per  10,000  inhabitants)  succumbed 
to  the  disease.  The  Cantons  of  Glarus,  Unterwalden,  Zug, 
and  Graubiinden  were  also  rather  severely  attacked.  In  the 
Canton  of  Tessin,  whither  the  disease,  which  first  appeared 
in  Locarno,  had  been  conveyed  by  travellers  from  Paris,  and 
where  62  cases  of  it  and  6  deaths  had  been  reported  up  to 
June,  a  new  epidemic  broke  out  in  Personico,  resulting  in 
15  deaths ;  in  the  year  1871  there  were  11  deaths  reported 
throughout  the  entire  canton.  In  the  Canton  of  Willis 
small-pox  broke  out  only  sporadically. 

(h)  Belgium 

In  numerous  places  throughout  Belgium  small-pox  had 
appeared  in  the  first  part  of  the  year  1870  in  the  form  of 
widespread  epidemics,  a  fact  which  we  can  readily  explain 
when  we  consider  the  country's  proximity  to  France,  which 
was  everywhere  infected  with  the  disease.  Thus,  according 
to  Larondelle,  a  severe  epidemic  of  small-pox  broke  out  in 
February  1870,  in  the  city  of  Verviers,  which  at  that  time 
had  some  33,000  inhabitants,  and  lasted  until  January  1871  ; 
in  the  year  1870  no  less  than  428  deaths  were  reported  there, 
and  185  of  them  occurred  in  the  month  of  December  alone. 
When  the  war  began  French  fugitives  kept  bringing  the 
disease  into  the  country,  especially  after  the  battle  of  Sedan, 
when  more  than  10,000  French  soldiers  were  interned  on 

156913  T 


274        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


58 


Belgian  soil,  some  in  Beverloo  and  others  in  the  citadel  of 
Antwerp.  From  these  places  the  epidemic  spread  throughout 
all  Belgium.  In  Brussels,  for  example,  no  cases  of  small-pox 
were  reported  in  July  1870,  in  August  there  were  two  cases, 
in  September  two,  in  October  twenty-two,  in  November 
sixty-nine,  and  in  December  101.  In  all  Belgium  the 
number  of  deaths  caused  by  small-pox  was  : 


1 868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 


Total  no. 

Per  lOjCxx) 

deaths. 

inhabitants. 

843 

17 

1,651 

3*3 

4.163 

8-2 

21,315 

417 

8,704 

168 

i»749 

3-3 

(c)  Netherlands 

In  the  Netherlands  an  epidemic  of  small-pox  had  raged  in 
the  year  1866 ;  in  the  following  year  it  had  rapidly  abated,  and 
in  the  year  1869  had  caused  only  fifty  deaths  in  the  three 
provinces  of  North  Holland,  Utrecht,  and  Limburg  combined. 
In  the  year  1870  the  number  of  deaths  increased  considerably, 
and  in  the  following  year  reached  an  appalling  height.^*  The 
following  table  indicates  the  annual  mortality  of  the  disease  : 


Total  no. 

Per  10,000 

deaths. 

inhabitants 

1869 

50 

0-14 

1870 

706 

1-96 

I87I 

•      15,787 

43-55 

1872 

•       3,731 

IO-2I 

1873 

351 

0-9S 

Thus  both  Belgium  and  the  Netherlands  had  a  very  high 
small-pox  mortality  in  the  year  1871 ;  as  elsewhere,  the  cause 
is  traceable  to  repeated  transplantations  of  the  disease,  and 
to  the  fact  that  vaccination  was  insufficiently  practised. 

**  L.  March,  Statistique  internationale  du  mouvement  de  la  population. 
Paris,  1907. 

••  De  Pokkenepidemie  in  Nederland  in  1870-3.  Hague,  1875.  Quoted 
from  Th.  Lotz,  Pocken  und  Vakzinaiion.    Basel,  1880. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         215 


[d)  Austria 
In  the  years  1872-4  Austria  suffered  severely  from  small- 
pox ;   the  total  number  of  deaths  per  annum  caused  by  the 
disease  is  indicated  by  the  following  table  : 


60 


Total  no. 

Per  10,000 

deaths. 

inhabitants. 

6,177 

3-0 

8,074 

3-9 

39,368 

19-0 

65,274 

31-2 

36,442 

17-3 

12,151 

57 

1870 
I87I 
1872 

1873 
1874 
1875 

Although  small-pox  was  usually  conveyed  into  Austria 
from  the  East  and  South  (Italy),  nevertheless  the  connexion 
between  the  epidemic  in  Austria  of  the  years  1872-4,  and  the 
great  German  epidemic  is  too  obvious  to  be  overlooked.  This 
is  clearly  shown  by  the  successive  appearances  of  the  disease 
in  the  various  crown-lands,  the  number  of  deaths  per  10,000 
inhabitants  in  which  is  indicated  by  the  following  table  : 


1870. 

1871. 

1872. 

1873. 

1874. 

1875. 

Lower  Austria  . 

.       2-6 

5-1 

37 -o 

28-8 

I5-I 

10-6 

Upper  Austria  . 

1-4 

2-5 

12-6 

19-8 

7-4 

3-1 

Salzburg 

4-1 

9-8 

20-4 

i8-6 

3-1 

0-7 

Styria 

1-3 

1-7 

7-0 

15-1 

22-4 

8-0 

Carinthia           .     . 

.     2-6 

1-9 

2-7 

i8-3 

27-8 

5-6 

Camiola   . 

.       1-2 

1*2 

4-0 

21-2 

5I-I 

4-3 

Triest                           1 

2-1 

72-2 

4-1 

5-9 

2-7 

Gorz  and  Gradiska 

3-2 

I-I 

5-5 

7-6 

5-2 

1-4 

Istria 

0-6 

18-3 

9-5 

8-9 

3-0 

Tyrol                  .         ] 

0-9 

I-I 

i-o 

3-3 

II-O 

14-4 

Vorarlberg         .         1 

1-7 

7-2 

12-9 

3-2 

0-7 

Bohemia 

I-I 

1-8 

15-7 

29-0 

4-0 

i-o 

Moravia    . 

1-8 

3-8 

2I-0 

47 -o 

6-6 

2-4 

Silesia 

0-2 

3-6 

57-7 

25-2 

47 

1-3 

Galicia 

6-4 

6-4 

20-9 

46-5 

33-5 

7-3 

Bukowina 

6-6 

I20 

9-0 

9.7 

44-3 

29-2 

Dalmatia 

4-4 

3-6 

3-0 

9-4 

5-8 

3-5 

These  relative  percentages  were  based  upon  a  mean  population 

computed  from  two  censuses,  one  taken  in  1869  and  the 

other  in  1880. 

«»  J.  Daimer,  Todesursachen  in  Oesterreich  wdhrend  der  Jahre  1873-1900. 
Das  osterreichische  Sanitdtswesen,  1902.    Supplement  to  No.  37,  p.  104. 

T  2 


276        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

We  see  how  the  epidemic  gradually  penetrated  into  Austria, 
and  how  Triest  at  a  very  early  date  became  a  second  focus 
of  the  dissemination.  In  the  year  1870  the  small-pox 
mortality  was  generally  low  in  Austria.  The  small  epidemic 
in  Bukowina  in  the  year  1871  had  no  causal  connexion  with 
the  Franco-German  War ;  it  was  an  epidemic  such  as  had 
often  broken  out  in  former  years  in  the  countries  of  eastern 
Austria,  and  such  as  still  break  out  occasionally  nowadays. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  considerable  increase  in  the  number 
of  deaths  caused  by  small-pox  is  observed  in  the  year  1871 
in  Lower  Austria  and  Salzburg,  and  to  a  certain  extent  in 
East  Austria,  Moravia,  Silesia,  and  Bohemia ;  in  Lower 
Austria,  Salzburg,  and  Silesia  the  epidemic  reached  its 
climax  in  the  year  1872,  whereas  in  Upper  Austria,  Bohemia, 
and  Moravia  this  climax  did  not  come  until  the  year  1873. 
The  same  is  true  of  Vorarlberg,  while  the  crown-lands  of 
Styria,  Carinthia,  Carniola,  and  Tyrol  were  most  severely 
attacked  by  the  disease  in  1874.  In  Triest  and  Istria  the 
climax  of  the  epidemic  was  reached  in  1872,  in  Gorz 
and  Gradiska  in  1873.  In  Galicia,  which  had  always  had 
a  high  small-pox  mortality,  the  epidemic  did  not  begin  until 
the  year  1872  ;  it  reached  its  climax  in  the  following  year. 
In  Bukowina  the  climax  did  not  come  until  the  year  1874. 

'  To  follow  the  progress  of  the  disease  according  to  political 
districts,'  says  Daimer,  'is  instructive  for  the  reason  that, 
as  was  clearly  shown  at  that  time,  it  always  spread  slowly — 
a  fact  which  was  also  repeatedly  observed  in  the  case  of 
other  epidemics ;  thus,  there  was  always  time  enough  to 
adopt  appropriate  measures  aiming  to  check  its  progress.' 
There  is  a  very  marked  difference  between  the  epidemic 
of  small-pox  in  East  Austria  and  the  one  in  Germany ;  the 
latter  attacked  all  Germany  within  a  short  time,  since  the 
war  had  developed  there  a  very  extensive  intercourse.  And 
even  in  Germany  it  was  observed  that  the  disease  was  a  long 
time  in  reaching  those  regions  that  were  less  affected  by  this 
intercourse. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         277 


V^ienna. 

Prague. 

5-4 

1-9 

4-8 

2-6 

7-6 

1-5 

527 

397 

22'0 

28-2 

14-3 

3-0 

i8-o 

i-i 

Vienna  was  attacked  with  great  severity  by  small-pox  ; 
so  also  was  Prague,  though  to  a  lesser  extent.  The  following 
table  indicates  the  number  of  deaths  caused  by  the  disease 
per  10,000  inhabitants  : 

1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 

But  in  these  cities  the  epidemic  did  not  come  to  an  end  ; 
epidemic  outbreaks  of  small-pox  continued  to  occur  in  Vienna 
until  1885,  in  Prague  until  1893,  and  in  a  number  of  years 
(for  example,  1877,  1880,  1883,  1884,  and  1888)  the  disease 
underwent  some  very  important  exacerbations. 

{e)  Italy 

Small-pox  is  supposed  to  have  been  conveyed  into  Italy  by 
the  volunteers  who  had  fought  under  Garibaldi ;  they  became 
infected  with  the  disease  in  the  Department  of  Cote  d'Or, 
where  it  had  raged  extensively,  and  then  brought  it  back 
with  them  when  they  returned  home.  In  Milan  200-300 
cases  per  annum  were  usually  reported  prior  to  the  year  1870. 
In  the  summer  of  that  year  the  number  of  cases  greatly 
increased,  terminating  in  the  following  year  in  a  severe 
epidemic  which  reached  its  climax  in  September  and  October. 
According  to  Felice  del  Agua,*^  there  were  1,287  cases  and 
152  deaths  in  the  year  1870,  and  4,467  cases  and  866  deaths  in 
the  year  1871.  In  Rome  small-pox  made  its  appearance  in 
October  1871,  causing  335  deaths  between  October  10  and 
December  31,  1871,  and  727  deaths  in  the  entire  year  of 
1872.  In  the  case  of  a  large  number  of  individual  places  we 
have  reports  regarding  epidemics  of  small-pox,  but  I  was 

^^  Felice  del  Agua,  Cenni  sul  vajuolo  e  sulla  vaccinazione.  Quoted  from 
Virchow-Hirsch,  Jahresbericht  iiber  die  Leistungen  nnd  Fortschritte  in  der 
ges.  Med.  fiir  1872.    Vol.  ii,  p.  267.    For  1873,  vol.  i,  p.  310. 


278        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

unable  to  find  a  comprehensive  account  of  the  epidemic  that 
raged  at  that  time  in  Italy. 

(/)  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
Owing  to  the  constant  intercourse  between  England  and 
France  it  was  inevitable  that  small-pox  should  very  soon 
be  conveyed  into  England  ;  the  persons  who  conveyed  it 
were  probably  French  refugees.  As  on  the  continent,  so 
also  in  England,  small-pox  was  always  prevalent ;  in  the 
years  1869  and  1870,  however,  it  was  not  very  widespread, 
and  it  did  not  begin  to  gain  much  headway  until  the  autumn 
of  1870.  The  number  of  deaths  caused  by  small-pox  in 
England  was : 

1 868 

1869 
1870 
I87I 
1872 

1873 

In  the  first  nine  months  of  the  year  1870  there  was  no 
increase  in  the  small-pox  mortality,  but  in  the  last  three 
months,  and  from  January  1871  on,  the  increase  was  very 
marked.    The  number  of  deaths  caused  by  the  disease  was  : 

1870.  1871. 

First  quarter    .  .  .  405  4>903 

Second        ,,      •  •  •  446  7,012 

Third  „       .  .  .  500  4,612 

Fourtli       ,,      .  .  .        1,229  6,380 

These  figures  do  not  agree  with  the  figures  for  the  years 
1870-1  given  in  the  previous  table,  and  the  reason  for  this 
is  not  explained  in  the  report.  The  places  where  the  disease 
first  entered  England  were  London,  Liverpool,  and  the 
mining  districts  of  Durham  and  South  Wales  (Monmouth). 
The  compiler  of  the  reports  regarding  the  movement  of  the 
population  in  England  in  the  year  1871  says  :  *^  '  Nearly  aU 

"2  Thirty-fourth  Annual  Report  of  the  Registrar-General  of  Births, 
Deaths,  and  Marriages  in  England  and  Wales.    London,  1873.    P.  xxxi. 


All  told. 

Per  10,000 
inhabitants 

2,052 

1.565 
2,620 

09 
07 

1-2 

23,126 

lO'I 

19,094 
2,264 

8-3 

I'O 

THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         279 

the  smaller  outbreaks  may  be  more  or  less  directly  traced 
to  one  of  these  centres;  Brighton,  for  instance,  doubtless 
suffered  from  its  intimate  communication  with  London. 
There  is  distinct  evidence  in  many  cases  of  the  introduction  of 
the  disease  into  sea-side  towns  by  sailors,  and  considering 
its  fatal  prevalence  in  Holland,  Belgium,  and  many  parts  of 
France,  it  is  not  a  matter  for  great  surprise  that  Southamp- 
ton, Great  Grimsby,  and  one  or  two  other  ports  suffered  from 
the  epidemic.  It  is  indeed  very  probable  that  the  epidemic 
in  London  was  due  to  the  large  arrivals  of  French  refugees 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  previous  autumn.  That  the 
epidemic  may  to  a  great  extent  be  traced  to  our  foreign 
communications  is  beyond  doubt,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted 
that  the  steady  decline  of  deaths  from  small-pox  in  the  six 
years  1864-9  had  induced  a  certain  apathy  in  the  matter  of 
vaccination,  and  thus  left  a  large  portion  of  the  population 
unprotected  from  the  disease.  In  times  of  severe  epidemics 
large  numbers  of  the  vaccinated  in  some  way  or  other  also 
suffer  for  the  neglect  which  has  left  so  many  unvaccinated.' 
The  number  of  deaths  caused  by  small-pox  in  London 


was 


Per  10,000 

Total  no. 

inhabitants. 

597 

1-9 

275 

0-9 

973 

30 

7,912 

24-2 

1,786 

5-4 

113 

0-3 

1868 
1869 
1870 
I87I 
1872 

1873 

In  the  first  quarter  of  the  year  1871  some  2,400  persons 
succumbed  to  small-pox  in  London,  in  the  second  quarter 
3,241,  in  the  third  quarter  1,255,  and  in  the  fourth  quarter 
980.  The  epidemic  broke  out  in  the  East  End  of  London 
in  the  fortieth  week  of  the  year  1870,  i.e.  in  the  first  part  of 
October ;  the  number  of  deaths  caused  by  it  there  was  40, 
and  by  the  end  of  the  year  this  number  had  increased  to  110. 

Of  the  English  counties,  those  along  the  north-east  coast 
were  most  severely  attacked ;    for  example,  Durham  and 


^0        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

Northumberland,  where  the  number  of  deaths  caused  by  the 
disease  was  45  0  and  29-8,  respectively,  per  10,000  inhabitants. 
In  the  cities  of  Sunderland  and  Newcastle- on-Tyne,  located 
in  these  counties,  the  number  of  deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants 
in  the  year  1871  was  86  0  and  54-1  respectively.  There  was 
a  very  large  number  of  deaths  in  London  (24-2  per  10,000 
inhabitants),  and  the  counties  bordering  on  London  (Middle- 
sex and  Essex)  also  suffered  severely  (9-3  and  80  respectively); 
next  in  order  come  the  counties  of  Monmouthshire  and 
Lancashire  with  14-8  and  11-9  respectively.  The  high 
mortality  in  Lancashire  was  due  only  to  the  city  of  Lancaster, 
where  there  were  no  less  than  38-8  deaths  per  10,000  inhabi- 
tants ;  in  the  rest  of  the  county  the  number  of  deaths  per 
10,000  inhabitants  was  only  6-3. 

In  Scotland  and  Ireland  the  number  of  deaths  caused  by 
small-pox  was : 


All  told. 

Per  io,ocx3 

inhabitants 

Scotland. 

Ireland. 

Scotland. 

Ireland. 

1869 

64 

20 

0-2 

0-04 

1870 

114 

32 

0-3 

o-i 

1871 

1,442 

665 

4-3 

1'2 

1872 

2,448 

3.248 

7-2 

6-2 

1873 

1,126 

504 

3-3 

0-9 

1874 

1,246 

569 

3-6 

i-i 

1875 

76 

535 

0-2 

I-O 

Small-pox  spread  very  slowly  to  Scotland  and  Ireland ; 
whereas  in  England  the  maximum  number  of  persons  died 
in  the  year  1871,  in  Scotland  and  Ireland  the  maximum 
number  of  deaths  occurred  in  the  year  1872.  Both  countries, 
moreover,  were  less  severely  attacked  than  England. 

{g)  Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden,  Finland,  and  Russia 

Small-pox  was  a  long  time  in  spreading  to  the  Scandinavian 
countries.  In  Denmark  an  epidemic  had  raged  in  the  year 
1869,  but  did  not  become  very  widespread  until  the  year 
1872.  In  Copenhagen  it  began  in  the  year  1871  and  reached 
its  climax  in  February  1872 ;  between  January  and  April 
1,220  cases  of  the  disease  and  86  deaths  were  reported  there. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         281 

Regarding  Norway  we  have  no  statistical  information. 
In  Sweden  small-pox  raged  in  the  years  1865-9,  abated  a  little 
in  the  years  1871-2,  and  started  up  again  with  considerable 
severity  in  the  year  1873.  Stockholm  was  severely  attacked  ; 
in  the  year  1873  there  were  130  deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants, 
and  in  the  following  year  79-2.  In  Finland,  where  an  epidemic 
had  raged  in  the  year  1868,  the  number  of  deaths  caused  by 
the  disease  began  to  increase  in  the  year  1872,  and  in  the 
two  following  years  the  epidemic  acquired  enormous  dimen- 
sions.   The  number  of  deaths  per  10,000  inhabitants  was  : 


1870 

1871 

1873 
1874 

1875 
1876 


Denmark.^^ 
i-o 
0-6 

2-2 

0-3 
0-4 

2'I 
O'l 


Szveden.^^ 
1-8 
0-8 
0-8 
2-6 

9-4 
4-6 
1-4 


Finland.'^ 
1-3 

I'D 

3-4 
45-6 
50-1 

8-6 

3-6 


L.  Colin  reports  that  the  pestilence  spread  to  Russia  in 
the  year  1872,  when  it  attacked  St.  Petersburg  very  severely. 
More  detailed  information  I  was  unable  to  find. 


{h)  Non-European  Countries 
Constant  emigration  to  America  caused  the  disease  to 
make  its  appearance  there,  and  it  gradually  spread  over 
the  entire  continent.  The  following  table  indicates  the  number 
of  deaths  caused  by  it  in  the  states  of  Michigan  and  Massa- 
chusetts :  ^* 


MassachusetU}. 

Michigan 

1870 

131 

11 

1871 

294 

75 

1872 

1,029 

304 

^^73 

668 

93 

1874 

26 

19 

In  New  York  109  persons  succumbed  to  small-pox  in  the 
year  1869,  293  in  1870,  and  805  in  1871. 

«3  Befolkningsforholdene  i  Danmark  i  det  19.  Aarhundrede.   Copenhagen, 
1905.    P.  147. 


282        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

The  disease  was  also  conveyed  to  the  West  Indies  and  to 
Chile.  Lersch,^  moreover,  reports  that  severe  epidemics  of 
small-pox  occurred  in  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  in  Borneo, 
and  that  500,000  persons  succumbed  to  it  in  the  years 
1873-5  in  British  India.  But  inasmuch  as  small-pox  fre- 
quently breaks  out  there  in  the  form  of  large  epidemics, 
it  cannot  be  assumed  that  the  epidemic  in  Europe  exerted 
any  influence  upon  this  outbreak. 

6.  The  Age  of  the  Small-pox  Patients.  The  Connexion 
between  the  Epidemic  and  the  War.  The  German 
Imperial  Vaccination  Law 
Thus  far  very  little  attention  has  been  called  to  the  fact 
that  the  age  of  the  persons  who  succumbed  to  small-pox 
varied  greatly  in  the  different  countries.  This  depends  upon 
how  well  vaccinated  the  population  of  the  country  or  countries 
was.  Formerly,  when  nobody  was  ever  vaccinated,  the 
first  year  of  life  and  the  following  years  were  by  far  the  most 
seriously  threatened  ;  after  the  first  few  years  the  mortality 
of  small-pox  gradually  decreased  as  the  age  of  the  patients 
increased.  This  also  applies  to-day  to  those  countries  in 
which  vaccination  is  neglected.  On  the  other  hand,  in  those 
countries  in  which  children  are  vaccinated  in  the  first  year 
of  their  lives,  the  infant  mortality  is  low,  although  the  same 
children  lose  their  immunity  to  the  disease  when  they  grow 
older.  To  illuminate  these  facts  let  us  adduce  a  few  figures. 
In  estimating  the  number  of  deaths,  however,  we  cannot  use 
the  number  of  the  living  as  a  relative  basis  to  work  on,  since 
the  prevalence  of  small-pox  varied  greatly  in  the  different 
countries;  consequently  we  must  take  the  total  number 
of  deaths  and  estimate  the  mortality  on  the  basis  of  age 
from  that  alone.  But  in  doing  this  we  can  compare  with 
one  another  only  entire  countries  in  which  the  various  ages 
are  all  about  equally  represented ;  if  we  were  to  take  smaller 
units,  for  example,  city  and  country,  or  agrarian  and  indus- 
««  B.  M.  Lersch,  op.  oit.,  p.  437  f. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)         283 

trial  districts,  and  use  them  for  a  basis  of  comparison,  more 
detailed  computations  would  be  necessary.  Of  the  four 
states  included  in  the  table  below,  Bavaria  and  Hesse  intro- 
duced compulsory  vaccination  (the  law  required  everybody 
to  be  vaccinated  at  least  once)  in  the  year  1807  ;  Saxony  and 
the  Netherlands,  on  the  other  hand,  did  not  have  compulsory 
vaccination.  Of  every  100  persons  who  died  of  small-pox 
the  following  table  indicates  the  relative  proportion  on  the 
basis  of  age : 

Vaccination  compulsory.         Vaccination  not  compulsory. 
Bavaria.        Hesse.  Saxony.       Netherlands. 

