Erica Charters - Disease, War, and the Imperial State: The Welfare of the British Armed Forces during the Seven Years War

ERICA CHARTERS is associate professor in the history of medicine and a fellow of Wolfson College at the University of Oxford.

The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
2014 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2014.
Printed in the United States of America

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ISBN-13: 978-0-226-18000-7 (cloth)

ISBN-13: 978-0-226-18014-4 (e-book)

DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226180144.001.0001

Charters, Erica M. (Erica Michiko), 1978 author.

Disease, war, and the imperial state : the welfare of the British armed forces during the Seven Years War / Erica Charters.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-226-18000-7 (cloth : alkaline paper) ISBN 978-0-226-18014-4 (e-book)

1. Great BritainArmed ForcesMedical careHistory18th century. 2. Armed ForcesDiseasesGreat BritainHistory18th century. 3. Medicine, MilitaryGreat BritainHistory18th century. 4. Seven Years War, 17561763Medical care. I. Title.

DA67.C47 2014

940.2'534dc23

2014006591

This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

DISEASE, WAR, AND THE IMPERIAL STATE

The Welfare of the British Armed Forces during the Seven Years War

ERICA CHARTERS

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS
CHICAGO AND LONDON

Frontispiece. Edward Penny (171491), The Marquis of Granby Giving Alms to a Sick Soldier and His Family (1764). Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I began research on this topic at the University of Oxford, during which time I enjoyed financial support from Canadas Social Science and Humanities Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, and the Canadian Centennial Scholarship Fund, as well as through an Overseas Research Scholarship. Later, I was fortunate to receive support from a number of institutions, which allowed me to transform my research into this book. A Price Fellowship from the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan and a W. M. Keck Foundation Fellowship from the Huntington Library provided me with access to relevant archival materials and stimulating research environments. An award from the University of Oxfords Fell Fund granted me precious research leave to write and complete final revisions.

A number of institutions and individuals have provided crucial assistance. I am grateful to archivists at the British Library; the Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum; the National Archives, London; the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh; and many other archives scattered throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. I am also grateful to the librarians at the Bodleian Library, especially those at the History Faculty, the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, and the Upper Reading Room. The University of North Texas provided assistance during the final stages of writing, particularly the History Department and the Library Services. Versions of parts of this study were presented to various seminars and conferences, and I am grateful for the feedback I received from the Eighteenth-Century Seminar in London, the history of medicine seminars at the universities of Birmingham, Cambridge, and Newcastle, and workshops and conferences organized by BSECS, the Imperial War Museum, McGill University, the National Army Museum, the National Maritime Museum, OIEAHC, SMU, SSHM, the University of Leeds, and the University of Liverpool.

I have been fortunate to enjoy feedback and support from colleagues at the University of Newcastle, the University of Liverpool, the University of Bath Spa, and the University of Oxford. In particular, I am grateful to Holger Hoock, who enthusiastically read over earlier versions; William J. Ashworth, who encouraged me to think more precisely about the state and scientific practice; and Elaine Chalus, for her warmth and wisdom. At Oxford, the Eighteenth-Century Seminar has long been a source of both intellectual stimulation and companionship, and Perry Gauci and Kathryn Gleadle have become delightful mentors as well as colleagues. Joanna Innes in particular has helped me in conceptualizing eighteenth-century Britain and the state, while encouraging me to become a more thoughtful historian in many ways. Laurence Brockliss has long provided helpful guidance and insight into historical research, and Pietro Corsi has taught me much about thinking and doing the history of science. I am also grateful to Eric Ash, Heather Beatty, Sophie Burton, Stephen Conway, Brian Cowan, Patricia Crimmin, James Davey, Huw David, Angela Davis, Joyce Taylor Dawson, John Donoghue, Denis Galligan, Victoria Gardner, Alan J. Guy, Stephen Hague, Richard Harding, Bob Harris, Ben Heller, Julian Hoppit, Geoffrey Hudson, Catherine Kelly, Roger Knight, Peter MacLeod, Tabitha Marshall, John McAleer, Matthew McCormack, Henry Meier, Iain Milne, Renaud Morieux, Matthew Neufeld, Sorcha Norris, Jacomien Prins, Nicholas Rodger, Matt Schumann, Eric Seeman, Kevin Siena, Peter Silver, Paul Slack, Hannah Smith, Todd Smith, Glenn Steppler, Hew Strachan, Eric Gruber von Arni, Rosemary Wall, Jennifer Wallach, Katherine Watson, and Peter H. Wilson as generous scholars and friends who have shared unpublished work, read drafts, offered helpful comments, or were willing to discuss ideas, findings, and arguments.