Petriello - Bacteria and bayonets: the impact of disease in American military history

INTRODUCTION

War is the father of all.

HERACLITUS

W hen Heraclitus opined the above statement, he was perhaps making a broader claim about the evolution of both man and society. On any scale, competition drives advancement. For Heraclitus, war was the ultimate form of competition; the greatest change agent in the ancient world. War produced heroes, leaders, empires, tools, inventions, explorationin short, advancement. Yet for the ancient world in general, the Greeks in particular, and even Heraclitus personally, there was a greater factor impacting life and society: disease.

The ancients undoubtedly appreciated disease as a powerful force in life. Such major deities as Apollo and Isis were duly consulted during outbreaks of contagion by the Greeks and the Egyptians. In addition, plague was a major plot tool utilized by the poet Homer at the beginning of the martial classic the Iliad, where a vengeful Apollo Smintheus cut down the Greeks with his arrows of pestilence. Finally, to appreciate the impact of disease upon ancient military history, one needs look no further than the Periclean Plague that swept Athens early in the Peloponnesian War, or the Justinian Plague that doomed the impending re-conquest of Italy by the Byzantine Empire. Though the nature of these contagions is still debated, their effects are well established. The first pestilence not only carried off Athens most promising leader but severely crippled its ability to wage war as well, while the latter accomplished what hordes of barbarians could not. In fact, it would not be hyperbole to credit these two sicknesses as major factors in both Athens subsequent loss to Sparta and the permanent dissolution of Europe.

History is replete with examples of how contagion impacted war and battles on every continent. Evidence of this arises in the Black Plague that was pushed westward by the Mongol invasions, the downfall of Alexanders great empire after he succumbed to contagion, and the typhus that crippled the armies of Napoleon in Russia, not General Winter which is normally blamed. How many thousands of other battles, skirmishes, campaigns, and even wars were in some part impacted by the presence of illness? In fact siege as a very tactic had at its core the desire to strangle an enemy until famine and disease reduced him to surrender.

Appreciating its influence, many famous authors of military canons included the issue of pestilence within their works. Sun Tzu, for one, advised commanders to, camp on hard ground, the army will be free from disease of every kind, and this will spell victory. The Roman commander urges his readers to remedy the situation by engaging the soldiers in daily exercises to keep them fit and less susceptible to illness, very modern thinking indeed. Men from Machiavelli to Napoleon to Adolf Hitler likewise opined on the effects of disease on the military might of a nation.

Contagion has historically impacted every segment of warfare. It lurks in the causes, drives planning, preparation, and strategy, and ultimately helps to decide the winner. It is as true in American military history as that of any other nation. If Heraclitus is correct, and war is the father of all, than disease is the mother.