(1870-5).     (1870-2).  (1872).  (1870-3). 

0-20  years  old     .     22-4  21-8  76-3  68-3 

20-60      „       „       .     59-0  65-4  21-9  29-6 

Over  60  „       .      i8-6  12-8  i-8  2-1 

This  table  clearly  shows  that  vaccination  protects  a  person 
against  contracting  small-pox  for  a  number  of  years,  or  at 
least  against  succumbing  to  it,  but  that  this  immunity  lasts 
only  for  a  certain  length  of  time  and  should  be  prolonged  by 
revaccination — a  fact  which  the  Prussian  military  authorities 
recognized  and  took  into  practical  consideration  for  many 
decades  prior  to  the  year  1870. 

Many  have  contended  that  the  epidemic  of  small-pox 
which  ravaged  a  large  part  of  Europe,  from  the  year  1870 
on,  was  not  a  consequence  of  the  Franco-German  War,  but 
an  independent  outcome  of  unknown  conditions  that  were 
particularly  favourable  to  the  dissemination  of  the  disease. 
The  main  argument  used  to  uphold  this  contention  is  that 
epidemics  of  small-pox  had  occurred  in  all  the  states  in  the 
years  before  the  war,  without  having  gained  such  irresistible 
headway,  and  that  the  disease  had  broken  out  in  the  form 
of  epidemics  in  many  parts  of  Germany  and  the  neighbouring 
countries  even  in  the  first  half  of  the  year  1870.  But  to 
refute  this  argument  it  can  be  clearly  shown  through  Gutt- 
stadt's  instructive  compilation  of  data  that  the  German 
epidemic  was  in  countless  instances,  in  the  case  of  Prussia 
as  well  as  in  that  of  other  states  in  the  German  Confederation, 


284        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

brought  about  by  the  transplantation  of  the  disease  from 
France.  Whenever  small-pox  broke  out  anywhere  in  times 
of  peace,  it  was  possible  to  keep  the  disease  localized,  through 
isolation  of  patients  and  the  vaccination  of  the  inhabitants 
of  all  regions  in  which  fugitives  from  pestilence  took  refuge. 
In  the  year  1870,  on  the  other  hand,  the  contagion  of  small- 
pox was  spread  throughout  all  Germany  in  a  few  months ; 
the  increased  intercourse  caused  by  the  war,  together  with 
the  habit  the  Germans  had  of  visiting  the  prisons  where  the 
French  soldiers  were  confined,  also  helped  to  spread  the 
disease  in  all  directions. 

For  Germany  this  disastrous  epidemic,  which  throughout 
the  German  Empire,  including  the  Imperial  Provinces, 
carried  away  upwards  of  170,000  persons,  had  just  one  good 
result — ^it  led  to  the  passing  of  a  law  in  the  year  1874  which 
rendered  vaccination  compulsory.  '  Besides  taking  thousands 
of  human  lives  the  epidemic  also  caused  considerable  economic 
loss  ;  the  care  of  the  sick  and  the  measures  adopted  to  prevent 
the  disease  from  spreading  necessitated  large  expenditures 
of  money,  while  large  numbers  of  working-men  contracted 
the  disease  and  were  thus  incapacitated  for  a  long  time ; 
furthermore,  the  disease  left  unnumerable  sickly  people,  who 
had  to  be  further  supported,  and  at  the  same  time  the  fear 
of  infection  interfered  with  commercial  intercourse.  Those 
who  managed  to  escape  infection,  or  to  recover  from  an  attack 
of  the  disease,  naturally  wished  to  run  no  more  risks  in  the 
future,  or  to  expose  the  welfare  of  their  families  to  danger 
or  destruction.'  ^ 

In  consequence  of  all  this  grave  suffering,  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  people  petitioned  the  Imperial  Government  to 
provide  as  soon  as  possible  for  a  uniform  legislative  regula- 
tion, making  universal  vaccination  compulsory.  The  desire 
expressed  in  this  petition  was  soon  fulfilled  by  the  submission 
of  a  bill  on  February  5,  1874 ;    the  bill  was  passed  by  the 

•*  Blattern  und  Schutzpockenimpfung.  Elaborated  in  the  Kaiserl. 
Gesundheitsamt.    Second  edition,  1896.    P.  75  f. 


THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  (1870-1)        285 

Reichstag  on  March  14,  and  received  the  signature  of  the 
Kaiser  on  April  8,  1874.  This  law  required  all  persons  to 
be  vaccinated  in  the  first  year  of  their  lives,  and  to  be  re- 
vaccinated  in  their  twelfth  year ;  it  applied  generally  to 
all  Germany. 

The  beneficial  result  of  the  passing  of  this  law  was  clearly 
demonstrated  in  the  course  of  the  following  decades.  Not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  Germany  is  almost  entirely 
surrounded  by  states  in  which  epidemics  of  small-pox,  in 
consequence  of  insufficient  vaccination,  are  of  frequent 
occurrence,  since  the  passing  of  the  Imperial  Vaccination 
Law  the  disease  has  not  once  made  its  appearance  on  German 
soil  in  the  form  of  a  widespread  epidemic.  Despite  the  fact 
that  small-pox  is  frequently  conveyed  into  the  country, 
especially  by  foreign  working-men,  the  efforts  to  keep  it 
confined  within  narrow  limits  have  always  been  successful. 
The  measures  which  are  so  effective  in  the  case  of  other 
diseases — ^isolation  of  the  patients  and  of  suspected  persons 
living  in  the  vicinity,  disinfection  of  the  room  and  effects 
which  have  been  used  by  patients — ^in  an  insufficiently 
vaccinated  community  do  not  have  the  desired  rapid  success, 
since  the  contagion  of  small-pox  clings  with  extraordinary 
tenacity  to  clothes  and  articles  of  general  use.  This  fact 
has  been  abundantly  proved  in  the  epidemics  of  small-pox 
that  have  occurred  in  Europe  in  the  course  of  the  last  few 
decades. 


CHAPTER  IX 

FROM  THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR  TO  THE 
PRESENT  TIME 

Among  the  great  advances  made  in  the  last  few  decades 
of  the  nineteenth  century  must  be  included  the  successful 
battle  of  modern  hygiene  against  infectious  diseases.  This 
struggle  was  introduced  by  the  development  of  practical 
hygiene  in  England  and  by  the  perfection  of  scientific 
hygiene  through  the  work  of  Pettenkofer.  But  a  firm  basis 
on  which  to  combat  pestilence  was  not  secured  until  the 
brilliant  discoveries  of  Koch  and  his  successors  pointed  out 
to  us  the  cause  of  these  pestilences,  and  methods  were  found 
to  demonstrate  in  a  short  time  the  presence  of  disease-germs, 
even  among  persons  who  become  ill  but  slightly,  or  not  at 
all,  and  who  for  that  reason  are  very  dangerous  to  those 
about  them. 

Since  even  in  time  of  peace  the  close  quarters  in  which 
soldiers  live  in  barracks  greatly  favour  the  outbreak  of 
epidemics,  the  military  authorities  constantly  watched  and 
profited  by  these  advances  in  the  field  of  disease-prevention  ; 
and  with  the  success  of  efforts  to  decrease  the  prevalence 
of  infectious  diseases  among  the  soldiers  in  time  of  peace, 
so  also  in  war-times  it  became  possible  to  check  more 
thoroughly  than  ever  before  the  dissemination  of  these 
diseases.  Hence  the  number  of  men  carried  away  by 
epidemics  is  much  smaller  in  modern  wars  than  used  to  be 
the  case. 

1.    The  Russo-Turkish  War  of  1877-8  ^ 

The  Russo-Turkish  War  of  1877-8,  like  all  former  wars  with 

»  N.  Kosloff,  Kriegssanitatsbericht  iiber  den  Krieg  gegen  die  Turkei,  1877-8. 


THE  RUSSO-TURKISH  WAR  (1877-8)         287 

Turkey,  was  characterized  by  severe  pestilences,  which  at 
both  seats  of  the  war,  the  European  as  well  as  the  Asiatic, 
were  responsible  for  large  numbers  of  deaths.  Typhus  fever, 
which  frequently  made  its  appearance  in  Russia  and  in  the 
Balkan  Peninsula,  was  once  more  the  disease  which  made  the 
greatest  havoc.  In  the  years  preceding  the  war  it  had  raged 
in  the  form  of  epidemics  in  several  Russian  Governments,  and 
it  is  probable  that  the  Russian  army  was  already  infected 
with  it.  Erisman  states  that  cases  of  typhus  fever  were 
observed  among  the  soldiers  in  the  thirty-fifth  infantry 
division  when  it  was  being  assembled  in  the  Government 
of  Kiev ;  the  disease  also  revealed  its  presence  among  the 
troops  when  they  were  mustered  at  Kishinev  (Bessarabia) 
before  the  war  broke  out.  In  April  and  May  1877,  when  the 
army  was  advancing  toward  the  Danube  under  a  steady 
downpour  of  rain,  the  number  of  sufferers  from  typhus  fever, 
intermittent  fever,  and  dysentery  increased  considerably. 
During  the  siege  of  Plevna,  which  lasted  143  days  and 
terminated  in  the  capitulation  of  the  city  on  December  10, 
1877,  the  prevalence  of  disease  increased  still  more.  The 
march  across  the  Balkan  Peninsula  in  the  winter  of  1877-8 
made  great  demands  upon  the  badly  nourished  Russian 
troops.  The  better  conditions  anticipated  in  the  Balkan 
lowlands  did  not  show  themselves  ;  on  the  contrary,  here 
began,  from  the  standpoint  of  sanitation,  the  most  unfor- 
tunate part  of  the  campaign,  since  the  retreating  Turks 
had  devastated  the  entire  country.  The  number  of 
typhus-fever  patients  in  the  Russian  army,  which  numbered 
some  411,000  men,  increased  to  18,049  in  the  month  of 
February  1878,  and  of  these  7,522  had  spotted  fever  and 
1,540  died.  The  pestilence  continued  to  rage  with  un- 
broken severity  until  May ;    in  June  it  began  to  abate. 


St.  Petersburg,  1884-6 ;  P.  Myrdacz,  Sanitatsgeschichte  des  Russisch- 
turkischen  Kriegs  (1877-8)  in  Bulgarien  und  Armenien.  Vienna,  1898 ; 
Knaak,  Die  Krankheiten  im  Kriege.    Leipzig,  1900.    P.  65. 


288        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

The  total  number  of  fever-patients  and  deaths  in  the  Russian 
army  during  its  march  to  the  Danube  is  indicated  by  the 
following  table : 


Patients. 

Deaths. 

Typhoid  fever 

.     25,088 

7,207 

Gastric  fever 

•     38,363 

1,615 

Typhus  fever 

•     32,451 

10,081 

Relapsing  fever   . 

•     39,337 

4,849 

The  number  of  men  in  the  army  increased  from  217,446  in 
April  1877,  to  418,000  in  March  1878. 

The  miHtary  lazarets  played  an  important  and  disastrous 
role  in  the  dissemination  of  typhus  fever,  just  as  they  had 
done  in  the  Napoleonic  Wars.  '  The  lazaret-system  adopted  by 
the  Roumanians',  says  Niedner,^ '  proved  utterly  inadequate 
for  the  Russians.  Scarcely  a  third  of  the  regular  division- 
hospitals  and  military  hospitals  were  made  mobile,  and 
their  number,  as  well  as  their  equipment,  was  insufficient. 
The  lazarets  were  supervised  by  the  Hospital  Department, 
and  consequently  lacked  all  medical  management  and  were 
always  missing  wherever  they  were  needed.  The  few 
available  lazarets  were  overcrowded,  and  being  full  of  dirt 
and  refuse  they  merely  constituted  an  added  danger  for  the 
patients  and  for  the  inhabitants.  Not  until  after  long  delay 
were  additional  barracks  constructed,  and  these  were  so 
badly  arranged  that  they  offered  very  little  relief  from  the 
condition  of  overcrowding  in  the  hospitals.  Above  all,  there 
was  a  lack  of  means  for  disinfection  and  of  clean  linen,  and 
this  rendered  it  inevitable  that  large  quantities  of  infectious 
material  should  accumulate  in  the  lazarets,  and  that  con- 
valescents discharged  from  these  hospitals  should  be  more 
likely  to  infect  other  people  with  whom  they  came  in  contact 
along  the  military  roads.'  The  transporting  of  these  con- 
valescents back  to  Russia  began  in  the  first  part  of  the 
campaign ;    they  not  only  spread  the  disease  all  along  the 

^  O.  Nicdner,  op.  cit.,  p.  90. 


THE  RUSSO-TURKISH  WAR  (1899-1901)       28^ 

military  roads,  but  large  numbers  of  them  conveyed  it  back 
to  Russia  itself,  where  it  appeared  in  countless  localities  and 
soon  developed  into  a  widespread  epidemic  of  typhus  fever. 
At  the  end  of  the  campaign,  to  be  sure,  conditions  improved  ; 
in  the  spring  of  the  year  1878  a  commission  appointed  for 
the  purpose  finally  succeeded  in  establishing  certain  rules 
governing  sanitation  in  the  lazarets,  and  in  bringing  it  about 
that  typhus  fever  patients  were  everywhere  isolated.  When 
the  war  was  over  the  troops  were  transported  back  home 
across  the  Black  Sea,  along  the  coast  of  which,  in  the  ports 
of  Reni,Nikolayev,Sebastopol,and  Odessa,  health-committees 
had  been  appointed  to  see  to  it  that  the  sick  soldiers  were 
congregated  by  themselves. 

Typhoid  and  typhus  fever  likewise  became  very  widespread 
in  the  Caucasian  army.  According  to  Kosloff,  typhus  fever 
was  not  endemic  in  Armenia,  as  was  probably  the  case  with 
typhoid  fever ;  the  Russian  physicians  think  that  it  was 
conveyed  thither  by  the  Russians  themselves  and  not  by 
the  Turks.  The  conditions  for  quartering  the  Russian  troops 
were  as  unfavourable  as  one  could  possibly  imagine ;  they 
were  housed  in  dirty  Armenian  villages,  where  nobody 
attended  to  the  removal  of  refuse,  and  were  badly  provisioned 
and  inadequately  supplied  with  clothing ;  this,  coupled 
with  continuous  marching  and  fighting,  greatly  reduced  their 
power  of  resistance.  In  October  1877  the  main  army  was 
infected  with  typhus  fever,  and  the  overcrowded  hospitals 
merely  helped  to  spread  the  disease.  Conditions  were  worst  of 
all  in  the  detachment  in  Erivan.  After  the  troops  had  gone 
into  winter  quarters  there,  typhus  fever  broke  out  with 
terrible  severity  and  presently  the  entire  government  of 
Erivan  was  suffering  from  the  pestilence  ;  particularly  hard 
hit  were  the  cities  of  Erivan,  Chorassan,  &c.,  where  the  troops 
were  very  numerous  and  were  exposed  to  the  ravages  of 
the  pestilence.  The  following  table  indicates  the  number 
of  men  in  the  Caucasian  army  that  contracted  and  succumbed 
to  the  four  diseases  mentioned  : 

1563-13  U 


290        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 


Patients. 

Deaths. 

Typhoid  fever 

•     24,473 

8,908 

Gastric  fever 

9,589 

1,044 

Typhus  fever 

.     15,660 

6,506 

Relapsing  fever 

.     14,576 

3.775 

The  inhabitants  of  those  regions  in  Asia  in  which  fighting 
took  place  were  not  attacked  by  typhus  fever.  The  Turkish 
troops,  on  the  other  hand,  suffered  severely  from  the 
disease,  though  not  so  severely  as  the  Russian  troops  ;  the 
reason  for  this  was  that  the  former  were  better  nourished 
and  their  camps  were  kept  clean.  The  Turkish  prisoners 
fared  no  better  than  the  Russian  prisoners ;  of  57,000 
prisoners  taken,  13,983  succumbed  to  various  fevers,  most 
of  them  to  typhus  fever. 

2.   The  Boer  War  of  1899-1901 

In  the  war  which  England  waged  against  the  free  states. 
Orange  and  Transvaal,  and  which  lasted  more  than  two 
years  and  necessitated  the  transportation,  on  the  part  of 
England,  of  more  than  400,000  soldiers  to  South  Africa, 
infectious  diseases,  particularly  typhoid  fever,  played  a  very 
important  role.  The  English  army,  which  averaged  200,000 
men,  sustained  the  following  losses  :  ^ 

Died  of  Died  in  battle 

diseases,  and  of  wounds.  Total. 

From  Feb.  10,  1900,  to  the  end  of  that  year   7,009  4,088  1 1,097 

In  the  year  1901  .....     4,318  2,337  6,655 

Total 11,327  6,425  17*752 

Typhoid  fever  had  always  been  prevalent  in  South  Africa  ; 
the  first  cases  in  the  English  army  were  observed  during 
the  hurried  march  to  Bloemfontein  along  the  Modder  River, 
on  which  the  soldiers  were  dependent  for  drinking-water, 
despite  the  fact  that  typhoid  fever  was  known  to  be  raging 
in  places  further  upstream.     The  Berkefeld  and  Pasteur 

3  The  British  Medical  Journal,  1901,  vol.  i,  p.  160,  and  1902,  vol.  i, 
p. 167. 


THE  BOER  WAR  (1899-1901)  291 

filters  yielded  too  little  water,  for  the  reason  that  they 
soon  became  clogged ;  the  soldiers  used  boiled  water  with 
reluctance,  for  the  reason  that  it  took  so  long  for  it  to  cool. 
Another  source  of  infection  besides  the  water  was  the  fine 
dust  that  was  stirred  up  by  daily  wind- storms ;  this  dust, 
being  full  of  disease-germs,  contributed  greatly  to  the  dis- 
semination of  typhoid  fever.  Furthermore,  the  crowding 
together  of  soldiers  in  tents  caused  many  of  them  to  contract 
the  disease  by  direct  communication.* 

Jameson,  the  chief  of  the  army's  medical  staff,  lamented 
the  fact  that  sanitary  officers  (hygienists),  originally  appointed 
to  accompany  each  division  of  troops,  were  dismissed.  The 
regular  doctors,  who  were  then  called  upon  to  perform  their 
functions,  were  fully  occupied  with  taking  care  of  the  wounded, 
and  were  probably  not  well  informed  as  to  hygienic  investiga- 
tions and  measures.  The  results  obtained  from  preventive 
inoculation,  which  was  practised  on  some  of  the  soldiers, 
were  in  general  satisfactory. 

In  other  places  the  conditions  were  similar  to  those  along 
the  Modder  River ;  in  Paardeberg  the  available  drinking- 
water  was  equally  bad,  and  in  Bloemfontein  there  was  an 
explosion-like  outbreak  of  fever.  From  the  beginning  of 
the  campaign  to  the  middle  of  the  year  1900  there  were 
13,057  cases  of  disease  in  the  army,  and  of  those  3,174 
terminated  fatally ;  the  total  number  of  cases  during  the 
entire  war  was  no  less  than  42,741. 

The  English  troops  that  were  shut  up  in  Ladysmith  from 
November  1,  1899,  to  February  27,  1900,  were  very  severely 
attacked  by  typhoid  fever.  In  the  first  part  of  November 
the  English  garrison  had  consisted  of  13,496  men,  and  by 
March  it  had  dwindled  down  to  10,164  men.    The  number  of 

*  '  The  Recent  Epidemic  of  Typhoid  Fever  in  South  Africa.'  Discussions 
of  the  CHnical  Society  of  London,  on  May  8  and  22,  1901.  Report  in  the 
British  Medical  Journal,  1901.  Vol.  i,  p.  642  ff.  and  770  ff.  Also  in  the 
Deutsche  Med.  Wochenschrift,  1901.  Vereinsbeilage,  p.  139. — Ferenczy, 
Die  Typhusepidemie  im  sUdafrikanischen  Kriege  (1899-1901),  deren  Aetiologie 
und  die  Praventivimpfungen  dagegen.    Wien.  Med.  Presse,  1906,  no.  44. 

U2 


S92        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

sick  soldiers  committed  to  the  lazaret  amounted  to  no  less 
than  10,668,  and  of  these  1,766  had  typhoid  fever  and  1,857 
had  dysentery  ;  383  of  the  former  and  117  of  the  latter  died. 
When  the  Boers  withdrew  there  were  1,996  patients  in  the 
hospital,  708  of  them  suffering  from  typhoid  fever,  341  from 
dysentery,  and  189  from  wounds.^ 

In  the  Concentration  Camps  which  the  English  established 
in  the  summer  of  the  year  1900  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
women  and  children  in  the  South  African  Republics,  the 
pestilences  soon  gained  the  upper  hand.  Lord  Roberts 
had  made  arrangements  to  concentrate  the  families  of  the 
Boers  in  camps  ;  since  the  farms  of  the  Boers  were  systemati- 
cally burned,  these  camps  were  supposed  to  protect  their 
wives  and  children  against  starvation,  and  at  the  same  time 
the  wives  and  children  served  as  hostages  for  their  husbands 
and  fathers.  When  the  location  of  these  camps  was  decided 
upon,  not  sanitary,  but  military  considerations  were  taken 
into  account ;  it  was  necessary  that  they  should  be  controlled 
from  a  near-by  fortress.  They  soon  became  overcrowded, 
the  supply  of  water  was  inadequate,  and  there  was  much 
uncleanliness.  The  inhabitants  of  the  camps  were  mostly 
women,  children,  and  old  men  ;  thus,  for  example,  in  October 
1901,  of  the  people  living  in  the  camps  in  the  Orange  Free 
State,  55  per  cent  were  children  under  fifteen  years  of  age, 
31-9  per  cent  were  women,  and  131  per  cent  were  men, 
mostly  old  men.  According  to  the  reports  submitted  to 
Parliament  the  condition  of  health  in  the  Concentration 
Camps  in  Natal  and  in  the  Cape  Colony  was  not  unfavourable, 
but  in  those  in  Transvaal  and  Orange  it  was  very  bad.  The 
following  statistics,  covering  the  time  between  June  and 
September  1901,  relate  to  the  Concentration  Camps  in  the 
Transvaal : ® 

*  'The  Siege  Statistics  from  Ladysmith,'  Brit.  Med.  Journal,  vol.  i, 
p.  730. 

'  '  The  Rates  of  Mortality  in  the  Concentration  Camps  in  South  Africa,' 
Brit.  Med.  Journal,  1901,  vol.  ii,  p.  1418. 


THE  BOER  WAR  (1899-1901) 


293 


Number  of  Inhabitants. 


Month. 

