Infectious Disease in the Revolutionary War: Impacts on Strategy and Battles

Before the flu pandemic of 1918 and the Coronavirus of 2020, there was the smallpox outbreak of 1775-1777. John Adams wrote to his wife on June 26, 1776, "The smallpox is ten times more terrible than Britons, Canadians, and Indians together. The small Pox! The small Pox! What shall We do with it?"

This book explores the various diseases that affected the American and British armies during the American Revolution, drawing on information from diaries, letters, orders, newspapers, pension appl...