Men. 

Women. 

Children 

Total. 

June 
July 

August    . 
September     . 

• 

8,576 

9,66s 

10,496 

10,581 

16,078 
20,012 
22,036 
22,226 

19,811 
24,462 
25,983 
26,599 

44,465 
54,139 
58,515 
59,406 

Average 

54,131 

Month. 

Men 

Number  of 
.     Women.     Children. 

Deaths. 
Total. 

Annual 
death-rate. 

June 
July 

August     . 
September 

.     26 

•  51 

•  32 
.     75 

48 
118 
185 
165 

310 

748 

1,014 

1,014 

384 

917 

1,231 

1,254 

103-6 
203-2 
252-5 
253-3 

Average 


209-8 


In  regard  to  the  Orange  Free  State  the  following  statistics, 
including  the  month  of  October,  were  compiled  : 


Number  of  Inhabitants. 


Month. 

Men. 

Women. 

Children. 

Total. 

June 

5,116 

9,646 

17,953 

32,715 

July 

5,351 

11,213 

20,132 

36,696 

August 

5,826 

13,381 

24,415 

43,622 

September 

6,089 

14,140 

25,118 

45,347 

October     . 

5,906 

14,471 

24,929 

45,306 

Average 

40,737 

Number  of  Deaths. 

Annual 

Month. 

Men. 

Women. 

Children. 

Total. 

death-rate. 

June 

'     32 

75 

182 

289 

106-0 

July 

•     50 

69 

369 

488 

159-5 

August 

•     30 

82 

510 

622 

171-1 

September 

.     43 

153 

885 

1,081 

286-0 

October 

.     58 

133 

1,329 

1,520 

402-6 

Average 


235-6 


All  told,  no  less  than  19,600  persons  (14,894  children  and 
4,706  adults)  died  in  the  Concentration  Camps  up  to  March 
1902  ;  that  is,  about  one-fifth  of  the  total  number  of  inhabi- 
tants died  in  a  period  of  about  fifteen  months.  As  indicated 
by  the  above  tables,  the  children  suffered  more  severely  than 
the  adults.    The  principal  causes  of  the  high  mortality  among 


S94        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

the  children  were  measles  and  pneumonia  ;  since  the  grown- 
up Boers  had  never  experienced  an  attack  of  measles  in  their 
childhood,  they  too,  even  the  very  old  men,  contracted  the 
disease  and  many  of  them  succumbed  to  it.  The  prevalence 
of  pneumonia  can  be  explained  on  the  ground  that  the 
temperature  fluctuated  greatly  in  the  course  of  the  winter, 
and  the  nights,  in  particular,  were  extremely  cold.  Whooping- 
cough,  varicella,  mumps,  and  diphtheria  were  prevalent  in 
all  the  camps,  and  typhoid  fever,  which,  as  remarked  above, 
is  endemic  in  many  parts  of  South  Africa,  was  very  common  ; 
so  also  were  diarrhoea  and  dysentery. 

The  chief  cause  of  the  high  mortality  in  the  prison-camps 
was  the  fact  that  such  large  numbers  of  men,  men  whose 
vitality  had  been  reduced  by  privations  and  hardships, 
were  congregated  in  places  which  had  not  been  properly 
prepared  to  receive  them.  The  unfortunate  prisoners  often 
reached  the  place  of  detention  in  a  pitiable  condition — 
exhausted  and  half  naked.  Furthermore,  they  were  men 
who  had  no  appreciation  of  the  order  that  must  be  observed, 
when  large  numbers  of  people  are  congregated  in  one  place, 
in  attending  to  the  daily  requirements  of  nature,  nor  were 
they  wiUing  to  be  taught.  The  result  was  that  the  ground 
became  filthy ;  the  open  spaces  in  front  of  the  tents  were 
often  used  in  place  of  the  latrines  ;  the  contents  of  slop- jars 
were  simply  thrown  out  in  front  of  the  doors,  instead  of 
being  emptied  into  receptacles  that  were  deposited  here  and 
there  for  that  purpose.  The  mothers  had  no  idea  of  nursing, 
and  were  unwilling  to  take  medical  advice ;  in  order  to 
avoid  having  to  send  their  children  to  the  hospital,  they 
kept  secret  the  fact  that  they  were  sick,  thus  giving  measles, 
diphtheria,  &c.,  the  best  possible  chance  to  spread.  We  read 
in  an  English  report : ' 

A  large  share  of  the  high  death-rate  in  them  is  ascribable  to  the 
condition  in  which  the  women  and  children  arrive.    Often  they  have 

'  *  The  Working  of  the  Refugee  Camps,'  Brit.  Med.  Journal,  1901,  vol.  ii, 
p.  1681  f. 


.    THE  BOER  WAR  (1899-1901)  295 

been  half-starved  and  are  broken  down  in  health.  It  cannot  be 
wondered  at  that  under  these  circumstances  measles  and  other 
diseases  are  inordinately  fatal.  The  dirty  personal  habits  of  the 
Boers,  their  use  of  improper  and  often  disgusting  remedies,  and  their 
ignorant  errors  of  dietetics  in  regard  to  young  children,  have  rendered 
it  extremely  difficult  to  secure  favourable  results  in  the  treatment 
of  cases  of  sickness  among  the  Boer  children.  There  appears  to  be 
no  doubt,  as  indicated  in  our  previous  special  article,  that  the 
measles  which  has  been  prevalent  has  been  of  a  specially  malignant 
type.  Its  malignancy  has  doubtless  been  intensified  by  the  dirty 
condition  of  the  Boer  children,  and  by  the  overcrowding  that  has 
been  permitted  in  the  camps,  as  well  as  by  the  previous  bad  health 
of  these  children.  The  present  reports  afford  abundant  evidence 
confirmatory  of  the  conclusion  at  which  we  had  previously  arrived, 
that  dysentery,  diarrhoea,  and  enteric  fever  in  a  large  proportion  of 
the  camps  have  been  prevalent  as  well  as  measles. 

And  in  another  report  we  read  :  ® 

Measles  of  a  particularly  malignant  type  has  prevailed.  Its 
fatality  has  doubtless  been  increased  by  the  exhausted  and  semi- 
starved  condition  in  which  many  of  the  Boers  and  their  children 
have  arrived  at  the  camps.  It  has  been  impossible  to  isolate  such 
cases  in  the  camps  ;  and  the  crude  and  ignorant  and  even  mischievous 
methods  of  domestic  treatment  adopted  by  the  Boer  women  have 
doubtless  increased  the  evil,  as  have  also  the  personal  uncleanliness 
of  the  Boers  and  their  fear  of  fresh  air  as  well  as  of  clean  water. 
But,  as  previously  pointed  out,  enteric  fever  and  diarrhoea  and 
dysentery  have  claimed  a  large  toll  of  victims,  and  for  the  excessive 
amount  of  these  the  deficient  sanitary  control  of  the  camps  must  be 
held  in  a  large  measure  responsible. 

With  the  arrival  of  the  better  season,  when  the  Concentra- 
tion Camps,  under  the  pressure  of  public  opinion,  were 
thoroughly  cleansed,  the  condition  of  health  improved. 
Honigsberger,®  who  inspected  the  camp  at  Merebank  (in 
Natal)  in  May  1912,  derived  a  very  favourable  impression ; 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  camp  lay  on  low  ground 
near  the  sea-coast,  where  the  soil  was  necessarily  damp, 

*  '  The  Report  on  the  Working  of  the  Refugee  Camps '  (loc.  cit.),  p.  1618. 

*  L.  Honigsberger,  Bericht  iiber  das  Konzentrationslager  Merebank  {Natal). 
Munch.  Med.  Wochenschrift,  1902.    Vol.  xlix.  No.  36. 


296        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

there  was  no  visible  surface  water  because  of  an  effective 
system  of  drainage.  The  drinking-water  faciUties  were 
good.  Of  some  8,000  refugees  sheltered  there  only  110  died 
between  the  months  of  February  and  May  1902. 

3.   The  War  in  South-west  Africa  (1904-7)  ^° 

In  the  very  first  year  of  the  war,  typhoid  fever  broke  out 
with  great  severity.  The  disease  first  made  its  appearance 
in  the  war  against  the  Herero  nation  in  the  first  part  of 
April  1904 ;  it  attacked  the  eastern  division  of  the  army, 
which  was  commanded  by  Major  von  Glasenapp  and  numbered 
twenty-five  officers  and  509  men,  in  Onjatu  (midway  between 
Windhuk  and  Waterberg),  after  the  soldiers  had  been 
exposed  to  rainy  weather,  cold  nights,  and  extreme  hardship. 
On  April  6  there  were  six  cases  of  the  disease  reported,  and 
by  April  16  the  number  of  cases  had  increased  to  sixty-six  ; 
the  division  was  then  transferred  to  Otjihaenena,  where  the 
patients  were  housed  in  permanent  lazarets  and  the  healthy 
men  were  quarantined.  Throughout  the  remaining  part  of 
the  war,  typhoid  fever  played  an  important  role ;  the  total 
number  of  deaths  in  the  years  1904-7  was  1,491  ;  of  these 
689  succumbed  to  diseases,  439  of  them  to  typhoid  fever. 
The  soldiers  who  fought  in  the  battles  against  the  Hereros 
were  most  severely  attacked ;  of  a  total  of  470  deaths  283 
were  caused  by  typhoid  fever  and  only  twenty-two  by  other 
diseases.  In  the  three  years'  struggle  against  the  Hottentots 
some  1,200  soldiers  died ;  375  of  them  died  of  diseases  ;  of 
the  375  typhoid  fever  was  responsible  for  156. 

4.   The  Russo-Japanese  War  of  1904^5 

The  apprehension  that  the  Russo-Japanese  War  would  be 
accompanied  by  severe  outbreaks  of  infectious  diseases 
turned  out  to  be  groundless.   The  chief  danger  that  threatened 

*'  Die  Kdmpfe  der  deutschen  Truppen  in  Siidwestafrika.  Published  by  tlie 
General  Staff.    Berlin,  1906-7. 


THE  RUSSO-JAPANESE  WAR  (1904-5)        297 

both  armies  was  typhoid  fever,  which  is  endemic  inManchmia, 
and  which,  on  account  of  the  filthy  condition  of  the  Chinese 
villages,  was  given  an  excellent  opportunity  to  spread.  In 
the  first  place,  the  soldiers  were  prevented  from  being 
infected  by  the  fact  that  they  were  allowed  to  drink  nothing 
but  boiled  water,  and  were  always  supplied  with  hot  water 
for  tea  ;  in  the  second  place,  when  they  were  called  upon  to 
remain  in  one  place  for  a  considerable  length  of  time,  they 
were  quartered,  not  in  the  Chinese  villages,  but  in  earth- 
huts  ;  or,  if  they  were  compelled  to  live  in  the  Chinese 
villages,  these  were  always  thoroughly  disinfected  before- 
hand. Whenever  it  was  possible,  the  Japanese  military 
physicians,  before  the  troops  arrived  in  a  village,  investigated 
the  place  with  reference  to  hygienic  conditions  and  subjected 
the  inhabitants  to  an  examination.  Notwithstanding  all 
this,  large  numbers  of  soldiers  on  both  sides,  in  the  course 
of  the  war,  which  lasted  twenty-one  months,  contracted 
typhoid  fever,  diarrhoea,  and  dysentery.  In  both  summers, 
which  are  very  hot  in  Manchuria,  typhoid  fever  made  its 
appearance,  to  a  greater  extent  in  the  second  than  in  the 
first,  since  the  troops  before  and  after  the  battle  of  Mukden 
remained  encamped  for  a  long  time  in  one  and  the  same 
place.^^  According  to  the  statements  of  the  Russian  General 
Medical  Staff, ^^  the  total  number  of  deaths  in  the  Russian 
army  (excluding  the  troops  at  Port  Arthur  and  the  fleet) 
caused  by  diseases  was  7,960,  and  to  these  must  be  added  the 
deaths  among  the  discharged  troops  ;  the  total  number  of 
men  in  the  Russian  army  was  709,587.  Even  if  these 
figures  are  incomplete,  nevertheless  they  distinctly  show  that 
epidemic  diseases,  considering  the  long  duration  of  the  war, 

*^  E.  Haga,  Beobachtungen  eines  japanischen  Divisionsarztes  wahrend  des 
Russisch-japanischen  Kriegs.  Deutsche  militdrarztliche  Zeitschrift,  vol.  xl, 
p.  945.     1911. 

*^  W.  Roth,  Jahresbericht  iiber  die  Leistungen  und  Fortschritte  auf  dem 
Gebiet  des  Militdrsanitdtswesens,  vol.  xxxii,  p.  91.  1906.  Miliidrwochen- 
blatt,  1906.  P.  158.  Deutsche  militdrdrztliche  Zeitschrift,  1907.  Vol.  xxxvi, 
p.  111. 


298        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

were  not  very  prevalent.  The  reports  of  foreigners  who 
accompanied  the  Russian  army  agree  in  pronouncing  the 
general  condition  of  health  excellent.^*  Spotted  fever  and 
anthrax  were  also  observed,  but  among  both  the  Russians  and 
the  Japanese  they  appeared  only  sporadically.  According 
to  FoUenfant,^*  56,717  cases  of  infectious  diseases  occurred 
among  the  Russians ;  of  these  25,800  were  enterorrhoea, 
15,800  were  typhoid  fever,  8,970  were  dysentery,  and 
4,500  were  malaria.  Regarding  the  prevalence  of  disease 
in  Port  Arthur  we  shall  have  more  to  say  in  the  tenth  chapter. 

Conditions  among  the  Japanese  were  less  favourable,  since, 
on  account  of  their  rapid  advance,  sanitary  measures  could 
not  be  carried  out  as  extensively  as  was  desirable.  The  total 
number  of  men  in  the  Japanese  army  carried  away  by  diseases 
was  no  less  than  21,802  ;  3,956  succumbed  to  beri-beri,  4,073 
to  typhoid  fever,  1,804  to  dysentery,  and  11  to  typhus  fever.  ^* 
All  told,  95,572  cases  of  beri-beri  were  observed ;  at  first 
the  disease  was  very  common,  but  later  on,  when  barley  was 
added  to  the  rice,  its  prevalence  decreased.  The  number 
of  Japanese  soldiers  killed  in  battle  was  very  large  (47,387), 
and  to  these  must  be  added  10,970  who  died  of  wounds. 

As  to  whether  or  not  the  war  caused  typhoid  fever  and 
dysentery  to  spread  among  the  civil  inhabitants  of  Manchuria, 
as  was  probably  the  case,  we  have  no  specific  information ; 
the  appearance  of  other  diseases  among  the  civil  inhabitants 
is  improbable,  since  the  troops  would  certainly  have  con- 
tracted them  had  they  been  prevalent. 

No  information  has  been  given  by  either  Russia  or  Japan 

*'  W.  von  Oettingen,  Studien  auf  dent  Gebiete  des  Miliidrsanitdtswescns  im 
Russisch-japanischen  Kriege,  1904-5.  Berlin,  1907. — Schafer,  Mitteilungen 
iiber  kriegschirurgische  Erfahrungen  im  russischen  Kriege.  Deutsche  med. 
Wochenschrift,  1905.    P.  1337. 

^*  Follenfant,  V hygiene  des  armies  dans  lespays/roids  d'apris  les  enseigne- 
m^nts  de  la  guerre  russo-japonaise.  Bull.  off.  de  r  Union  fid^ative  des 
mddecins  de  reserve,  1906,  Nos.  6-7.  Quoted  from  W.  Roth,  op.  cit., 
p.  91,  vol.  xxxii. 

1^  Takaki,  '  The  Preservation  of  Health  amongst  the  Personnel  of  the 
Japanese  Navy  and  Army.'    Lancet,  1906.    Vol.  i,  p.  1369. 


THE  RUSSO-JAPANESE  WAR  (1904-5)         299 

as  to  whether  the  soldiers  brought  diseases  back  home  with 
them.  In  Japan,  according  to  the  Year  Book  of  Statistics,^^ 
the  number  of  deaths  was  as  follows  : 


Typhoid. 

Typhus. 

Cholera. 

Dysentery. 

Beri-beri. 

1903  . 

'       4»S85 

9 

140 

7,172 

10,783 

1904  . 

5,100 

5 

51 

5,294 

9,408 

1905  . 

6,291 

10 

34 

8,763 

11,703 

1906  . 

.       6,338 

5 

29 

5,173 

7,766 

1907  . 

•       5.974 

6 

1,702 

5,872 

8,767 

1908  . 

.       5,824 

9 

297 

8,053 

10,786 

In  order  to  prevent  the  transplantation  of  infectious 
diseases  into  Japan,  very  comprehensive  measures  of  precau- 
tion were  adopted  by  the  Japanese  miUtary  authorities,  as 
was  the  case  after  the  war  with  China.  Infected  soldiers, 
and  soldiers  suspected  of  being  infected,  were  not  allowed 
to  join  the  transports ;  in  order  to  find  them  out,  three 
quarantine  stations  were  established,  one  in  Dairei  (near 
Moji),  a  second  in  Ninoshima  (near  Ujina),  and  a  third  at 
Wadano  Misaki  (near  Kobe).  When  the  transports  of  troops 
reached  their  destination,  the  men  were  divided  into  groups 
of  60  and  sent  to  disinfection  establishments,  where  they  were 
bathed  and  their  effects  were  disinfected.  The  sick  were  com- 
mitted to  the  hospital,  and  suspicious  cases  were  quartered 
in  barracks  under  observation.  If  infected  men  had  been 
found  on  a  ship,  the  entire  ship,  crew,  and  officers,  were  dis- 
infected. The  disinfection  establishments  received  828,376 
men  for  examination ;  of  these  429,962  were  disinfected.^- 

5.  The  Occupation  of  Tripoli  by  the  Italians  (1911) 
During  the  battles  fought  in  connexion  with  the  occupation 
of  Tripoli  by  the  ItaUans,  infectious  diseases  were  confined 
within  narrow  limits.  According  to  Sforza,  the  army  phy- 
sician in  Tripoli,^®  cholera  broke  out  there  in  the  second 

^*  Risumi  statistique  de  V empire  du  Japon.    Published  annually. 

^'  Steiner,  Ueber  den  Sanitdtsdienst  der  Japaner  im  Krieg  gegen  Russland. 
Strefflers  osterr.  milit.-arztl.  Zeitschrift,  1906. — Matignon,  La  disinfection  des 
troupes  japonaises  rentrantes  de  la  campagne  de  Mandchourie.  Rev.  d^hyg. 
et  de  pol.  san.,  1906,  p.  661. 

^*  Sforza,  Bemerkungen  iiber  einige  Infektionskrankheiten,  die  in  Lybien 


300        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

half  of  October  1911,  reached  its  climax  in  November,  and 
disappeared  entirely  in  the  second  half  of  December.  The 
disease  was  spread  chiefly  by  dates,  which  had  been  infected 
by  flies ;  it  first  appeared  among  the  native  beggars,  then 
spread  to  the  rest  of  the  population,  and  finally  to  the 
Italian  soldiers.  The  pestilence  raged  only  in  Tripoli,  a  fact 
which  Sforza  regards  as  a  proof  that  it  was  not  conveyed 
thither  by  the  Italians ;  for  had  this  been  the  case,  cholera 
would  have  revealed  its  presence  in  Homs,  Bengasi,  Derna, 
and  Tobruk,  in  which  places  thousands  of  soldiers  disembarked, 
but  not  a  single  case  of  the  disease  was  observed.  Typhus 
fever  is  endemic  in  Tripoli ;  after  the  ItaUan  occupation 
twenty  cases  of  that  disease  were  observed  among  the  natives 
and  ten  cases  among  the  soldiers.  In  order  to  prevent 
diseases  from  spreading  to  Italy,  convalescents  were  not 
allowed  to  return  home  until  there  was  absolutely  no  danger 
of  their  communicating  the  infection  to  other  persons.  The 
same  measures  of  precaution  were  used  in  relation  to  relapsing 
fever. 

6.    The  War  between  Turkey  and  the  Balkan  States 

(1912-13)  i» 

Regarding  the  Balkan  war  definite  information  is  still 
wanting.  Well  known,  however,  is  the  outbreak  of  cholera 
along  the  Tchatalja  lines  ;  but  the  progress  of  the  disease  was 
soon  checked  and  it  did  not  become  very  widespread.  It 
first  appeared  in  the  camp  of  the  Turks,  whither  it  was  borne 
by  troops  from  Asia,  where  severe  epidemics  of  it  had  occurred 
in  Mecca  and  Tiberias,  and  where  it  had  made  its  appearance 
in  several  other  places.  In  Constantinople  the  first  case  of 
the  disease  was  reported  on  November  5,  1912 ;  in  the  first 
week  of  December  it  had  reached  its  climax,  and  after 

vom  Tage  der  Okkupaiion  an  bis  Mdrz  1912  geherrscht  haben.  Deutsche  mil.' 
arztl.  Zdtschrift,  1912.    Vol.  xli,  p.  756. 

1*  According  to  newspaper  reports  and  to  publications  of  the  Imperial 
Health  Office. 


THE  BALKAN  WAR  (1912-13) 


301 


January  20  only  sporadic  cases  were  observed.  The  following 
table  indicates  the  number  of  persons  who  contracted  and 
succumbed  to  cholera  in  Constantinople  : 


Nov.  5-Dec.  2  (191 2) 
Dec.  3-  „   9 

„  10-  „  16   „ 
»>  I7~  >»  23   »> 

u        24—  ,,    30     „ 

„  31-Feb.  I  (I9I3) 


Patients. 

Deaths. 

934 

441 

540 

229 

451 

244 

276 

158 

141 

74 

U3 

99 

2,515 


1,245 


Nov.  5,  1912-Feb.  I,  1913 

Among  the  Bulgarians  cholera  did  not  become  very  wide- 
spread ;  throughout  the  entire  territory  occupied  by  the 
Bulgarians,  cases  of  cholera,  to  be  sure,  were  observed, 
particularly  along  the  Tchatalja  lines.  But  the  Bulgarians 
fought  the  pestilence  with  energetic  measures ;  the  troops 
were  given  nothing  but  boiled  water,  and  careful  attention 
was  paid  to  what  they  ate ;  the  railway  depots  were  thoroughly 
disinfected,  as  were  all  places  in  which  large  numbers  of 
people  congregated.  During  the  armistice  the  Bulgarians 
were  forbidden  all  intercourse  with  the  Turks.  For  the  troops 
transported  back  home  quarantine  stations  were  established. 
The  result  of  all  these  precautionary  measures  was  eminently 
successful.  In  Bulgaria  itself  only  sporadic  outbreaks  of 
cholera  occurred,  as  in  Sofia,  Stara  Zagara,  and  in  the 
district  of  Shumla ;  ^^  on  January  18,  1913,  Bulgaria  was 
entirely  free  from  cholera. 

Typhus  fever  broke  out  very  frequently  in  all  the  armies, 
but  detailed  information  regarding  its  prevalence  has  not 
been  published.  According  to  the  reports  which  have  thus  far 
been  issued,  the  disease  did  not  appear  in  the  form  of  epi- 
demics in  any  of  the  armies  ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  stated 
that  it  broke  out  among  the  Turkish  prisoners  in  Bulgaria  and 
Servia,  as  in  Tatar-Bazar jik,  Ligotin,  Zajecar,  and  Kujazevas. 

20  K.  Kraus,  Uber  Massnahmen  zur  Bekampfung  der  Cholera  auf  dem 
biilgarischen  Kriegsschauplatze.  Wiener  klin.  Woch.,  1913.  P.  241. — 
K.  J.  Schopper,  Erfahrungen  Uber  die  Cholera  in  Ostrumelien  wahrend  des 
Balkankriegs,  1912.    Wiener  klin.  Woch.,  1913.    No.  10. 


CHAPTER  X 
EPIDEMICS  IN  BESIEGED  STRONGHOLDS 

When  fortified  cities  are  subjected  to  a  long  siege  the 
death-rate  in  them  increases  considerably  ;  if  diseases  break 
out  during  the  siege,  they  spread  beyond  expectation  and 
carry  away  large  numbers  of  people.  The  greatest  enemy  of 
the  people  in  a  besieged  city  is  hunger.  Since  the  approaching 
hostile  army  causes  the  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding 
country  to  take  refuge  in  the  cities,  the  latter  suddenly 
become  overcrowded,  moreover  with  people  who  are  generally 
quite  penniless  and  have  to  be  provided  for  by  the  rest.  In 
former  years,  when  warfare  was  much  more  cruel  than  it  is  to- 
day, this  was  especially  the  case.  Furthermore,  the  size  of  the 
garrison  must  be  rapidly  increased,  or  perhaps  the  whole  of 
a  retreating  army,  as  was  the  case  in  Metz,  must  be  quartered 
in  the  stronghold.  Accordingly,  the  first  step  taken  by  the 
commander  of  a  fortress  must  be  to  ascertain  the  quantity 
of  provisions  on  hand,  and  to  work  out  an  appropriate  plan 
for  the  distribution  of  them.  How  the  quality  of  the  bread 
becomes  more  and  more  unsatisfactory,  and  finally  reaches 
the  point  where  the  product  is  scarcely  worthy  of  the  name 
bread ;  how  people  are  obliged  to  eat  the  flesh  of  horses, 
dogs,  and  other  animals ;  how  the  prices  of  the  necessaries 
of  life  soar  ad  infinitum — all  this  is  so  well  known  that  it 
needs  no  further  exposition.  Besides  the  absence  of  these 
necessaries  of  life,  the  lack  of  milk,  fats,  salt,  and  vegetables 
is  accompanied  by  various  consequences ;  very  frequently 
improper  and  badly  prepared  food  gives  rise  to  a  large  number 
of  severe  cases  of  intestinal  catarrh. 

Insufficient  nourishment  is  seldom  the  direct  cause  of 
•death ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  frequently  so  weakens  people 
that  they  are  much  more  subject  to  sickness,  or,  if  they  have 


EPIDEMICS  IN  BESIEGED  STRONGHOLDS    303 

already  contracted  some  disease,  they  are  much  more  likely 
to  die,  or,  if  they  recover,  to  convalesce  slowly.  Thus  Vacher  ^ 
states  that  typhoid  fever,  which  usually  results  fatally  in 
one  out  of  four  cases,  during  the  siege  of  Paris  carried  away 
no  less  than  forty  per  cent  of  those  who  contracted  it ; 
tuberculosis,  he  says,  often  acquired  an  acute  form  and 
caused  death  within  a  few  weeks.  Little  children  present 
slight  resistance  to  famine.  '  In  regard  to  new-born  and 
one-year-old  infants  I  have  observed  in  certain  cases  that 
become  more  frequent  every  day,  that  the  effects  of  insuffi- 
cient aUmentation  show  themselves  in  the  form  of  a  progres- 
sive emaciation,  which  includes  all  the  tissues  of  the  body  and 
almost  always  has  fatal  consequences  ;  oedema  of  the  tegu- 
ments, anaemia,  uncontrollable  diarrhoea,  and  continual 
plaintive  crying  on  the  part  of  the  little  patients  are  the 
characteristic  symptoms  of  that  hunger-fever  which  actually 
decimates  our  infant  generation.' 

Another  result  of  insufficient  nourishment,  one  which  has 
frequently  been  observed  in  besieged  strongholds,  is  the 
appearance  of  scurvy. 

During  sieges,  the  hygienic  measures  of  precaution,  which 
are  absolutely  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  health  in 
cities,  can  no  longer  be  carried  out.  If  spring- water  is  secured 
outside  the  city  for  the  inhabitants,  the  besiegers  cut  off  the 
source  of  supply ;  if  the  water  of  rivers  is  used,  then  filtration 
plants  have  to  be  erected.  But  even  filtration  does  not 
prevent  the  appearance  of  those  infectious  diseases  the  germs 
of  which  are  carried  in  water,  since  for  washing  purposes 
the  river- water  is  used  just  as  it  is  found.  The  removal  of 
refuse  constitutes  an  extremely  difficult  problem ;  the 
cleaning  out  of  privies  is  often  possible  only  to  a  very  insuffi- 
cient extent,  especially  when  the  besiegers  have  advanced 
very  close  to  the  city,  and  the  failure  to  dispose  of  garbage 
necessarily  causes  large  accumulations  of  dirt  and  filth  in 
the  streets  ;   this  was  especially  the  case  in  former  times. 

1  Vacher,  La  mortality  a  Paris  en  1870.   Gaz.  nUdicale  de  Paris,  1871,  p.  9. 


304        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

The  burying  of  so  many  dead  bodies,  of  both  men  and 
animals,  especially  horses,  has  met  in  many  sieges  with  serious 
obstacles ;  -  if  the  ditches  intended  for  a  large  number  of 
bodies  are  not  dug  deep  enough,  the  atmosphere  becomes 
polluted ;  to  burn  them  is  impossible,  owing  to  lack  of  fuel ; 
and  if  they  are  cast  into  the  river,  this  jeopardizes  the  health 
of  those  living  further  downstream.  During  certain  sieges 
in  the  past,  hard  conditions  have  made  it  necessary  to  leave 
corpses  and  carcases  lying  in  the  open,  with  terrible  conse- 
quences. 

If  the  siege  takes  place  in  the  winter,  it  is  very  difficult  to 
procure  fuel  for  heating  purposes,  unless  sufficient  provision 
has  been  made  beforehand.  In  Paris,  for  example,  the 
inhabitants  suffered  severely  from  cold,  and  to  meet  the 
emergency  artificial  fuel  was  prepared  by  mixing  stable 
manure  with  tar  and  reducing  the  mass  to  soHd  form  under 
the  hydrauUc  press. 

In  the  following  pages  we  discuss  a  few  sieges  which  were 
characterized  by  severe  outbreaks  of  pestilence. 

1.    The  Siege  of  Mantua  (1796-7)^ 

During  the  siege  of  Mantua,  which  the  French  carried  on 
from  May  30,  1796,  to  February  3,  1797,  war-pestilences 
raged  with  fearful  severity  among  both  besiegers  and  besieged. 
The  city  lay  in  an  extremely  unhealthy  region — malaria 
was  ever  prevalent  and  the  drinking-water  was  bad.  The 
intentional  flooding  of  the  region  and  the  great  heat  of  the 
summer  of  1796  caused  malaria  to  break  out  ^vith  great 
severity  and  to  acquire  virulent  forms  that  rendered  the 
disease  more  dangerous  than  usual.     In  the  latter  part  of 

"  O.  Oesterle,  Paris  und  die  Hygiene  ivcihrend  der  Belagerung  von  1870  und 
1871.    Deutsche  Vierteljahresschriftfiir  off.  Ges.-pflege,  vol.  ix,  p.  410.     1877. 

3  F.  Stegmeyer,  Bemerkungen  iiber  die  Krankheiten,  welche  unter  der 
Garnison  zu  Mantua  xvdhrend  der  Blockade  vom  30.  Mai  1796  bis  zum 
3.  Februar  1797  geherrscht  haben.  Abhandlungen  der  K.  K.  mediz.-chirurg. 
Josef s-Akadertiie  zu  Wien.    Vienna,  1801.    Vol.  ii,  p.  387. 


THE  SIEGE  OF  MANTUA  (1796-7)  305 

May  1796,  the  garrison  consisted  of  18,000  Austrian  troops, 
whose  power  of  resistance  had  been  greatly  reduced  by  hard 
service  from  November  on,  and  by  exposure  to  rain  and  cold 
with  inadequate  means  of  shelter.  Besides  intermittent 
fever,  both  intestinal  catarrh  and  typhus  fever  made  their 
appearance  in  July  ;  the  latter,  at  least,  was  probably  the 
'  nervous  fever '  mentioned  by  Stegmeyer.  Thus  as  early 
as  the  latter  part  of  July  there  were  some  2,000  sick  men  in 
the  garrison.  In  August  the  investment  was  not  yet  com- 
plete, so  that  the  soldiers  did  not  suffer  from  lack  of  food. 
Notwithstanding  this  fact,  however,  the  diseases  increased  in 
prevalence  and  caused  many  deaths  ;  the  number  of  sick  men 
was  no  less  than  6,000.  On  September  12  the  Austrian  general, 
Wiirmser,  with  about  12,000  men,  succeeded  in  gaining 
entrance  into  the  city  ;  he  brought  with  him  a  large  number 
of  disabled  men  who  had  been  wounded  in  recent  fighting, 
and  many  of  whom  succumbed  to  tetanus  and  hospital  fever. 
The  number  of  patients  now  increased  to  8,500  ;  as  there 
was  no  bedding  or  straw  available,  the  patients  were  compelled 
to  he  on  the  bare  ground,  and  the  uncleanhness  of  the 
hospitals  grew  worse.  When  the  investment  was  finally 
rendered  complete  in  October,  it  caused  a  great  scarcity  of 
meat,  fat,  and  wine ;  the  number  of  patients  that  month 
was  9,000  and  the  number  of  deaths  2,560.  These  figures, 
however,  are  not  complete,  since  they  do  not  include  the 
patients  in  the  houses  set  aside  for  troops  overcome  by 
exhaustion.  Up  to  this  time  the  weather  had  been  good,  but 
in  November  rain  set  in  ;  and  while  intermittent  fever  then 
decreased  in  prevalence,  dysentery  raged  even  more  furiously, 
and  typhus  fever  also  broke  out  in  a  virulent,  quickly  fatal 
form.  The  supply  of  food  now  ran  very  low,  and  although 
there  was  sufficient  bread  on  hand,  horse-flesh  was  the  only 
meat.  To  add  to  the  general  misery,  scurvy  made  its  appear- 
ance in  November,  and  all  those  who  contracted  it  died. 
The  extreme  cold  compelled  the  patients  to  keep  their 
clothes  on,  and  they  lay  without  blankets  on  the  hard  floors  of 

166913  V- 


306        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

the  hospital  corridors  ;  their  number  had  now  increased 
to  9,500,  and  2,400  died  in  November.  In  December  the 
misery  increased ;  the  cold  became  more  and  more  intense, 
the  supply  of  food  was  almost  exhausted,  and  the  wine  gave 
out  altogether ;  scurvy  raged  in  an  even  more  severe  and 
virulent  form,  being  frequently  accompanied  by  copious 
hemorrhages  from  various  parts  of  the  body.  In  the  hospitals 
there  were  7,354  patients,  and  2,021  died  in  the  month  of 
December.  In  January  the  acme  of  misery  was  reached  ; 
the  scarcity  of  food  was  terrible,  and  the  ravages  of  scurvy 
were  no  less  than  frightful ;  1,968  men  in  the  garrison  were 
carried  away  in  the  course  of  that  month.  On  February  3, 
1797,  the  stronghold  was  surrendered  to  the  French.  The 
number  of  patients  taken  in  by  the  hospitals  between  Sep- 
tember and  January  exceeded  40,000,  and  of  the  garrison, 
which  numbered  some  30,000  men,  10,249  (more  than  one- 
third  of  the  total)  died.  Fodere  estimates  the  total  number 
of  deaths  in  the  city  of  Mantua  during  the  siege  at  20,000 ;  * 
regarding  the  prevalence  of  diseases  and  the  number  of  deaths 
among  the  civil  inhabitants  Steegmeyer  unfortunately  gives 
us  no  information. 

2.    The  Siege  of  Danzig  (1813) 

Danzig,  which  in  the  spring  of  1807  had  passed  through 
a  siege  of  ten  weeks,  was  once  more,  in  the  year  1813,  from 
January  11  to  November  29,  subjected  to  the  horrors  of 
a  siege,  which  for  two  reasons  was  even  more  horrible  than 
the  previous  one ;  in  the  first  place,  the  garrison  was  badly 
infected  with  disease,  causing  a  severe  epidemic  to  rage 
throughout  the  city ;  and  in  the  second  place,  the  defenders 
of  the  stronghold,  which  was  most  advantageously  located 
to  withstand  a  siege,  were  national  enemies  of  the  inhabitants. 
Consequently  the  latter  were  not  only  grossly  disregarded 
in  the  distribution  of  suppHes,  but  were  actually  obliged 

*  H.  Haser,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iii,  p.  586. 


THE  SIEGE  OF  DANZIG  (1813)  307 

to  turn  over  all  they  had  to  the  French  and  then  buy  it  back 
at  exorbitant  prices.  And  while  the  inhabitants,  and  toward 
the  end  of  the  siege  the  soldiers,  too,  suffered  severely  from 
a  lack  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  the  higher  officers  and  the 
military  officials  lived  in  luxury  until  the  day  of  the  surrender. 

Napoleon  had  assigned  the  defence  of  the  city  to  General 
Rapp,  who  performed  the  task  with  great  valour  and  ability. 
On  the  return  march  from  Russia,  some  40,000  men  of  Mac- 
donald's  corps  had  congregated  in  Danzig,  and  5,000  of  them 
were  sent  away  by  Rapp ;  in  the  middle  of  January  the  total 
number  of  men  in  the  garrison,  including  the  military 
officials,  was  35,934,  consisting  of  Frenchmen,  Poles,  Bavarians, 
Westphalians,  Spaniards,  Italians,  and  Dutchmen.  While 
Macdonald's  corps  had  fared  pretty  well,  comparatively 
speaking,  in  the  Russian  campaign,  the  men  were  all  very 
much  exhausted,  and  furthermore,  typhus  fever  was  preva- 
lent among  them.  As  early  as  the  latter  part  of  January, 
accordingly,  the  number  of  sick  soldiers  was  very  large ; 
in  fact,  only  about  10,000  men  were  healthy  and  able  to 
bear  arms.  '  As  there  were  no  hospitals,  beds,  or  remedies,' 
says  Friccius,^ '  many  died  from  lack  of  care,  and  at  the  same 
time  infectious  diseases  broke  out  and  made  great  havoc. 
A  heap  of  dead  men  and  horses  was  a  common  sight  in  the 
streets,  and  in  a  short  time  many  thousands  of  the  troops, 
as  well  as  of  the  inhabitants,  were  carried  away.' 

In  January  the  death-rate  remained  comparatively  low ; 
of  the  garrison  about  400  men  died  in  the  course  of  that 
month.  But  in  February,  which  was  a  very  cold  month, 
tjrphus  fever  spread  abroad  with  great  rapidity,  so  that 
toward  the  end  of  the  month  some  130  soldiers  died  every 
day  ;  no  less  than  15,000  men  lay  sick,  and  the  total  number 
of  deaths  for  the  entire  month  amounted  to  2,000.  When  it 
began  to  thaw  on  February  24,  the  number  of  patients  and 
deaths  increased  still  more,  so  that  4,000  men  died  in  March 

*  Carl  Friccius,  Geschichte  der  Befestiguugen  und  Belagerungen  Danzigs. 
Berlin,  1854.    P.  158. 

X2 


308        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

and  3,000  in  April.  From  April  on,  the  condition  of  health 
in  the  garrison  improved,  although  the  number  of  deaths 
in  the  month  of  May  was  still  no  less  than  2,000.® 

As  early  as  February  typhus  fever  had  spread  to  the  civil 
population,  which  before  the  siege  had  numbered  some 
40,000 ;  a  great  many  civiHans,  however,  had  fled  from  the 
city  before  the  investment  was  yet  complete.  In  the  months 
of  February  and  March,  according  to  Blech,'  some  200-300 
persons  died  every  week,  '  including  representatives  of  all 
classes — ^physicians,  preachers,  jurists,  merchants,  down  to 
the  humblest  people.'  The  pestilence  raged  most  furiously 
among  the  civil  inhabitants  in  the  latter  part  of  March. 
'  Almost  every  family  was  in  mourning,  and  many  famihes 
were  wiped  out  entirely ;  the  best  and  most  estimable 
young  men  were  carried  away  in  the  prime  of  their  Uves. 
Whole  famihes  perished,  especially  in  certain  streets  which 
the  pestilence  seemed  to  have  selected  for  its  chief  dwelling- 
place.'  *  These  were  especially  the  streets  inhabited  by  the 
poorer  classes. 

It  was  not  long  before  a  lack  of  the  necessaries  of  hfe 
began  to  make  itself  felt  in  the  city.  As  early  as  February  27 
the  Russians  had  cut  off  the  supply  of  water  afforded  by  the 
Radaune,  which  fed  the  wells  in  the  city,  and  this  necessitated 
dependence  upon  rain-water.  For  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
newsupphesof  food,a  sortiealong  theNehrung  was  undertaken 
on  April  27 ;  and  while  the  enterprise  was  successful,  the  only 
persons  who  really  derived  any  benefit  from  it  were  the  higher 
officers  and  mihtary  officials,  who  sold  butter,  milk,  and 
corned  beef  at  exorbitant  prices.  Thus  the  well-to-do  citizens, 
at  least,  were  able  to  secure  food  by  pajdng  an  excessive 
price  for  it.  In  May  the  conditions  among  the  poor  became 
a  great  deal  worse  ;  they  were  obUged  to  eat  things  that  were 

*  Prihgle,  op.  cit.,  p.  240- 

'  A.  F.  Blech,  Geschichte  der  siebenjdhrigen  Leiden  Danzigs  von  1807-14. 
Danzig,  1815.    Part  ii,  p.  23. 

*  Blech  (loc.  cit.),  vol.  ii,  p.  61. 


THE  SIEGE  OF  DANZIG  (1813)  309 

positively  disgusting ;  horse-meat  and  waste  from  the 
breweries  were  delicacies,  while  cats  and  dogs  were  also 
devoured.  The  rations  of  the  soldiers  grew  smaller  and 
smaller,  although  there  was  sufficient  grain  on  hand  to  keep 
them  supplied  with  bread.  Says  Friccius,*  in  regard  to  a 
sortie  undertaken  on  June  9,  '  How  hungry  the  troops  in  the 
garrison  were  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  they  cut  up  every 
horse  that  was  killed  in  battle  and  took  the  edible  parts 
with  them.' 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  armistice,  which  became 
known  in  Danzig  on  June  10,  there  was  a  pause  in  the  siege 
lasting  until  August  18 ;  during  this  time  the  besiegers 
brought  food  to  the  garrison  every  five  days,  but  absolutely 
no  provision  was  made  for  the  civil  inhabitants.  During  the 
armistice  many  citizens  left  the  city ;  indeed  the  French 
expelled  from  the  city  all  persons  who  were  not  sufficiently 
provided  with  the  necessaries  of  hfe.  At  first  the  Russians 
allowed  the  fugitives  to  pass  through  their  lines,  but  later 
on  they  raised  objections,  so  that  a  large  number  of  the 
unfortunate  inhabitants  were  obliged  to  live  in  the  open 
fields  between  the  besiegers  and  the  besieged,  where  many 
of  them  died  of  starvation.  In  the  latter  part  of  September 
General  Rapp  allowed  some  300  of  them,  who  had  managed 
to  keep  alive,  to  return  into  the  city.  Blech  asserts  that  the 
emigration  of  beggars  and  others  of  the  poor  reduced  the 
population  of  the  city  by  some  16,000.^" 

In  October,  lack  of  the  necessaries  of  Hfe  reached  a  climax, 
so  that  rats  and  mice  were  eaten.  Since  the  scarcity  of 
provender  made  it  necessary  to  slaughter  almost  all  the  horses, 
the  soldiers  were  suppHed  with  large  quantities  of  horse-meat. 
On  November  1  the  granaries,  in  which  were  kept  the 
provisions  of  the  garrison,  were  destroyed  by  fire,  resulting 
in  the  loss  of  about  two-thirds  of  the  provisions.  This  made 
it  necessary  to  reduce  the  soldiers'  bread-rations,  and  the 

•  Friccius,  op.  cit.,  p.  203. 
lo  Blech,  op.  cit.,  vol.  ii,  p.  204. 


310        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

bread  with  which  they  were  supphed  was  made  of  half- 
burned  flour  and  of  rusks  fished  out  of  the  stinking  Mottlau  ; 
'  it  was  so  disgusting  that  only  ravenous  hunger  could  induce 
anybody  to  eat  it.'  " 

In  consequence  of  hunger  and  the  unnatural  food  eaten, 
the  mortality  among  the  civil  inhabitants,  the  number  of 
whom  had  dwindled  down  to  16,000,  became  very  high  ;  the 
number  of  deaths  per  week  in  the  month  of  October  was  no 
less  than  50-80,  to  which,  according  to  Blech,  must  be 
added  the  deaths  among  the  poor  which  were  no  longer 
reported.  In  the  first  part  of  November  there  were  some 
80-90  deaths  per  week.  On  November  29  General  Rapp 
surrendered  the  city  to  the  Russians  and  Prussians  ;  but 
since  the  conditions  of  capitulation  could  not  be  agreed 
upon  until  January  1,  1814,  there  was  an  interval  of  about 
a  month  during  which  the  French  garrison,  but  not  the  civil 
population,  was  supphed  with  food  ;  consequently  the  death- 
rate  among  the  citizens  remained  high.  Furthermore,  the 
besiegers,  among  whom  a  virulent  typhus  had  been  raging 
since  October,  communicated  the  infection  to  the  inhabitants, 
107  of  whom  succumbed  to  it  in  the  last  week  of  November, 
133  in  the  first  week  of  December,  and  138  in  the  following 
week.  On  December  1,  permission  was  obtained  to  estabhsh 
a  market,  and  from  that  time  on,  the  citizens  could  once  more 
provide  themselves  with  food  in  a  regular  way. 

The  loss  of  human  Ufe  inside  the  besieged  stronghold  was 
terrible  ;  of  the  35,900  troops  in  the  garrison,  15,736  according 
to  Friccius  died  in  the  lazarets  ;  at  the  time  of  the  capitula- 
tion only  16,532  men  were  left,  and  of  these  1,482  were  sick 
and  had  to  be  left  in  the  city.  According  to  Blech,  a  total 
of  5,592  civiHans  died,  1,142  of  them  in  the  last  three  months 
(October-December)  of  the  year ;  the  number  of  deaths  in 
December  alone  was  473.  Toward  the  end  of  the  siege  some 
ninety  persons  died  of  starvation." 


11  Friccius,  op.  cit.,  p.  284. 

12  Blech,  op.  cit.,  vol.  ii,  p.  296. 


THE  SIEGE  OF  TORGAU  (1813)  311 

3.    The  Siege  of  Torgau  (1813) " 

On  May  10, 1813,  when  Napoleon  had  appeared  in  Saxony, 
and  the  King,  after  considerable  hesitation,  had  decided  in 
his  favour,  the  Saxon  garrison  of  Torgau,  at  that  time  a  place 
of  5,000  inhabitants,  was  replaced  by  a  French  army-corps. 
In  the  course  of  the  summer  large  transports  of  sick  soldiers 
from  various  lazarets  arrived  at  Torgau,  and  on  July  18 
alone  3,000,  sick  men  and  1,000  convalescents  came  from 
Dresden.  Consequently  the  number  of  sick  in  the  stronghold 
was  very  large  even  before  the  siege  began ;  all  public 
buildings  had  been  converted  into  lazarets.  But  even  these 
were  not  numerous  or  large  enough  to  accommodate  all  the 
patients,  who  numbered  some  6,000  in  the  month  of  Septem- 
ber, so  that  the  occupants  of  houses  along  entire  streets 
were  driven  out  of  their  homes,  which  were  used  for  lazarets 
and  barracks.  '  A  virulent,  putrid  fever '  raged  in  all  the 
lazarets,  and  at  least  one-third  of  the  persons  who  contracted 
it  died ;  the  inhabitants  and  the  Frenchmen  quartered  in 
the  homes  of  citizens  were  at  first  spared  by  the  disease. 

After  the  battle  of  Dennewitz  (September  6,  1813)  the 
head-quarters  of  the  third  and  fourth  French  army-corps  was 
transferred  to  Torgau,  where  also  numerous  fugitives  took 
refuge ;  at  the  same  time  the  large  French  head-quarters 
from  Dresden  arrived,  so  that  the  size  of  the  garrison  was 
increased  by  10,000  men  and  5,000  horses.  After  the  battle 
of  Leipzig  the  stronghold  was  besieged  by  the  Prussians, 
and  presently  the  supply  of  food  ran  low  and  the  uncleanUness 
in  the  streets  and  houses  grew  incredibly  worse.  '  Then  the 
pestilence  began  to  spread  at  an  alarming  rate  among 
the  inhabitants  and  among  the  Frenchmen  quartered  in  the 

1'  F.  Lehmann,  Beobachtungeu  des  im  Jahre  1813  in  Torgau  herrschenden 
Typhus.  Annalen  der  Heilkunst  des  Jahres  1814.  P.  506. — G.  A.  Richter, 
Geschichte  der  Belagerung  und  Einnahme  der  Festung  Torgau  und  Beschrei- 
bung  der  Epidemie,  zvelche  daselbst  in  den  Jahren  1813  und  1814  herrschte. 
Berlin,  1814. 


312        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

homes  of  citizens,  so  that  the  entire  city  of  Torgau  came  to 
resemble  a  large,  overcrowded  lazaret.'  ^* 

'  The  regular  lazarets  now  became  veritable  hot-beds  of 
misery  ;  they  were  scarcely  able  to  accommodate  the  large 
number  of  patients,  who  numbered  at  least  12,000,  and  whom 
it  was  necessary  to  place  so  close  together  that  they  almost 
touched  one  another.  There  was  a  lack  of  straw  and  of 
other  necessities,  of  sick-attendants  and  physicians,  of 
effective  remedies,  and  especially  of  order  and  proper 
superintendence.'  The  patients  suffered  partly  from  severe, 
fetid  diarrhoea,  and  partly  from  typhus.  In  the  courtyards 
there  were  enormous  accimiulations  of  dirt  and  refuse,  and 
the  doors  leading  into  many  of  the  sick-rooms  could  scarcely 
be  opened  ovsdng  to  the  collections  of  foul  matter  which 
covered  the  floor  ankle-deep  ;  in  order  to  reach  the  sick  it 
was  necessary  to  wade  through  this  and  to  cUmb  over  dead 
bodies.  Absolutely  no  thought  was  given  to  keeping  the 
rooms  warm.  '  Thus  it  is  quite  natural  that  among  these 
horrible  surroundings  the  sHghtest  wound,  the  most  insigni- 
ficant indisposition,  could  easily  have  a  fatal  termination, 
and  that  it  was  like  sentencing  a  man  to  death  to  bring  him 
to  the  lazaret.'  The  munber  of  deaths  exceeded  8,000  in  the 
month  of  November  alone. 

Equally  terrible  were  the  conditions  in  the  other  parts  of 
the  city ;  all  the  private  houses  were  overcrowded  with 
patients  and  filled  with  dirt.  A  sickening  odour  permeated  the 
atmosphere  ;  in  the  ditches  around  the  fortress  and  in  every 
comer  of  the  city  lay  dead  horses,  rotting  straw  sacks,  ragged 
uniforms,  and  even  human  corpses.  Refuse  of  the  worst 
kind  was  piled  up  in  the. streets,  often  as  high  as  the  second 
story.  '  At  this  time ',  says  Lehmann,  '  Torgau  looked  more 
like  a  lazaret  than  a  city  inhabited  by  healthy  persons  ;  for 
who  would  have  been  able  to  find  a  house  in  which  there  were 
no  persons  suffering  from  nerve-fever  ?  Parlours,  bedrooms, 
halls,   stables,   kitchens,   and  cellars — all  were  filled  with 

^*  Richter,  op.  cit.,  p.  9. 


THE  SIEGE  OF  TORGAU  (1813)  313 

patients.'  The  barracks  and  guard-rooms  resembled  hospitals. 
In  a  few  weeks  more  than  600  inhabitants  died ;  entire  families 
were  wiped  out  by  the  epidemic,  and  there  was  scarcely  one 
which  was  not  mourning  the  loss  of  one  of  its  members.' 

Up  to  the  beginning  of  December  the  number  of  patients 
steadily  increased;  in  the  lazarets  alone,  300  soldiers  died 
every  day. 

The  terrors  of  the  bombardment  had  a  very  disastrous 
effect  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  since  it  compelled 
them  to  hve  in  damp,  unhealthy,  infected  cellars.  Not  until 
the  latter  part  of  December  did  the  epidemic  begin  to  abate 
and  to  lose,  at  the  same  time,  its  virident  character ;  the 
arrival  of  very  cold  weather,  as  well  as  the  diminution  of 
the  number  of  people,  and  the  fact  that  the  infection  had 
practically  run  its  course  among  the  inhabitants  and  the 
garrison,  were  at  least  partly  responsible  for  this  abatement ; 
furthermore,  there  was  now  less  crowding,  and  it  became 
possible  to  establish  better  order. 

The  lack  of  system  in  the  French  lazarets  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  the  authorities  were  never  once  able  to  give  an 
account  of  the  number  of  persons  that  died  in  them.  From 
grave-diggers'  records  and  church  registers  Richter  managed 
to  compile  the  following  table  of  statistics  indicating  the 
number  of  deaths  :  " 


French 

Saxon 

Civil 

soldiers. 

soldiers. 

inhabitants. 

Total. 

January- August  ( 1 8 1 3 ) 

— 

— 

222 

— 

September 

1,107 

64 

43 

1,214 

October 

4.803 

36 

66 

4.905 

November 

8,209 

3 

228 

8,440 

December 

4,886 

— 

258 

5.144 

January  i-io  (1814) 

649 

— 

83 

732 

January  11-31 

314 

— 

91 

405 

February 

400 

— 

79 

479 

March 

100 

— 

52 

152 

^*  Richter,  op.  cit.,  p.  19.  The  figures  do  not  exactly  coincide  with 
those  published  by  Burger.  Compare  J.  C.  A.  Biirger,  Nachrichten  iiher 
die  Blockade  und  Belagerung  der  Elb-  und  Landesfestung  Torgau,  1818. 
Torgau,  1838.  Quoted  in  C.  F.  Riecke,  Der  Kriegs-  und  Friedenstyphus 
in  den  Armeen.    Potsdam,  1848.    P.  120. 


314        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

According  to  this  table  there  died,  between  September 
and  January  10,  19,654  French  soldiers,  103  Saxon  soldiers, 
and  678  civilians.  But  Richter  says  in  regard  to  the  above 
figures :  '  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  figures 
pertaining  to  the  French  soldiers  are  much  too  small,  since 
they  include  only  those  that  were  actually  buried  by  the 
grave-diggers  in  pubUc  burial-grounds.  All  those  who  died 
in  private  houses,  in  the  tete-de-'pont,  in  the  various  forts, 
in  the  lunettes,  or  in  any  of  the  outworks  of  the  fortress  are 
not  included  ;  their  number  was  by  no  means  small,  and  many 
of  them  were  buried  unceremoniously  by  citizens  or  by  their 
conu-ades,  while  large  nimibers  of  bodies  were  left  lying  in 
the  open.'  In  the  month  of  May  it  was  impossible  to  find 
a  grave-digger  to  bury  the  heaps  of  corpses,  which  were 
consequently  thrown  in  masses  into  the  Elbe  ;  this  of  course 
interfered  with  the  operation  of  the  floating  mills  along  the 
river.  Nor  are  the  bodies  disposed  of  in  this  way  included 
in  the  above  table.  Accordingly,  Richter  estimates  the  total 
number  of  deaths  among  the  French  soldiers  at  between 
29,000  and  30,000  men. 

The  pestilence  continued  to  rage  even  after  the  surrender 
of  the  stronghold,  and  did  not  begin  to  abate  until  the  latter 
part  of  January.  Although  the  Prussian  troops  were  not 
quartered  in  the  city,  and  entered  it  only  in  the  day-time, 
the  pestilence  nevertheless  spread  to  them  and  carried  away 
more  than  300  men  in  the  course  of  three  months.  Not 
until  the  end  of  February  did  the  pestilence  among  the  civil 
inhabitants  begin  to  abate ;  the  mortaUty  was  still  high  in 
March,  but  in  April  it  sank  to  normal  again. 

According  to  Richter,  two-thirds  of  the  patients  in  the 
military  lazaret  were  suffering  from  '  coUiquative,  dysenteric 
diarrhoea  ',  and  only  one-third  from  '  true  typhus  ',  whereas 
among  the  civil  inhabitants  the  latter  was  by  far  the  more 
common.  There  were  two  forms  of  diarrhoea  observed  ;  it 
appeared  either  as  an  acute  attack  of  dysentery,  which  rarely 
lasted  longer  than  two  weeks  and  then  terminated  in  either 


THE  SIEGE  OF  TORGAU  (1813)  315 

death  or  recovery,  or  else  as  a  chronic,  dysenteric  diarrhoea, 
which  caused  general  weakness  and  finally  death. 

Typhus  fever  began  always  with  a  frequently  recurring  chill, 
and  with  a  violent  headache  and  general  indisposition  ;  this 
was  followed  by  a  stage  of  dry  fever,  accompanied  by  stupor, 
dizziness,  and  often  wild  deUrium ;  as  a  rule  the  first  few  days 
were  characterized  by  obstinate  constipation,  and  bleeding 
at  the  nose  was  very  common.  Later  on,  somnolence  mani- 
fested itself,  and  the  original  constipation  changed  to  a  copious, 
fetid  diarrhoea.  Petechiae  appeared  frequently,  but  not 
invariably ;  at  first  small,  bright-red  spots  showed  themselves, 
and  later  on  they  assumed  a  darker  colour,  grew  larger,  and 
finally  turned  black.  Their  size  varied  considerably ;  some- 
times they  were  the  size  of  a  pin-head,  while  often  they  were 
from  one  to  one-and-a-half  centimetres  in  diameter.  Most 
of  the  patients  died  between  the  tenth  and  fifteenth  days ; 
but  if  the  disease  progressed  favourably,  signs  of  improvement 
usually  showed  themselves  suddenly  on  the  fourteenth  or 
fifteenth  day ;  as  a  rule,  convalescence  was  of  short  duration. 

The  two  forms  of  '  nerve-fever '  mentioned  by  Richter 
doubtless  include  various  other  diseases.  That  many  cases 
of  typhus  fever  were  among  the  fever  patients  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  the  disease  was  very  prevalent  among 
the  French  troops,  and  also  from  Richter's  description ;  he 
expressly  mentions  the  sudden  appearance  of  the  disease,  the 
initial  chill,  the  remission  of  the  fever  in  the  third  week, 
and  the  rapid  convalescence — all  of  them  characteristic  signs 
of  typhus  fever.  Moreover,  typhoid  fever  doubtless  prevailed 
more  or  less  extensively.  Richter  describes  '  a  pituitous 
modification  of  typhus ',  with  a  Ungering  development ;  ^® 
the  crisis  always  came  late,  frequently  not  until  the  sixth  or 
seventh  week,  and  was  invariably  uncertain,  so  that  con- 
valescence was  very  slow  and  often  interrupted  by  relapses. 
Deuteropathic  complications  were  of  almost  regular  occurrence. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  we  have  to  do  here  with  a  good 

^®  Richter,  op.  cit.,  p.  54. 


316        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

description  of  typhoid  fever,  which  revealed  its  presence 
chiefly  among  the  newly-conscripted  young  French  soldiers. 
Regarding  the  enormous  loss  of  life  caused  by  the  epidemic 
in  Torgau,  Richter,  who  was  a  Prussian  mihtary  physician, 
says  :  '  The  devastation  that  it  caused  among  the  Frenchmen, 
and  unfortunately  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  ill-fated 
city  as  well,  was  indeed  terrible ;  in  fact  there  is  happily 
scarcely  a  parallel  to  it  in  the  history  of  the  world.  One  may 
safely  say  that  the  misery  experienced  by  the  French  troops 
throughout  the  entire  course  of  that  disastrous  war  reached 
its  cKmax  inside  the  walls  of  Torgau.  The  French  lazarets 
in  the  city  represented  scenes  of  horror  such  as  repel  hmnan 
nature,  and  such  as  one  must  actually  witness  in  order  to 
appreciate  fully  their  dreadfulness.' 

4,    The  Siege  of  Mayence  (1813-14) 

The  terrible  devastation  caused  by  typhus  fever  in  the 
strongholds  along  the  Vistula,  Elbe,  and  Rhine,  which  were 
so  valorously  defended  by  French  generals  in  the  years 
1 81 3-1 4,  excited  general  consternation.  Wittmann  "  furnishes 
a  very  accurate  description  of  the  misery  imdergone  in 
the  besieged  cities,  especially  the  city  of  Mayence.  First 
he  conmients  on  the  scarcity  of  supphes,  observing  that  the 
vicissitudes  of  war  can  never  be  foreseen ;  furthermore,  he 
asserts  that  the  commanders  of  fortresses,  when  they  antici- 
pated a  siege,  purposely  kept  the  inhabitants  in  imcertainty 
about  it.  In  the  case  of  Mayence,  Napoleon  ordered  the 
city  to  be  provisioned  after  the  battle  of  Leipzig.  Some 
2,000  oxen  were  collected,  and  most  of  them  were  kept 
in  the  villages  siu-rounding  Mayence ;  but  when  the  AlKes 
crossed  the  Rhine  the  oxen  were  all  quickly  driven  into 
the  city,  where  they  grew  lean  owing  to  lack  of  provender, 
and   died   of  rinderpest   in    such   large   numbers   that  it 

^'  F.  J.  Wittmann,   Erfahrungen  iiber  die    Ursachen   der  ansteckenden 
Krankheiten  belagerter  Festungen.    Mayence,  1819. 


THE  SIEGE  OF  MAYENCE  (1813-14)  317 

became  necessary  to  slaughter  them  all  and  salt  the  meat. 
This  was  done  in  such  a  careless  way  that  a  large  part  of  the 
meat  was  spoiled ;  even  after  the  stronghold  surrendered, 
some  of  this  salted  meat  was  still  on  hand,  and  it  was  so 
rotten  that  it  had  to  be  destroyed.  The  citizens  had  learned 
of  the  danger  too  late,  and  numerous  unscrupulous  citizens 
bought  up  all  the  important  necessaries  of  life  and  then  took 
advantage  of  the  situation  by  raising  the  prices  so  high  that 
only  the  wealthy  could  procure  food.  Lack  of  good  bread, 
which  had  been  so  scarce  during  the  previous  siege  of  Mayence 
(1793),  does  not  seem  to  have  been  so  severely  felt  in  the 
siege  of  1813.  Particularly  noticeable  was  the  want  of  fuel, 
so  that  many  soldiers  froze  to  death  in  the  exposed  guard- 
rooms of  the  outworks.  Legumes,  especially  peas,  could  not 
be  thoroughly  cooked,  so  that  it  was  frequently  necessary 
to  throw  them  away.  The  supply  of  good  fat,  as  well  as  of 
fresh  vegetables,  soon  ran  out,  while  the  great  quantity  of 
alcohoHc  beverages  stored  up  in  Mayence  had  a  very  detri- 
mental effect.  Very  inadequate  provision  was  made  for  the 
sheltering  of  the  soldiers ;  inasmuch  as  the  siege  took  place 
in  the  winter,  they  could  not  camp  in  the  open,  and  the  bar- 
racks were  not  large  or  mmierous  enough  to  accommodate 
them.  Consequently  the  ofl&cers  were  quartered  in  the  homes 
of  the  wealthier  citizens,  one  officer  in  each  house,  while  the 
troops  were  housed  in  large  numbers  in  the  often  insanitary 
homes  of  the  poorer  people.  This  of  course  greatly  favoured 
the  dissemination  of  infectious  diseases. 

According  to  Wittmann,  there  was  not  a  single  trace  of 
an  infectious  disease  in  Mayence  in  September  1813.  In 
October  the  field-lazarets  of  the  army  were  transferred  from 
Leipzig  to  the  West,  and  most  of  them  passed  through 
Mayence  ;  in  the  first  part  of  November,  moreover,  the  field- 
army  itself  passed  through  the  city  on  its  retmrn  march ;  thus 
sick  and  healthy  soldiers  conveyed  typhus  fever  into  the 
stronghold.  '  In  the  vicinity  of  the  hospitals  and  churches, 
where  sick  soldiers  were  congregated,  in  the  streets  through 


S18        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

which  these  doomed  victims  passed,  and  in  the  houses  in 
which  they  were  quartered  together  mth  healthy  men,  or 
into  which  they  had  crept  from  sheer  inabiHty  to  go  further, 
contagious  typhus  broke  out  first  and  with  the  greatest 
severity.'  ^*  Dr.  Petit,  the  commissary  sent  out  by  the 
government  in  Paris,  did  not  have  the  courage  to  oppose 
the  will  of  Marshal  Marmont,  who  was  in  chief  command, 
and  so  he  sought  to  pacify  the  inhabitants  by  means  of 
notices  in  the  papers  to  the  effect  that  the  prevaihng  disease 
was  neither  epidemic  nor  infectious,  and  was  only  contagious 
typhus. 

After  the  investment  was  complete,  typhus  fever  caused 
terrible  devastation  throughout  the  city.  When  the  siege 
began,  Mayence  had  a  gai-rison  of  some  30,000  men,  while 
the  civil  inhabitants  numbered  about  24,500 ;  to  the  latter, 
however,  must  be  added  a  considerable  number  of  refugees 
from  the  surrounding  country.  The  bad  hospital  arrange- 
ments, as  always  happened  at  that  time,  greatly  helped  to 
spread  the  disease  in  Mayence.  According  to  a  report  made 
out  by  two  French  physicians  and  reproduced  by  Wittmann, 
the  air  in  the  hospitals  was  terrible ;  every  bed  was  occupied 
by  two  patients,  while  the  straw  under  them  and  the  blankets 
over  them  were  never  changed  or  washed,  so  that  they  must 
necessarily  have  constituted  a  source  of  infection.  A  report 
by  Kerckhoffs^®  regarding  the  Mayence  hospitals  describes 
even  worse  conditions  : 

I  was  appointed  to  serve  in  the  hospital  established  in  the  Municipal 
Octroi  Building,  and  the  first  time  that  I  went  there  I  found  the 
living  and  the  dead,  the  wounded  and  the  sick,  scattered  in  confusion 
all  over  the  place.  The  sick  were  stretched  out  on  the  floor,  without 
even  straw  under  them,  covered  with  ordure.  I  was  obliged  to  pick 
my  way  on  tip-toe  in  order  not  to  sink  up  to  the  ankles  in  filth. 
I  saw  sick  men  lying  beside  the  dead  bodies  of  their  comrades. 

^*  Zenzen,  Leydig,  and  Renard,  Ueber  das  ansteckende  Nervenfteber, 
welches  in  den  Jahren  1813  und  1814  in  Mainz  herrschte.  Horn's  Arch,  fiir 
med.  Erjahrung,  1814.    P.  449. 

^"  J.  R.  L.  Kercklioffs,  Observations  midicales,  etc.  Maestricht,  1814. 
P.  68f. 


THE  SIEGE  OF  MAYENCE  (1813-14)  319 

In  effect,  there  were  so  many  of  them  that  they  were  lying  on  top  of 
one  another.  In  some  of  the  rooms  the  windows  were  closed,  so  that 
no  air  could  enter ;  in  other  rooms  there  was  neither  glass  nor 
boarding  in  the  doors  or  windows,  notwithstanding  the  extreme 
cold.  The  sick  men  told  me  that  they  had  been  in  that  same  position 
for  two,  three,  and  even  four  days,  ^vithout  having  had  a  drop  of 
water. 

The  soldiers  under  arrest,  who  were  compelled  to  clean 
out  the  hospitals,  all  died,  no  more  sick-attendants  were  to 
be  found,  and  a  large  number  of  physicians  perished  in  the 
performance  of  their  duties ;  all  the  persons  employed  in 
the  hospital  entirely  neglected  their  duties,  and  most  of 
them  were  drunk  all  the  time,  since  large  quantities  of  wine 
were  on  hand  for  the  patients. 

The  result  was  that  the  epidemic  gradually  attained  to 
enormous  dimensions.  '  The  infection  ',  says  Wittmann,^" 
'  carried  away  all  the  grave-diggers  one  by  one,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  find  anybody  who  was  wilUng  to  do  that  danger- 
ous work.  Thousands  of  dead  bodies  of  citizens  and  soldiers 
lay  for  weeks  in  front  of  the  Miinstertor,  where  they  were 
piled  up  Hke  logs  pending  burial.'  In  December  and  January 
the  epidemic  reached  its  climax ;  after  that  it  gradually 
abated,  but  did  not  come  to  an  end  until  May  3,  1814,  when 
the  siege  terminated  and  the  AUies  entered  the  city. 

In  the  period  between  November  1, 1813,  and  May  3, 1814, 
7,000  deaths  among  the  soldiers  are  recorded  in  the  civil 
register  of  the  city ;  according  to  statements  of  the  grave- 
diggers,  some  10,000  or  11,000  more  soldiers  were  buried, 
whose  names  were  not  entered  in  the  register  for  the  reason 
that  they  could  not  be  ascertained ;  nor  do  the  above 
figures  include  the  number  of  deaths  in  the  stronghold  of 
Kastel  on  the  other  side  of  the  Rhine.  Of  the  civil  inhabi- 
tants, 2,445  (about  one-tenth  of  the  population)  died ;  a  large 
number  of  physicians  contracted  the  disease,  and  four 
physicians  and  five  surgeons  succumbed  to  it. 

*°  Wittmann,  op.  cit.,  p.  150. 


320        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

5.    The  Siege  of  Paris  (1870-1)  ^^ 

After  the  battle  of  Sedan  the  Germans  immediately  began 
to  march  toward  Paris ;  on  September  15,  1870,  the  first 
cavalrymen  appeared  before  the  capital,  and  on  September  19 
the  investment  was  complete. 

An  exhaustive  account  by  H.  Sueur  and  a  large  number 
of  other  reports  offer  us  very  full  information  regarding  the 
condition  of  health  in  Paris  during  the  siege,  since  the  adminis- 
trative apparatus  never  stopped  running.  The  approach  of 
the  German  armies  caused  numerous  well-to-do  citizens  to 
leave  the  city  ;  some  went  south,  some  to  Switzerland,  and 
some  to  England.  Sueur  estimates  their  number  from  the 
reports  of  the  railroad  companies  at  300,000.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  large  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding 
country  sought  refuge  in  the  city  ;  their  number  is  estimated 
at  180,000.  Furthermore,  the  size  of  the  garrison  was 
considerably  increased ;  the  number  of  men  in  the  regular 
army  on  November  4,  1870,  is  estimated  at  236,941,  and  this 
does  not  include  8,000  men  in  the  First  Division  of  the  First 
Corps.  To  the  above,  moreover,  must  be  added  the  number 
of  soldiers  who  died  between  the  beginning  and  the  end  of 
the  siege.  Thus  the  number  of  men  in  the  regular  army  at 
the  beginning  of  the  siege  was  some  246,000  ;  of  these  some 
56,000  were  already  in  the  city  in  the  middle  of  the  summer, 
while  the  remaining  190,000  arrived  later.  Accordingly,  the 
total  number  of  people  in  the  city  shortly  before  the  siege 
began  was  increased  by  70,000.  Legoyt  estimated  the  popula- 
tion of  the  city  on  July  1,  1870,  at  1,890,000,  so  that  on  the 
opening  day  of  the  investment  there  were  1,960,000  (in  round 
numbers,  2,000,000)  people  in  Paris.  The  arrival  of  the 
190,000  soldiers  altered  the  composition  of  the  population, 
since  the  increase  augmented  only  the  number  of  males 
between  the  ages  of  20  and  40. 

21  Vacher,  La  mortaliii  a  Paris  en  1870.  Gaz.  mid.  de  Paris.  42«  ann^c, 
1871,  p.  9. — Bourchardet,  VhygUnc  de  Paris  pendant  U  sidge.  Gaz.  des 
Hdpitaux,  1870,  No.  46. 


THE  SIEGE  OF  PARIS  (1870-1)  321 

A  severe  epidemic  of  small-pox  raged  in  Paris,  as  stated 
above,  even  before  the  siege  took  place.  In  the  first  part  of 
the  siege,  moreover,  the  disease  raged  with  even  greater 
fury  in  the  city,  since  most  of  the  young  newly- enlisted 
mobile  guards  had  never  been  vaccinated.  The  maximum 
of  deaths  caused  by  it  were  reported  between  November  6 
and  November  27.  We  have  already  described  the  course 
of  the  small-pox  epidemic  in  Paris.^^  It  was  influenced 
neither  by  hunger  nor  by  cold,  but  developed  chiefly  for  the 
reason  that  it  was  impossible  to  congregate  and  isolate  the 
large  number  of  unvaccinated  and  susceptible  persons. 

Typhoid  fever,  dysentery,  and  diarrhoea,  because  of  the 
unfavourable  conditions  brought  about  by  the  siege,  became 
very  widespread  and  virulent.  Whereas  in  the  year  1869 
there  were  630  deaths  caused  by  typhoid  fever,  during  the 
siege  of  1870  no  less  than  3,475  persons  succumbed  to  that 
disease.  Dupinet  ^^  thinks  that  the  above  number  is  too 
small,  because  the  disease  was  often  not  recognized,  and 
pneumonia,  a  common  complication,  was  entered  as  the 
cause  of  death.  Inasmuch  as  typhoid  fever  was  endemic  in 
Paris,  and  as  the  native  inhabitants  had  acquired  immunity 
by  recovery  from  an  attack  in  the  early  part  of  their  lives, 
those  who  were  most  severely  afflicted  by  the  disease  were 
chiefly  the  soldiers  in  the  army  and  the  refugees  from  the 
surrounding  country.  The  largest  number  of  deaths  was 
reported  in  the  twentieth  week  of  the  siege,  i.e.  between 
January  14  and  20.^*  No  less  than  375  persons  succumbed 
to  typhoid  fever  in  the  course  of  that  week,  whereas  in  the 
corresponding  week  of  the  previous  year  only  sixteen  deaths 
had  been  reported.  The  largest  number  of  deaths  caused 
by  dysentery  and  diarrhoea  in  a  single  week  was  reported 
somewhat  later ;    the  limited  prevalence  of  these  diseases 

«  Chapter  VIII. 

2»  Dupinet,  Des  principales  causes  de  la  mortalitd  a  Paris  pendant  le  siige. 
Paris,  1871. 

2*  O.  du  Mesnil,  La  morialite  a  Paris  pendant  le  sidge.  Ann.  d'Hyg.  publ. 
Series  II,  vol.  xxxv,  p.  413.    1871. 

1569.13  y 


Sn       EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

during  the  siege  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  in  the  half- 
year  1869-70  the  number  of  deaths  caused  by  them  was 
never  more  than  twenty  per  week.  From  statistics  compiled 
by  Sueur  we  have  arranged  the  following  table  (p.  323), 
which  also  includes  the  deaths  caused  by  bronchitis  and 
pneumonia,  but  not  the  victims  buried  on  the  battle-fields, 
of  whom  there  were  some  3,000. 

The  table  indicates  the  gradual  diminution  of  the 
food-supply.  In  December  the  quaUty  of  the  bread  grew 
worse  and  worse ;  white  bread  could  no  longer  be  baked, 
and  in  its  place  an  almost  inedible  form  of  brown  bread  was 
made  out  of  bran,  wheat,  rye,  rice,  barley,  and  oats.  Parti- 
cularly noticeable  was  the  lack  of  good  fats,  making  it  neces- 
sary to  prepare  foods  with  a  bad-tasting  tallow  that  was 
sold  under  the  name  of  '  Beurre  de  Paris  '.  Since  the  cattle 
had  to  be  slaughtered  (those  that  were  not  killed  died  of 
various  diseases),  there  was  very  soon  a  great  scarcity  of 
milk,  making  it  very  difficult  to  feed  infants.^^ 

Several  persons  have  maintained  that  the  extreme  cold 
exerted  considerable  influence  upon  the  death-rate ;  and 
a  glance  at  the  two  columns  in  the  table  indicating 
the  number  of  deaths  caused  by  pneumonia  and  bronchitis 
would  seem  to  justify  this  contention.  How  great  the 
difference  was,  as  compared  with  normal  years,  will  be 
obvious  when  we  call  attention  to  the  fact  that,  whereas  in 
the  twenty-second  week  of  the  siege  (January  28-February  3) 
627  persons  succumbed  to  bronchitis,  in  the  preceding  year 
only  seventy-six  deaths  were  caused  by  that  disease  between 
January  30  and  February  5,  and  that,  whereas  from  465 
to  468  persons  succumbed  to  pneumonia  between  January  21 
and  February  18,  1871,  the  number  of  deaths  caused  by  that 
disease  in  the  corresponding  period  of  the  previous  year 
varied  from  90  to  119  per  week. 

According  to  the  unanimous  verdict  of  the  Paris  physicians, 
typhus  fever  did  not  make  its  appearance  during  the  siege. 

"  Bouchut,  Alimentation  des  nouveau-nis  pendant  le  siige  de  Paris.  Gaz. 
des  Hdpitaux,  1871,  p.  35. 


Mortality  during  the  Siege  of  Paris 


No.  of  deaths  during  the  siege 
caused  by 


Sept.  4-10 
Sept.  11-17 
Sept.  18-24 

Sept.  25- 

Oct.  I 
Oct.  2-8 


6  Oct.  9-15 
Oct.  16-22 
Oct.  23-9 
Oct.  30- 
Nov.  5 
Nov.  6-12 
Nov.  13-19 
Nov.  20-26 

Nov.  27- 

Dec.  3 
Dec.  4-10 
Dee.  11-17 


Dec.  18-24 


Dec.  25-31 
Jan. 1-6 

Jan.  7-13 
Jan.  14-20 
Jan. 21-7 
Jan.  28- 

Feb.  3 
Feb.  4-10 

Feb. 11-17 
Feb. 18-24 
Feb.  25- 

Mar.  3 
Mar.  4-10 
Mar.  11-17 


Sept .  1 9,  investment 
completed 


Oct.  8,  meat  ration 
fixed  at  100  gr.  for 
adults,  50  gr.  for 
children 


Oct.  30,  requisition 
of  fuel  .... 


Nov.  2 1 ,  requisition 
of  potatoes 


Dec.  1 5,  horse-meat 
ration  fixed  at  50 
gr.  per  head  . 

Dec.  19,  reduction 
of  bread  ration  to 
300  gr.  for  adults, 
1 50  gr.  for  children 


Jan.  4,  beginning  of 
bombardment 


Feb.  4,  armistice. 
First  supplies 
brought  in 


821 
766 


754 
73,7 
761 

754 

767 
781 
780 

793 

833 
833 


884 


854 
856 

838 
902 
903 
936 

951 


955 
974 
995 

984 

1020 

975 


24148 


1272 
1344 


1483 
1610 
1746 
1878 


1927 

2023 
2455 


2728 


2728 
3280 

3680 
3982 
4465 
4376 

4671 


4451 
4103 

3941 

3500 

2993 
2576 


75167 


158 
210 


212 

311 
360 

378 


1762  380 
1885  419 
2064  431 


386 

412 
398 


391 


388 

454 

329 
339 
380 

327 
258 


225 
174 
134 

147 
85 
98 


39 

45 

45 
56 


54 

54 
55 
62 

61 
62 
94 

103 

140 
137 


173 


221 
250 

251 
301 

375 
313 

324 


260 
298 
301 

260 
258 
229 


s 


8 
10 

9 

23 


18 
26 
23 
49 

32 
39 

25 

25 
25 


38 


30 
51 

52 
46 
42 
48 

63 


57 
59 
52 

50 
60 
49 


I 


8068  4821  1042  2923 


25 
65 

43 
46 


69 
72 
76 
99 

87 
91 
91 

92 

76 
83 


103 


73 
98 

151 
143 
137 
134 

150 


144 
158 
181 

190 
142 
104 


Ah 


54 
66 

62 

46 


50 
64 
66 
71 

69 
79 
73 


92 
108 


131 


147 
201 

262 
390 

426 
478 

465 


468 

471 
410 

338 
267 
188 


562316982 


Y2 


324        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

Scurvy  broke  out,  but  did  not  become  at  all  widespread ; 
sporadic  cases  of  the  disease  were  observed  among  the  civil 
inhabitants,  while  in  the  prisons  and  hospitals  it  was  somewhat 
more  prevalent.  Delpech^*  attributes  the  appearance  of 
the  disease  to  the  lack  of  fresh  vegetables,  which  were  very- 
expensive  and  could  not  be  given  out  in  the  public  establish- 
ments. Among  the  soldiers  the  disease  broke  out  only  in 
Fort  Bicetre,  the  garrison  in  which  consisted  of  800  marines, 
of  whom  some  seventy  or  seventy-five  contracted  it.  None 
of  them  were  given  any  salted  meat,  and  Grenet  ^'  contends 
that  the  outbreak  was  caused  by  the  lack  of  light  and  air 
in  the  small  casemates,  and  by  arduous  service,  especially 
in  the  night.  But  here,  too,  the  real  cause  was  probably  to 
be  found  in  the  lack  of  fresh  vegetables,  which  Grenet  does 
not  mention. 

The  death-rate  in  Paris  during  the  siege  was  about  three 
times  as  high  as  normal.  Sueur  has  estimated  that  in  the 
years  1867-9  the  mortality  in  the  twenty-eight  weeks 
corresponding  with  those  in  the  above  table  was  131  per 
1,000  inhabitants,  whereas  in  the  twenty-eight  weeks  of  the 
siege  the  mortality  was  38-6  per  1,000. 

6.    The  Siege  of  Port  Arthur  (1904) 

Port  Arthur  was  besieged  by  the  Japanese  from  July  30, 
1904,  to  January  2,  1905 — a  period  of  156  days.  Whereas, 
as  stated  in  the  last  chapter,  the  condition  of  health  in  the 
Russian  army  was  good,  the  sanitary  conditions  in  Port 
Arthur  during  the  siege  were  very  bad,  since  the  supply 
of  provisions  that  had  been  laid  in  proved  to  be  insufficient.^* 

*•  A.  Delpech,  Le  scorbut  pendant  le  sidge  de  Paris.  Ann.  d'Hyg.  publ. 
Series  II,  vol.  XXXV,  p.  297.    1871. 

2'  A.  L.  Z.  Grenet,  Le  scorbut  au  fort  de  Bicitre  pendant  le  siige  de  Paris 
par  les  Prussiens,  1870-1.  Ann.  d'Hyg.  publ.  Series  II,  vol.  xxxvi,  p.  279. 
1871. 

^  J.  Okuniewski,  Port  Arthur.  Sanitate  Skizzen,  Mitleilungen  aus  dem 
Gebiete  des  Seewesens,  1911,  No.  5.  (Quoted  from  Der  Militdrarzt.  Supple- 
ment to  the  Wiener  med.  Wochenschrift,  1911,  No.  23.) — Johann  Steiner, 


THE  SIEGE  OF  PORT  ARTHUR  (1904)        325 

The  offer  made  on  August  16  by  General  Nogi  and  Admiral 
Togo,  granting  all  the  women,  children  (under  16  years), 
ecclesiastics,  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps  and  military 
and  naval  attaches  of  foreign  powers  permission  to  leave  the 
stronghold,  was  refused  by  General  Stossel.     As  early  as 
August   5   horse-meat   began   to   be   distributed ;  ^®    from 
September  17  on  the  troops  were  supplied  four  times  a  week 
with  horse-meat,  since  there  was  no  other  fresh  or  canned 
meat  available.    At  this  time  almost  everything  in  the  city 
was  consumed,  though  the  Chinese  secretly  brought  rice,  eggs, 
and  other  things^  on  boats  from  Chufoo.    After  September  28 
the  soldiers  were  given  meat  only  twice  a  week  (one-half  of 
a  pound  of  horse-meat  or  one-third  of  a  can  of  preserved 
meat).  Regarding  conditions  up  to  October  20  we  are  informed 
by  the  report  of  the  Russian  General  Medical  Staff :  ^  '  The 
supply  of  food  ran  lower  and  lower ;    beef  gave  out  very 
early,  only  a  small  quantity  of  canned  meat  was  left,  and  even 
the  portions  of  horse-meat  had  to  be  dealt  out  very  sparingly, 
as  we  had  very  important  use  for  horses  in  transporting 
ammunition,  water,  food,  &c.,  to  the  various  positions.    In 
the  city  it  became  more  and  more  difficult  every  day  to 
procure  food ;  meat,  if  by  any  chance  a  small  quantity  was 
marketed,  was  sold  in  the  stores  for  one  and  one-half  roubles 
per  pound.    A  chicken  cost  twelve  roubles,  a  goose  twenty 
roubles,  an  egg  one  rouble,  a  pound  of  onions  one  rouble, 
a  pound  of  horse-meat  one  half-rouble.' 

In  November  all  the  soldiers  were  given  was  horse-meat ; 
only  the  sick  received  canned  meat.  The  supply  of  food  in 
the  possession  of  private  individuals  was  exhausted,  while 
garlic  and  vegetables  had  given  out  altogether. 

On  September  19  the  Japanese  captured  the  redoubts 

Der  Sanitdtsdienst  im  Kampf  um  Port  Arthur,  1904-5.  Der  Militdrarzt, 
1908,  Nos.  11-12. 

^  Der  Russisch-japanische  Krieg.  Official  account  published  by  the 
Russian  General  Staff.  German  Edition  by  Freiherr  von  Tettau,  vol.  v, 
part  2.    Port  Arthur.    Berlin,  1912.    P.  224. 

^  Loc.  cit.,  p.  224. 


326        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

controlling  one  of  the  aqueducts  that  supplied  Port  Arthur 
with  water ;  there  was  however  another  aqueduct,  and, 
furthermore,  wells  were  bored  and  a  plant  for  distilling  sea- 
water  was  put  into  operation.  The  statement  of  the  Russian 
General  Staff  that  there  was  at  no  time  a  serious  scarcity  of 
water  is  not  confirmed  in  Olga  von  Baumgarten's  diary, 
which  frequently  refers  in  plaintive  terms  to  the  lack  of 
drinking-water  in  the  lazarets.^^ 

During  the  summer  the  condition  of  health  among  the 
Russian  troops  was  comparatively  good ;  ^^  on  August  26 
there  were  132  officers  and  5,661  men  in  the  lazarets.  In 
the  first  part  of  October  typhoid  fever  broke  out  in  Port 
Arthur,  where  it  was  endemic,  and  before  long  an  epidemic 
of  such  severity  was  raging  in  the  city  that  it  was  difficult 
to  find  places  in  which  to  shelter  the  patients.  There  were 
also  a  great  many  cases  of  dysentery.  Owing  to  the  lack  of 
preserved  meat  and  vegetables,  scurvy  also  made  its  appear- 
ance; the  first  cases  of  the  disease  were  observed  early  in 
October.  In  the  latter  part  of  that  month  there  were  in  the 
lazarets  450  typhoid-fever  patients,  855  dysentery  patients, 
and  167  scurvy  patients.  In  addition  to  these  diseases,  cases 
of  night-blindness  (inability  to  see  after  dusk)  were  observed  ; 
the  latter  disease  is  quite  common  among  Russian  country- 
people,  being  caused  by  bad  nourishment. 

In  December  the  garrison  was  completely  exhausted. 
Scurvy  had  become  more  and  more  widespread,  and  between 
the  fourteenth  and  twenty-seventh  of  that  month  71  officers 
and  1,790  men  had  been  committed  to  the  lazarets.  On  the 
day  of  the  surrender  (January  2,  1905)  the  number  of  men 
in  the  Russian  garrison  was  32,400,  and  of  these  6,458  were 
lying  sick  or  wounded  in  the  lazarets.^  Of  the  remaining 
25,942  men,  13,207  were  incapacitated  ;  thus  the  number  of 

•^  Olga  von  Baumgarten,  Wie  Port  Arthur  fiel.    Translated  from  the 
Russian  by  Lilli  von  Baumgarten.    Strassburg  and  Leipzig,  1906. 
'2  Loc.  cit.,  p.  188. 
**  Russisches  Generalstahswerk,  vol.  v.  2,  p.  453  f. 


THE  SIEGE  OF  PORT  ARTHUR  (1904)        327 

healthy  men  (besides  2,193  marines)  in  the  garrison  at  the 
time  of  the  surrender  was  only  12,735.  Regarding  the  loss  of 
life  during  the  siege  we  find  no  information  in  the  report 
of  the  General  Staff.  The  number  of  soldiers  in  the  city 
(excluding  the  officers  and  officials)  was  41,780  at  the 
beginning  and  32,400  at  the  end  of  the  siege.  No  further 
information  regarding  the  condition  of  health  among  the 
civil  inhabitants  of  Port  Arthur  is  obtainable. 


CONCLUSION 

The  history  of  war-pestilences  has  shown  how  severely 
belligerent  armies  are  attacked  by  infectious  diseases,  how 
seriously  their  operations  are  hampered  by  them,  and  what 
loss  of  life  such  diseases  cause  by  spreading  to  non- 
combatants.  If  we  start  from  the  time  when  more  or  less 
accurate  descriptions  enable  us  to  determine  the  nature  of 
the  epidemics,  we  find  that  plague  and  typhus  fever  were  the 
two  diseases  which,  until  a  few  decades  ago,  most  commonly 
attacked  the  soldiers ;  the  latter  disease,  which  made  its 
appearance  in  almost  every  war  that  was  waged  between 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  and  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  consequently  acquired  the  name  '  war-plague  '. 

For  a  long  time  nobody  knew  just  how  to  combe t  these 
pestilences,  and  nowhere  were  rational  measures  adopted 
aiming  to  prevent  them  from  spreading.  We  have  seen  the 
bitter  truth  of  this  statement  in  connexion  with  the  endless 
Napoleonic  wars.  One  reason  for  the  neglect  of  preventive 
measures  was  the  belief  that  these  pestilences  broke  out 
spontaneously  when  large  numbers  were  crowded  together 
under  miserable  living  conditions.  The  physicians  of  that 
time,  in  their  efforts  to  explain  the  sudden  appearance  of 
these  pestilences,  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  they  were 
autochthonic.  But  modern  medical  science,  realizing  its 
limitations,  contents  itself  with  the  hypothesis  that  the 
original  cause  of  these  diseases  is  not  to  be  ascertained,  and 
with  the  knowledge  that  the  infective  agents  in  the  case 
of  almost  all  of  them  have  been  discovered,  and  that  an 
outbreak  of  any  infectious  disease  in  any  specific  locality 
signifies  that  the  germ  of  that  disease  must  in  some  way  have 
been  deposited  there.     It  was  precisely  the  belief  in  the 


CONCLUSION  329 

spontaneous  origination  of  pestilences  that  led  people  to 
neglect  watching  for  and  isolating,  with  all  possible  dispatch, 
the  first  cases — a  measure  which  is  to-day  looked  upon  as  the 
most  important  means  of  preventing  the  dissemination  of 
a  disease. 

The  belief  in  the  autochthonic  origin  of  diseases  continued 
to  prevail  until  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Hecker  upheld  it  in  a  discussion  of  the  plague-epidemic  that 
occurred  during  the  Russo-Turkish  War  of  1769-70 ;  he 
believed  that  the  intermittent  fever  prevalent  in  the  Danube 
countries  passed  over  into  putrid  fever,  with  or  without 
petechiae,  that  carbuncles  and  buboes  gradually  developed, 
and  that  putrid  fever  was  thus  converted  into  bubonic  plague. 
'  It  is  therefore  in  all  probability  ti-ue ',  says  Hecker,  '  that 
the  outbreak  of  plague  in  the  Russian  army  in  the  year  1770, 
as  well  as  in  the  year  1828,  was  not  caused  by  direct  infection 
from  the  Turkish  troops,  but  was  merely  an  independent 
development  from  intermittent  fever  and  spotted  fever.' 

Recent  investigations  in  the  field  of  medicine  turn  over  to 
the  other  sciences  all  questions  regarding  ultimate  causes, 
and  confine  themselves  to  what  is  actually  observed.  We 
know  that  the  agents  responsible  for  infectious  diseases  are 
specific  minute  organisms  which  must  be  present  in  the 
system  to  produce  the  disease  in  question,  and  that  these 
micro-organisms  are  conveyed  from  place  to  place  by  infected 
persons,  by  intermediaries,  on  articles  to  which  they  have 
attached  themselves,  in  contaminated  food,  in  drinking- 
water,  and  in  many  other  ways.  Investigators  have  studied 
the  conditions  in  which  these  infective  agents  live  and  the 
manner  in  which  they  are  disseminated,  they  have  discovered 
methods  of  determining  the  nature  of  the  disease  in  a  very 
short  time,  and  they  have  come  to  recognize  the  danger  of 
coming  in  contact  with  germ-bearers,  that  is,  with  persons, 
healthy  or  convalescent,  who  have  these  micro-organisms  in 
their  systems  without  being  themselves  sick.  Medical  science 
is  now  endeavouring,  by  means  of  systematic  procedure  and 


330        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

splendid  organization,  to  guard  soldiers  against  the  danger 
of  infection  ;  good  drinking-water  is  provided,  the  men  and 
the  rooms  in  which  they  live  are  kept  clean,  persons  suffering 
from  infectious  diseases  are  isolated,  all  rooms  and  articles 
used  by  patients  are  disinfected,  infected  divisions  of  troops 
are  quartered  by  themselves,  germ-bearers  are  watched  for 
and  discovered,  &c.  The  success  of  such  measures  is  well 
known.  The  knowledge  gained  and  profited  by  in  times  of 
peace  is  also  applied  in  times  of  war,  and  to-day  we  are  able 
to  confine  pestilences  within  much  narrower  limits  than  was 
formerly  possible.  In  order  to  do  this,  however,  we  must 
have,  in  addition  to  an  efficient  system  of  transporting  and 
feeding  troops,  physicians  who  are  well  informed  in  regard 
to  hygiene  and  bacteriology. 

As  early  as  the  eighteenth  century,  successful  efforts  were 
made  to  prevent,  by  means  of  energetic  measures,  the 
reappearance  of  plague  in  Europe  ;  the  Russo-Turkish  War 
of  1828-9  was  the  last  war  in  which  it  broke  out.  On  the 
other  hand,  typhus  fever  continued  to  be  the  Nemesis  of 
belligerent  armies,  while  a  new  infectious  disease,  cholera, 
entered  upon  the  scene  and  played  a  very  important  role  in 
the  Crimean  War,  and  a  by  no  means  minor  role  in  the  war 
of  1866.  Along  with  these  diseases,  typhoid  fever  advanced 
into  the  foreground  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
and  it  soon  turned  out  to  be  one  of  the  most  dangerous 
diseases  that  occur  among  soldiers.  This  appearance  of 
typhoid  fever  has  led  some  to  think  that  the  disease  has 
prevailed  extensively  only  in  comparatively  recent  times. 
Hirsch,  however,  ably  defends  the  opposite  view  ;  he  main- 
tains that  typhoid  fever  was  in  many  instances  confused 
with  the  febres  pestilentes,  malignae,  putridae,  and  nervosae, 
with  the  mucous  fevers,  bilious  fevers,  putrid  fevers,  &c. 
In  discussing  the  typhus-fever  epidemics  that  occurred  in  the 
course  of  the  Napoleonic  wars,  we  have  several  times  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  typhoid  fever  probably  broke  out 
in  the  form  of  epidemics ;   but  it  could  be  diagnosed  with 


CONCLUSION  331 

certainty  only  after  post-mortem  examinations  began  to  be 
more  frequent.  At  all  events,  typhoid  fever  is  to-day  preva- 
lent all  over  the  world,  and  there  is  always  danger  that  field- 
armies  will  be  infected  with  it,  either  in  their  own  land  or  in 
the  land  of  the  enemy.  All  the  wars  of  the  last  few  decades 
have  clearly  demonstrated  this  fact. 

For  a  successful  battle  against  war-pestilences,  it  is  a  fortu- 
nate coincidence  that  the  civil  as  well  as  the  military  autho- 
rities are  equally  interested  in  their  prevention.  Every 
military  leader  knows  how  important  it  is  for  the  soldiers  to 
keep  healthy,  since  their  efficiency  is  otherwise  seriously 
impaired.  It  is  not  our  task  to  describe  the  particular 
measures  that  are  to  be  adopted ;  the  manuals  of  military 
sanitation  give  us  accurate  information  regarding  these 
matters.  We  merely  mention  the  fact  that  it  is  of  great 
value  and  importance  to  have  physicians,  who  are  well 
acquainted  with  hygienic  problems,  make  a  preliminary 
examination  of  sanitary  conditions  in  the  territory  through 
which  the  soldiers  will  be  required  to  pass  in  order  to  reach 
the  scene  of  hostilities. 

Very  great  difficulties,  to  be  sure,  confront  the  efforts 
made  in  war  times  to  prevent  the  outbreak  of  infectious 
diseases.  If  the  struggle  is  carried  on  in  an  infected  region, 
the  troops  are  often  compelled  to  seek  shelter  in  infected 
houses  ;  thus  during  the  battles  of  Orleans  and  Le  Mans  in 
the  Franco-German  War  the  troops,  in  order  to  protect 
themselves  against  the  severe  winter  cold,  had  to  live  in 
houses  which  small-pox  patients  had  shortly  before  occupied 
or  were  actually  occupying  at  the  time.  Circumstances 
frequently  arise  which  render  impossible  the  adoption  of  the 
most  effective  measure  calculated  to  prevent  the  dissemina- 
tion of  a  pestilence,  that  is,  the  isolation  of  infected  divisions 
of  troops  ;  one  can  readily  imagine  how  difficult  this  would 
be  in  the  case  of  an  army  re-forming  after  a  lost  battle. 
Furthermore,  even  if  one  of  the  belligerent  armies  is  doing 
all  it  can  to  prevent  diseases  from  spreading,  its  efforts  must 


332        EPIDEMICS  RESULTING  FROM  WARS 

be  seriously  handicapped  if  the  enemy's  army  does  not 
include  an  equally  diligent  sanitary  corps  and  does  not  devote 
the  same  amount  of  energy  to  the  prevention  of  the  outbreak 
and  dissemination  of  infectious  diseases.  For  even  if  a  sani- 
tary corps  is  successful  in  warding  off  a  reaction  upon  its  own 
troops,  nevertheless  this  reaction  is  sure  to  take  place  with 
respect  to  the  civil  inhabitants  of  the  country  in  which  the 
war  is  waged. 

During  a  war,  the  civil  authorities  must  also  do  their  part 
in  preventing  diseases  from  spreading  to  the  civil  population. 
The  local  administrations  of  a  region  in  which  fighting  is 
going  on  are  powerless.  The  generals  care  very  little  whether 
or  not  a  city  or  village  in  the  enemy's  country  is  infected 
by  their  troops,  whom  they  quarter  in  whatever  house  or 
place  best  suits  their  purpose.  On  the  other  hand,  the  com- 
munities in  which  military  prisons  are  located  are  confronted 
with  a  very  difficult  problem,  since  these  prisons,  if  infected 
men  are  confined  in  them,  easily  develop  into  centres  of 
infection ;  this  fact  was  observed  a  hundred  times  in  the 
year  1870.  If  a  disease  breaks  out  in  a  community  in  conse- 
quence of  the  fact  that  a  military  prison  has  been  established 
there,  in  my  opinion  it  is  incumbent  on  the  central  govern- 
ment of  the  country  to  support  the  local  authorities  in  their 
efforts  to  check  the  disease,  and  to  give  them  financial  help 
as  well  as  scientific  advice.  Unfortunately,  it  is  not  to  be 
denied  that,  in  many  small  cities  and  in  almost  all  rural 
communities,  absolutely  no  provision  is  made  for  the  isolation 
of  persons  suffering  from  infectious  diseases  ;  the  authorities 
justify  themselves  with  the  reflection  that  in  case  of  emergency 
barracks  can  quickly  be  erected  for  the  purpose,  but  at  the 
same  time  they  fail  to  remember  that  working-men  are  not 
always  available  in  the  storm  and  stress  of  war  times,  that 
building  materials  in  the  general  scarcity  of  supplies  cannot 
always  be  procured  with  sufficient  promptitude,  and  that 
pestilences,  if  the  isolation  of  the  first  cases  is  delayed,  usually 
spread  with  great  rapidity. 


CONCLUSION  333 

In  future  wars  we  must  expect  the  military  authorities  to 
do  all  they  can,  just  as  soon  as  the  prisoners  are  taken, 
to  segregate  as  carefully  as  possible  all  known  and  suspected 
cases  of  infectious  diseases.  The  difficulties  confronting  the 
military  authorities,  when  it  is  necessary  to  remove  large 
numbers  of  prisoners  with  all  possible  dispatch  away  from 
the  scene  of  the  war,  are,  to  be  sure,  very  great. 

Finally,  we  must  also  call  attention  to  the  danger  to  which 
the  civil  inhabitants  of  a  country  are  exposed,  when  the 
soldiers  return  home  after  the  termination  of  a  campaign  in 
an  infected  region.  It  must  be  demanded  under  all  circum- 
stances that  divisions  of  troops  among  whom  infectious 
diseases  have  made  their  appearance,  before  returning  from 
the  enemy's  country,  shall  be  subjected  to  a  medical  exami- 
nation, isolated,  and  disinfected,  just  as  was  done  on  such 
a  large  scale,  for  example,  by  the  Japanese  after  the  wars 
with  China  and  Russia.  This  also  applies  to  all  other  persons 
who  have  had  anything  to  do  with  infected  divisions,  particu- 
larly to  teamsters. 

All  preparations  designed  to  prevent  the  outbreak  and 
dissemination  of  infectious  diseases  must  be  made  in  times 
of  peace ;  barracks  and  lazarets  must  be  erected,  physicians 
who  are  well  acquainted  with  methods  of  hygienic  investiga- 
tion must  be  available,  and  an  adequate  number  of  nurses 
and  sick-attendants  must  be  prepared  for  immediate  service 
at  the  very  first  appearance  of  an  infectious  disease.  For 
the  military  authorities,  who  can  scarcely  perform  all  the 
duties  that  the  beginning  of  a  war  imposes  upon  them,  it  will 
facilitate  matters  greatly  if  in  future  campaigns  the  Red 
Cross  devotes  its  attention,  not  only  to  the  care  of  the 
wounded,  but  also,  on  a  larger  scale  than  it  has  heretofore, 
to  the  prevention  of  the  outbreak  and  dissemination  of  war- 
pestilences. 


INDEX 


Acre,  pestilence,  14. 
Adrianople,    bubonic    plague    epi- 
demic 1829,  168  f. 
del  Agua,  277. 
Algiers,    typhus     epidemic    1868, 

195  f. 
Amoebic  dysenteiy,  7  f. 
Amsterdam,  pestilence  1624,  72. 
Andersonville  prison,  181. 
Anti-vaccinationists,  198,  251,  260, 

269. 
Armenia,    plague   epidemic    1828, 

169  f. 
Athens,  plague,  11. 
Augsburg,  pestilence  1684,   58   f.  ; 

pestilence   1703,    80 ;    small-pox 

epidemic  1871,  259. 
Austria,  small-pox  epidemic  1872, 

275  f. 

Barbarossa,  12  f. 

Basel,  small-pox  epidemic  1870, 
271  f. 

Baudens,  174. 

Baumgarten,  von,  326. 

Bavaria,  typhus  epidemic  1813, 
149  f. 

Beitzke,  122,  129,  132. 

Belgium,  small-pox  epidemic  1870, 
273  f. 

Beri-beri,  298. 

Berlin,  pestilence  1637,  69  ;  small- 
pox epidemic  1871,  230  f. ;  typhus 
fever  epidemic  1813,  124  f. 

Berne,  small-pox  epidemic  1870,271. 

Bernstein,  140. 

Black  Death,  6. 

Blech,  122,  308,  309,  310. 

Boehnke,  195. 

Boersch,  29,  78. 

Boin,  103,  104. 

le  Borne,  95. 


Bouchut,  322. 

Bourchardet,  320. 

Brandeis,  12. 

Braun,  151. 

Bremen,  small-pox  epidemic  1870, 
242. 

Breslau,  imstilence  1758,  82;  plague 
1633,  47 ;  small-pox  epidemic 
1871,  224  f.  ;  typhus  epidemic 
1813,  123. 

Brunner,  272. 

Bubonic  plague,  5 ;  1707,  85 ; 
Adrianople  1829,  168  f.;  Armenia 
1829,  169  f. ;  Bucharest  1828, 
165  ff.  ;  France  1628,  73  f. ;  Italy 
1629,  74  f.;  Netherlands  1635, 
72  f.  ;  Russo-Turkish  War  1769, 
86;  Russo-Turkish  War  1828, 
165  ff.  ;  Thirty  Years' War,  25  ff., 
41  ff.;  Varna  1829,  168  f. 

Bucharest,  bubonic  plague  1828, 
165  ff. 

Bukowina,  small -pox  epidemic 
1871,  276. 

Burckhardt,  78,  158,  272. 

Burger,  313. 

Cannstatt,  112. 

Canz,  94. 

Cazalas,  183. 

Charles  VIII,  expedition  to  Naples, 
17. 

Charles  XII,  85. 

Chauffard,  200. 

Chemnitz,  small-pox  epidemic  1871, 
255  f. 

Chenu,  171,  173,  183. 

Cholera,  6  f.  ;  Balkan  War,  300  ff.  ; 
Crimean  War,  170  ff.  ;  France 
1853,  170  ff.  ;  German  War  of 
1866,  184  f. ;  Tripolitan  War, 
299  f. 


336 


INDEX 


Civil  War,  American,  5 ;  dysentery, 
178  f.  ;  malaria,  180  ;  measles, 
179;  small-pox,  179;  typhoid 
fever,  177 ;  typhus  fever,  178. 

Cless,  260. 

Colin,  203. 

Cologne,  small-pox  epidemic  1870, 
247  f. 

Concentration  camps.  South  Africa, 
292  flF. 

Constantinople,  cholera  epidemic 
1912,  301. 

Copenhagen,  pestilence  1710,  85. 

Crimean  War,  cholera,  170  If.  ; 
dysenteiy  epidemic,  172  ;  scurvy 
epidemic,  172  ;  typhus  epidemic, 
172  if. 

Crusades,  12,  13  fif. 

Czetyrkin,  165, 167,  169. 

Daimer,  185,  275,  276. 
Damietta,  siege  of,  14  f. 
Danzig,  pestilence  1709,  85  ;  siege 
of,  306  ff.  ;    small-pox  epidemic 

1870,  220  f. ;    typhus  fever  1813, 
122. 

Davoust,  141. 

Delpech,  201,  202,  324. 

Deneke,  141. 

Denmark,  small-pox  epidemic  1871, 

280  f. 
Depopulation,  Thirty  Years'  War, 

76  ff. 
Diemerbroeck,  73. 
Dietz,  78. 

Dillenius,  von,  151. 
Diodorus,  11. 

Diphtheria,  Boer  War,  294. 
Dresden,  pestilence  1757,83 ;  plague 

1632,    44  ;     small-pox  epidemic 

1871,  254  f.  ;    typhus  epidemic 
1813,  127  f. 

Dupinet,  321. 

Diisseldorf,     small-pox     epidemic 

1871,  245  f. 
Dysentery  7f.,  14  ;  American  Civil 

War,  178  f.  ;  Crimean  War,  172; 

Franco-German     Wai',     190  fF., 

194  ff.  ;    Port    Arthur,    326  f.  ; 


Russian  Campaign,  116  ff.  ;  siege 
of  Paris,  321  ff.  ;  siege  of  Torgau, 
314  f.  ;  Thirty  Years'  War,  31  ff. 

Elsasser,  150. 

Ebstein,  12,  115,  137. 

England,  small-pox  epidemic  1870, 

278;     typhus  fever  1808,    105; 

typhus  fever  1856,  174  f. 
Enteric  fever,  8. 
Erfurt,  small-pox  epidemic    1871, 

236  f. ;     typhus  epidemic   1813, 

133. 
Erisman,  287. 

Feichtmayer,  98. 

Ferenczy,  291. 

Finland,  small-pox  epidemic  1871, 

280  f. 
Fischer,  127,  128. 
Flexner,  7. 
Flinzer,  130,  255. 
Follenfant,  298. 
Fonteret,  205. 
Fracastorius,  20. 
Franco-German     War,     small-pox 

epidemic,  197  ff. 
Frankfurt-on-the-Main,     pestilence 

1633,  63. 
Fi-ankfurt,  small-pox  epidemic  187 1 , 

250  f. ;    typhus  epidemic   1813, 

135  ff. 
Franque,  von,  137,  138,  140. 
Frederick  the  Great,  82,  83. 
Friccius,  122,  307,  309,  310. 
Friedlander,  157. 
Fuchs,  17. 

Gaffky,  8. 

Gasc,  117. 

Geissler,  256. 

Genoa,  typhus  fever  1799,  67. 

Gilbert,  100. 

Giraud,  132. 

Gmelin,  61. 

Godelier,  175. 

G6den,  121. 

Gratiolo,  22. 

Grfttzer,  78,  82. 


INDEX 


337 


Gravelotte,  189. 

Greiner,  132. 

Grellois,  196. 

Grenet,  324. 

Grossi,  74. 

Gurlt,  1, 99,  101, 115,  122,  125, 131, 

132,  143,  153. 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  27  ff.,  50. 
Guttstadt,  186,  214,  219,  223,  230, 

231,  233,  234,  242,  243,  248,  270, 

283. 
Gyery,  20,  24. 

Haga,  297. 

Hain,  98,  161. 

Hamburg,  small-pox  epidemic  1870, 

239  f. ;     typhus  fever  epidemic 

1813,  141  f. 
Hammer,  85. 
Hanau,  typhus  fever  epidemic  1813, 

134  f.  I 

Haser,  12,  17,  72,  74,  81,  85,  92, 

97,  114,  123,  172,  306. 
Haurovvitz,  176. 
Hecker,  17,  86,  87,  89,  329. 
Heilbronn,     small-pox      epidemic 

1870,  263  f. 
Herero  War,  296. 
Hildenbraiid,  106,  113. 
Hirsch,  15,  18,  19,  173,  178,  184, 

185,  330. 
Hoik,  44. 
Hdring,  263. 

Horn,  52,  113,  124,  125,  133. 
HOrnigk,  64. 
Hufeland,  100,  103,  106,  107,  108, 

112,  113,  124. 
Hungarian  disease,  20,  22  ff. 

India,  small-pox  epidemic  1873, 282. 
Ireland,  small-pox  epidemic  1871, 

280. 
Italy,  small-pox  epidemic  1872, 277f. 

Joerdens,  99. 
Jorg,  112. 

Kanngiesser,  12. 
Kausch,  123. 

1569.13 


Kerckhoffs,  115,  116,  120,  318. 
Kiev,  bubonic  plague  1770,  89. 
Knaak,  1,  183,  287. 
Koch,  7,  286. 

K<5nigsberg,  typhus  epidemic  1806, 
100 ;  typhus  epidemic  1812, 121  f. 
Kopp,  108,  122,  131,  134,  185. 
Kosloff,  286,  289. 
Ki-aft,  138. 
Kraus,  301. 
Kriesche,  204. 
Kruse,  7. 
Kilbler,  184. 

Ladysmith,  typhoid  epidemic,  291  f. 
Lammert,  26,  50,  58,  64,  66,  72,  74, 

77. 
Larrey,  115. 
Laveran,  1,  12,  73,  100,  118,  158, 

175,  178,  197,  202. 
Lehmann,  311,  312. 
Leipzig,    pestilence     1630,     41  f.  ; 

small-pox  epidemic  1871,  252  ff.  ; 

typhus  epidemic  1813,  128. 
Lemazurier,  115,  117,  118. 
Lentilius,  79. 
Leprosy,  15  f. 
Lersch,  13,  14,  18,  282. 
Leyden,  pestilence  1624,  72. 
Lievin,  220,  221. 
Linstow,  1,  101. 
Littre,  12. 

Lobenstein-Lobel,  132. 
Lohnes,  150. 
London,  small-pox  epidemic  1871, 

279. 
Loth,  194,  237. 
Lotz,  274. 
Louis  IX,  15. 
Louis  XIV,  79. 
Lubeck,  small-pox  epidemic  1871, 

240  f. 
Lyons,  small-pox  epidemic   1870 

205  f. 

Magdeburg,     small -pox    epidemic 

1871,  233  f. 
Maier,  125. 
Majer,  258. 


338 


INDEX 


Malaria,  American  Civil  War, 
180  f.  ;  Italian  War  of  1859] 
183  ;  siege  of  Mantua,  304  f. 

Mansfeld,  29if. 

Mantua,  pestilence  1630,  75  ;  sie^re 
of,  804ff.  '       *= 

March,  182,  274. 

Marechal,  18,  21,  30,  92,  109,  155. 

Mana  Theresa,  80. 

Martin,  188. 

Martins,  258. 

Massachusetts,  small-pox  epidemic 

1872,  281. 
Matignon,  299. 
Maurin,  196. 

Mayence,  siege  of,  316  if.  :  small- 
pox epidemic  1870,  266  f 
Mayr,  257. 
Measles,  American  Civil  War  179  • 

Boer  War,  294  f. 
du  Mesnil,  203,  321. 
Metz,    pestilence,    21;    pestilence 
1636,     65  f.  ;     pestilence     1792, 
93;    small-pox   epidemic 
203  ;     typhus     epidemic 
155  f. ;   typhus   epidemic 
196  f. 
Meyer,  32. 
Michaux,  14,  196. 
Michigan,      small-pox      epidemic 

1872,  281. 
Milan,  pestilence  1630,  75. 
Moore,  Thomas,  18. 
Moravia,    typhus    epidemic    1813 
161. 

Mortality,  Moscow  pestilence  1771. 

91 ;  Seven  Years' War,  84 ;  Thirtv 

Years'  War,  78. 
Moscow,  bubonic  plague  1771,  89  ; 

typhus  fever  1812,  116. 
Munich,    pestilence    1634,    55  f.  ; 

small-pox  epidemic  1871,  258  f.  ' 
Miinster,  small-pox  epidemic  1871 

242  f. 
Murchison,  73,  112,  174. 
Myrdacz,  183,  287. 


1870, 
1813, 
1870, 


Nantes,  pestilence  1793,  95. 
Napoleon,  115  ff.,  126. 


Nassau,  typhus  epidemic  1813  140 
187T^T7tf  '"''^"'P'^^    epidemic 
Neuhof,  126. 
Neumann,  110. 

^?L.^''''^''   small-pox     epidemic 
18/1,  281. 

Niedner,  173,  184. 

Nonvay,  small-pox  epidemic  1871, 
280  f. 

Nuremberg,  plague  1633,  53;  small- 
pox epidemic  1871,  258  f. 

Oesterle,  304. 
Oettingen,  von,  298. 
Okuniewski,  324. 
Ophthalmia,  15. 

Ozanam,  21,  73,  74,  75,  81,  84,  97, 
101,  104. 

Parenteau-Desgranges,  109. 
Paris,  siege  of,  320 if.;  small-pox 

epidemic     1869,     202;     typhus 

fever  epidemic  1814,  156  f 
Parrot,  118. 
Pastau,  von,  225. 
Pellerin,  157. 
Peloponnesian  War,  11. 
Peninsular  Wai-,  typhus  fever,  101 
Perroud,  206. 
Pettenkofer,  286. 
Pfalf,  40. 
Physicians,  typhus  mortality,  123 

129,  131,  135,  137,  142,  145,  151,' 

155,  319. 
Plague,  5ff.  ;  Athens,  11;  Rome, 

Pneumonia,  siege  of  Paris,  322  f. 

Pneumonic  plague,  5  f. 

Pont-a-Mousson,  typhus  fever 
epidemic  1813,  154. 

Port  Arthur,  siege  of,  324  ff. 

Prague,  pestilence  1742,  81  ;  small- 
pox epidemic  1872,  277. 

Presl,  186. 

Pringle,  J.,  1,  82,  808. 

Prinzing,  199. 

Prussia,  small-pox  mortality,  198. 

Rabinowitsch,  272. 


INDEX 


J339 


Rapp,  260. 

Rasori,  97. 

Reisseisen,  155. 

Reissner  and  Neidhai-t,  265,  266. 

Reuss,  260. 

Rhumelius,  29. 

Richter,  311-16. 

Riecke,  313. 

Roetenbeck,  52. 

Roller,  99. 

RolofiF,  131. 

Rcisle,  78. 

Roth,  297. 

Russia,  small-pox   epidemic    1871, 

280  f. 
Russian  Campaign,  typhus  epidemic, 

115  ff. 

Samoilowitz,  89. 

Sanitary    Commission,    American 

Civil  War,  176. 
Schafer,  148,  298. 
Schafonsky,  89. 
Scheerer,  llS,  IIG. 
Schinzinger,  152. 
Schnurrer,  12,  21,  24,  52. 
Schon,  60. 
Schopper,  301. 
Schwiening,  H.,  18. 
Scorbutus,  9. 
Scotland,       small-pox       epidemic 

1871,  280. 
Scrive,  171,  173. 
Scurvy,  9,  14  ;  Crimean  War,  172  ; 

Metz  1552,  21-2;   Port  Arthur, 

326  f.  ;  siege  of  Mantua,   305  f. ; 

siege  of  Paris,  324 ;  Thirty  Years' 

War,  52  ff.,  66. 
Sedan,  189. 

Seidlitz,  166,  167,  168,  169. 
Seitz,  26,  55,  81,  95,  98,  99,  144, 

147,  148,  149,  150,  257. 
Sforza,  299. 
Siegel,  253. 
Sigel,  261. 

Silesia,  typhus  epidemic  1805,  98. 
Simon,  166. 
Small-pox,  9,  17 ;  American   Civil 

War,  179 ;  Franco-German  War, 


197  ff.  ;    Germany    1865,     184 ; 

Germany  1870,  212  ff.  ;  siege  of 

Paris,  321. 
Small-pox    mortality,    in    France, 

199 ;     French     prisoners    1870, 

209  f.  ;    Germany    1871-2,   268  ; 

Prussia,  198 ;  Prussial862-73,214. 
Stegmeyer,  305. 
Steiner,  16,  299,  324. 
Steinheim,  142. 
Stemmler,  132. 
Stettin,  small-pox  epidemic   1871, 

226  f. 
Stiga,  7. 

Stockholm,  pestilence  1710,  85. 
Strassburg,     small-pox     epidemic 

1870,  204. 
Strieker,  115. 
Stuttgart,      small-pox       epidemic 

1870,  261  f. 
Sueur,  203,  320,  322. 
SUssmilch,  83. 
Suttner,  55. 

Sweating  sickness,  18  ff. 
Sweden,  small-pox  epidemic  1871, 

280  f. 
Switzerland,  typhus  fever  epidemic 

1813,  158  f. 
Syphilis,  16,  17,  18. 

Takaki,  298. 

Teuffel,  188. 

Thierer,  62. 

Thilenius,  138. 

Tholazan,  169. 

Thouvenel,  154. 

Thucydides,  11. 

Tilly,  27,  50. 

Torgau,  siege  of,  311  ff. 

Typhoid  fever,  8  f.  ;  American  Civil 
War,  177  f.  ;  Boer  War,  290  ff.  ; 
Franco-German  War,  190  ff. ; 
Herero  War,  296 ;  Port  Arthur, 
326  f.  ;  Russo-Japanese  War, 
297  f.  ;  Russo-Turkish  War 
1877,  288 ff.;  siege  of  Paris, 
321  ff.  ;  siege  of  Torgau,  315  f. ; 
Thirty  Years'  War,  71. 

Typhus  fever,  4ff.,   19 ff.,   106 ff., 


Z  2 


340 


INDEX 


149  f.;  1812,  114  if.  ;  1813-14, 
162  ff.;  Algiers  1868,  195  f.  ; 
American  Civil  War,  178;  Balkan 
War,  301  if.  ;  Berlin  1813,  124  f.  ; 
Breslau  1813,  123;  Coalition 
War,  98;  Crimean  War,  172  ff. ; 
Danzig  1813,  122  ;  Dresden 
1813,  127  f.;  England  1622, 
75  f.  ;  England  1808,  105  ; 
England  1856,  174  f.  ;  Erfurt 
1813,  133  ;  Frankfurt  1813, 
135  ff.  ;  Genoa  1799,  97  ; 
Hamburg   1813,    141  f.  ;    Hanau 

1813,  134  f.  ;  Kenigsberg  1806, 
100 ;  KOnigsberg  1812,  121  f.  ; 
Leipzig  1813,  128  ff.  ;  Metz  1813, 
155  f.;  Metz  1870,  196  f.  ; 
Moravia  1813,  161 ;  mortality 
1813-14,  163  ;  mortality  among 
physicians,  108 ;  Moscow  1812, 
116;  Nassau    1813,    140;  Paris 

1814,  156  f.;  Peninsular  War, 
101  f. ;  Pont-a-Mousson  1813, 
154  ;  Eussian  Campaign,  115ff. ; 
Eusso-Turkish  War  of  1877, 
287  ff.  ;  Seven  Years'  War,  82  ff. ; 
siege  of  Danzig,  307  ff.  ;  siege 
of  Mantua,  305  ff.  ;  siege  of 
Mayence,  317  ff. ;  siege  of  Torgau, 
311  ff.  ;  Switzerland  1813,  158  f. ; 
Thirty  Years'  War,  26  ff. ;  Verdun 
1792,  109;  Vilna  1812,  117; 
Wars  of  French  Ee volution,  92  ff. ; 
War  with  Moora  in  Spain, 
21 ;  War  of  Polish  Succession, 
80;  Warsaw  1812,  119; 
Wtirttemberg  1813,  150  f. 


XJetterodt,  L.,  1. 

Ulm,  pestilence  1634,  62 ;  small-pox 
epidemic  1870,  262  f. 

Vaccination,   200,    201,  202,  207, 


211,  212,  217,  231,  240,  241,  261, 
255  f.,  260,  265,  269  f.,  279,  282, 
283,  284,  285  ;  effects  of,  197  f.  ; 
effect  on  mortality.  9. 

Vacher,  199,  206,  207,  303,  320. 

Varna,  plague  1829,  168. 

Venice,  pestilence  1630,  75. 

Verdun,  pestilence  1793,  82f.  ; 
typhus  epidemic  1792,  109. 

Vemois,  200,  201. 

Verona,  pestilence  1630,  75. 

Vienna,  small-pox  epidemic  1872. 
277. 

VUna,  typhus  fever  1812,  117. 

Virchow,  115. 

Viry,  196. 

Vogt,  271. 

Volz,  186,  194,  262. 

Wahl,  247. 

Wallenstein,  27,  50. 

War  Pestilence,  use  of  term,  4. 

Warsaw,    typhus   epidemic   1812, 

119. 
Weber,  143. 
Weichselbaum,  186. 
Wendt,  123. 
Westergaard.  H.,  1. 
Wilbrandt  94.  136. 
Wilken,  14,  15. 
Wittman,  316-19. 
Woillez,  207. 
Wolf,  119. 

Wunderlich,  251,  252,  270. 
Wiirttemberg,  pestilence  1634,  63  ; 

typhus  epidemic  1813,  150  f . 

Yellow  fever,  Spain  1810,  101. 

Zenzen,  318. 

Zurich,  small-pox  epidemic  1871, 
272. 


GENERAL  APPENDIX 

PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  DIVISION  OF  ECONOMICS 
AND  HISTORY 

The  Conference  which  met  at  Berne  in  1911,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Division  of  Economics  and  History  of  the  Carnegie  Endowment 
for  International  Peace,  appointed  three  Commissions  to  draft  the 
questions  and  problems  to  be  dealt  with  by  competent  authorities 
in  all  countries.  The  first  Commission  was  entrusted  with  The 
Economic  and  Historical  Causes  and  Effects  of  War ;  the  second  with 
Armaments  in  Time  of  Peace  ;  the  third  with  The  Unifying  Influences 
in  International  Life.  Subsequently  the  suggestions  of  the  three 
Commissions  were  considered  and  approved  by  the  entire  Conference. 

The  questions  are  to  be  discussed  scientifically,  and  as  far  as  possible 
without  prejudice  either  for  or  against  war  ;  and  their  discussion 
may  have  such  important  consequences  that  the  questions  are  pre- 
sented below  in  extenso. 


Report  of  the  First  Commission 

THE   ECONOMIC   AND   HISTORICAL   CAUSES   AND   EFFECTS   OF  WAR 

The  Conference  recommends  the  following  researches  : 

1.  Historical  presentation  of  the  causes  of  war  in  modern  times, 
tracing  especially  the  influence  exercised  by  the  striving  for  greater 
political  power,  by  the  growth  of  the  national  idea,  by  the  political 
aspirations  of  races  and  by  economic  interests. 

2.  Conflicts  of  economic  interests  in  the  present  age  : 

(a)  The  influence  of  the  growth  of  population  and  of  the  industrial 
development  upon  the  expansion  of  States. 

(6)  The  protectionist  policy ;  its  origin  and  basis ;  its  method 
of  application  and  its  influence  upon  the  relations  between  coun- 
tries; bounties  (open  and  disguised,  public  and  private);  most- 
favoured-nation treatment ;  the  attitude  towards  foreign  goods 
and  foreign  capital ;  the  boycott ;  discouragement  of  foreign 
immigi'ation. 

1  Z3 


GENERAL  APPENDIX 

(c)  International  loans  ;  the  poliey  of  guwantees  ;  the  relations 
of  the  creditor  to  the  debtor  States  ;  the  use  of  loans  for  gaining 
influence  over  other  States. 

(d)  Rivalry  among  States  with  respect  to  capitalist  investments 
in  foreign  countries  : 

1.  The  endeavour  to  obtain  a  privileged  position  in  banking 
enterprises,  in  the  opening  and  development  of  mines,  in  the 
letting  of  public  contracts,  in  the  execution  of  public  works,  in 
the  building  of  railways  (Siberian,  Manehurian,  Persian  Bagdad 
Railway,  Adriatic  Railway,  &c.) ;  in  short,  the  organization  of 
larger  capitalistic  enterprises  in  foreign  countries. 

2.  The  hindering  of  foreign  countries  by  convention  from 
executing  productive  enterprises  on  their  own  soil,  e.g.  from 
building  railways  in  their  own  countries. 

3.  The  anti-militarist  movement,  considered  in  its  religious  and 
political  manifestations.  (Only  opposition  to  all  military  organization 
is  here  to  be  considered.) 

4.  The  position  of  organized  labour  and  the  socialists  in  the  various 
States  on  the  questions  of  war  and  armaments. 

5.  Is  it  possible  to  determine  a  special  interest  of  individual  classes 
making  for  or  against  war,  for  or  against  standing  armies  ? 

6.  The  influence  of  women  and  woman  suffrage  upon  war  and 
armaments. 

7.  The  extension  of  obligatory  military  service  in  the  different 
States,  in  times  both  of  war  and  of  peace. 

(a)  The  conditions  of  military  service  ;  the  system  of  enlistment 
and  of  general  obligatory  service,  the  actual  position  of  aliens. 

(6)  The  ratio  of  the  persons  obliged  to  render  military  service 
to  the  entire  population. 

(c)  The  influence  of  the  present  system  of  military  obligation 
and  the  organization  of  armies  upon  warfare  and  upon  its  duration. 

8.  The  economic  effects  of  the  right  of  capture  and  its  influence 
upon  the  development  of  navies. 

9.  War  loans  provided  by  neutral  countries ;  their  extent  and 
influence  on  recent  warfare. 

10.  The  effects  of  war  : 

(a)  Financial  cost  of  war.  The  methods  of  meeting  it :  Taxa- 
tion ;   International  Loans  ;   External  Loans. 

(b)  Losses  and  gains  from  the  point  of  view  of  public  and  private 
economic  interests  ;  checks  to  production  and  the  destruction  of 
productive  forces  ;   reduction  of  opportunities  for  business  enter- 


GENERAL  APPENDIX 

prises  ;  interruption  of  foreign  trade  and  of  the  imports  of  food ; 
the  destruction  of  property ;  shrinkage  of  values  of  property, 
including  securities  ;  financial  burden  caused  by  new  taxes,  debts, 
and  war  injdemnities ;  effects  upon  private  credit  and  upon 
savings  banks  ;  advantages  to  those  industries  which  furnish 
military  materials ;  advantages  and  disadvantages  to  neutral 
countries. 

(c)  The  effects  of  war  upon  the  supply  of  the  world  with  food 
and  raw  materials,  with  special  reference  to  those  States  which 
are  in  large  degree  dependent  upon  other  countries  for  such 
supplies,  e.  g.  Great  Britain  and  Germany  ;  by  diversion  of  capital 
from  those  countries  which  produce  food  and  raw  materials 
(especially  the  stoppage  of  railway  building  and  of  new  investments 
in  agriculture  and  other  industries). 

(d)  The  condition  of  the  victorious  State  :  manner  of  levy  and 
use  of  contributions  and  war  indemnities  ;  influence  upon  industry 
and  social  life. 

(e)  The  manner  in  which  the  energy  of  nations  is  stimulated  or 
depressed  by  war. 

11.  Loss  of  human  life  in  war  and  as  a  result  of  war  :  influence 
upon  population  (birth-rate,  relation  between  the  sexes,  ratio  of  the 
various  ages,  sanitary  conditions). 

12.  The  influence  of  war  and  of  the  possibility  of  war  upon  the 
protective  policy,  upon  banking  conditions  (especially  upon  banks 
of  issue),  and  upon  monetary  systems. 

13.  The  influence  of  annexation  upon  the  economic  life  of  the 
annexing  States,  and  upon  the  State  whose  territory  has  been  annexed. 

14.  The  annexation  of  half-civilized  or  uncivilized  peoples,  con- 
sidered especially  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  economic  interests, 
which  act  as  motive  powers ;  the  methods  through  which  private 
enterprises  take  root  in  such  regions  and  through  which  they  bring 
influence  to  bear  upon  their  own  governments ;  the  effects  of  such 
annexations  upon  the  development  of  trade  with  the  annexing  State 
and  with  other  countries,  as  well  as  upon  the  economic  and  social 
life  of  the  natives. 

15.  The  progressive  exemption  of  commercial  and  industrial 
activities  from  losses  and  interferences  through  war. 

16.  Influence  of  the  open-door  policy  upon  war  and  peace. 


GENERAL  APPENDIX 


Report  of  the  Second  Commission 

ARMAMENTS  IN  TIME  OF  PEACE.  MILITARY  AND  NAVAL  ESTABUSH- 
MENTS.  THE  THEORY,  PRACTICE,  AND  HISTORY  OF  MODERN 
ARMAMENTS. 

1.  Definition.  Armaments  might  be  described  as  '  the  preparations 
made  by  a  State  either  for  defence  or  for  attack  '.  These  would 
include  the  provision  of  food,  financial  preparations,  and  also  semi- 
military  railways,  canals,  docks,  &c. 

2.  Causes  of  armaments.  Motives  for  increasing  or  commencing 
them,  distinguishing  the  great  from  the  small  powers. 

3.  Rivalry  and  competition  in  armaments.  Motives  and  conse- 
quences of  rivalry,  with  the  possibilities  of  limitation. 

4.  Modern  history  of  armaments,  with  special  fullness  from  1872. 
To  be  noted  as  important  landmarks  : 

(a)  The  introduction  of  conscription  into  Germany,  France, 
Austria,  Italy,  Japan,  &c. 

(b)  Modern  inventions  affecting  war. 

(c)  The  question  of  privateering  and  private  property  at  sea. 

(d)  Duration  of  military  service. 

(e)  The  traffic  in  arms. 

5.  Military  budgets  from  1872  (distinguishing  ordinary  from  extra- 
ordinary expenditures). 

6.  The  burden  of  armaments  in  recent  times. 

(a)  The  proportion  of  military  to  civil  expenditure. 

(b)  Military  expenditure  per  capita. 

(c)  Military  expenditure  from  loans  in  time  of  peace,  i.e.  a  com- 
parison of  expenditure  from  taxes  with  expenditure  from  borrowed 
money. 

(d)  Comparative  burdens  of  individual  taxpayers  in  different 
countries  and  the  extent  to  which  the  differences  are  due  to 
armaments. 

(e)  Military  pensions. 

(/)  It  is  desirable  to  ascertain  where  possible  the  ratio  between 
the  total  income  of  each  nation  and  the  total  expenditure  on 
armament  at  various  times. 

7.  The  effects  of  war  preparations  upon  the  economic  and  social 
life  of  a  nation  : 

(a)  On  the  sustenance  of  the  entire  population  of  a  country  at  war. 

4 


GENERAL  APPENDIX 

(b)  On  railway  policy. 

(c)  On  public  administration  and  on  social  legislation. 

8.  The  economic  effects  of  withdrawing  young  men  from  industrial 
pursuits,  into  the  army  and  navy  : 

(a)  Compulsory. 

(b)  Of  non-compulsory  service  (specially  in  the  case  of  mercenary 
troops). 

(Allowance  being  made  for  the  industrial  value  of  military 
education  and  training.) 

9.  The  influence  of  changes  in  the  occupations  of  a  people  upon  the 
composition  and  efficiency  of  armies,  and  the  influence  of  the  changes 
in  the  composition  of  armies  on  the  economic  life. 

10.  Loans  for  armaments  (participation  of  domestic  and  foreign 
capital). 

11.  The  industries  of  war,  i.  e.  the  various  manufactures  and  other 
industries  which  are  promoted  and  encouraged  by  military  and  naval 
establishments,  distinguishing  between  : 

(a)  Government  undertakings  (arsenals,  dockyards,  &c.). 

(6)  Private  undertakings,  including  the  history  and  working  of 
the  great  armament  firms,  which  sell  to  foreign  customers  as  well 
as  to  their  own  governments. 

12.  War  materials  (munitions  of  war).  Their  recent  development 
and  their  cost.  This  includes  arms,  ammunition,  armour-plate,  war- 
ships, guns  of  all  kinds,  military  airships,  &c.  So  far  as  possible  the 
effect  of  recent  inventions  upon  offensive  and  defensive  war  should  be 
indicated. 

Report  of  the  Third  Commission 

THE   UNIFYING   INFLUENCES   IN   INTERNATIONAL   LIFE 

1.  The  Conference  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  economic  life  of 
individual  countries  has  definitely  ceased  to  be  self-contained  ;  and 
that,  notwithstanding  the  barriers  raised  by  fiscal  duties,  it  is  becom- 
ing in  ever-increasing  measure  a  part  of  an  economic  life  in  which  the 
whole  world  participates. 

2.  It  desires  that  this  change  be  studied  with  the  object  of  ascer- 
taining to  what  extent  the  economic  life  of  individual  nations  has 
ceased  to  be  self-contained,  and  the  causes  which  are  bringing  about 
the  greater  interdependence  of  nations. 

8.  Special  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  following  factors  : 

(a)  How  far  the  growth  of  population  is  responsible  for  the 
changes  that  have  occurred  and  are  in  progress. 

5 


GENERAL  APPENDIX 

(6)  The  extent  to  which  the  insufficiency  of  the  natural  resources 
of  individual  countries  for  their  own  requirements  has  contri- 
buted to  it. 

(c)  Whether  the  increasing  economic  unity  of  the  world  is 
the  cause  or  the  result  of  the  rising  in  the  standard  of  living,  and 
how  far  the  increasing  welfare  of  nations  has  been  caused  by  the 
growing  unity. 

(d)  In  what  measure  the  need  of  individual  countries  to  obtain 
materials  of  production  from  other  lands  and  to  find  new  markets 
for  their  own  products  is  responsible  for  the  growth  of  international 
dependence. 

4.  The  Conference  desires  that  investigations  be  made  into  : 

(a)  The  volume  of  the  world's  production  of  all  the  many  articles 
of  food,  of  the  various  raw  materials,  and  of  the  principal  manu- 
factures. 

(b)  The  productions  of  individual  countries,  and  the  extent  to 
which  they  are  retained  for  home  consumption  or  are  exported. 

(c)  The  consumption  of  individual  countries,  and  the  extent  to 
which  the  various  articles  are  supplied  from  home  productions  or 
are  imported. 

5.  The  Conference  wishes  to  ascertain  to  what  extent  the  economy 
of  production  by  large  units,  instead  of  by  small  units,  has  contributed 
to  the  international  dependence  of  nations. 

6.  The  development  of  this  world-embracing  economy  has  taken 
place  in  great  measure  in  consequence  of  the  investment  of  capital 
by  rich  countries  in  less  developed  lands.  Through  this  there  have 
arisen  close  relations  and  a  great  increase  of  wealth,  not  only  for  the 
lending  and  the  borrowing  countries,  but  for  all  nations.  The  Con- 
ference is  of  the  opinion  that  researches  should  be  made  into  the 
extent  of  the  interdependence  of  the  nations  in  the  matter  of  capital. 

7.  The  Conference  desires  to  institute  inquiries  into  the  inter- 
dependence of  the  financial  centres  of  the  world. 

8.  The  Conference  desires  to  make  the  unifying  effects  of  inter- 
national trade,  the  building  of  railways,  the  progress  of  shipping, 
the  improvement  and  extension  of  all  means  of  communication  and 
the  progress  of  inventions,  the  subjects  of  careful  investigation. 

9.  The  Conference  is  in  favour  of  making  a  comprehensive  study 
of  the  various  international  unions  and  associations,  in  which  the 
social  and  economic  interests  of  all  classes  of  society  are  now  either 
organized  or  in  process  of  organization,  through  official  or  private 
action, 

6 

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