Donald Monro was similar to John Pringle in many ways. They wer both Scottish, members of Edinburgh University, Physician Generals, writers of many influential articles, and followers of the school of "physical observation." Donald's grandfather had been a British Army Surgeon until about 1700, and his father was an anatomist. Young Monro was born in 1727 (or 1728 under the new calendar) and received his medical degree in 1753, the year after Pringle's great book came out.

On December 3, 1760, Monro was commissioned a physician to the English General Hospital in Flanders, where he worked himself up to the rank of Physician General in a short time. Upon returning to England at the conclusion of the war, Monro wrote: An Account of the diseases which were most frequent in the British Military Hospitals in Germany from January 1761 to the Return of the troops to England in March 1763. The first publication was in 1764.

Monro's book is organized very differently from Pringle's. It was not meant as an imitation, but rather as a completely unique were different: no hospital care awaited them and many died from lack of care.

Disease was an ever present problem for the British forces on the continent, but disease was never so great as to affect the outcome of the Fredrician wars. For diseases to be of the magnitude to dictate victory or defeat, one must look instead to events taking place in the West Indies, where every move and situation was dictated by sickness.

One will often note the frequency of extremely cold winters when reading about the campaigns of the mid l 8th Century, and these conditions were a contributing factor towards the occurrence of disease in Europe. The winters of 1743 and 1762 stand out in particular, as does the infamous winter of 1757, known as the "year without summer". There is a good reason for these cold spells. Modern paleoclimatoligical studies have shown that Europe was still in the midst of what some now call "the little ice age" which lasted from the l400's to the early 1800's. This cold period affected everything from architecture to agriculture and the existence of settlements in the northlands. The effects on military campaigning were particularly severe.

As a final thought, it is interesting to note the difference in health exhibited between officers and men. Shelter was one of the many causes as Pringle wrote:

"Whilst the men suffered by cold beds, wards and out-duties, or by their own mismanagement, neither the season nor climate gave inflammatory disorders to the officers, who had warm quarters and were less exposed to cold... " (Pringle p53)

Care for the sick also differed. Pringle described one occasion when officers did fall ill: "the officers were also sickly, tho from more timely and greater care, their fevers were attended with less ardent and malignant symptoms... (p71).

And finally, Monro described a soldier's life: marches in wet weather, pickets at night in all weather, duty every second or third night near the enemy, working and fatigue parties, rest interrupted by frequent alarms, little time for cleaning, and scarce provisions and water supplies. Add to these "exposure to the putrid Effluvia of dead bodies" and insufficient winter clothing and bedding.

It should also be pointed out that the enlisted diet was worse than that of the officers. Men lived in crowded conditions, sleeping in packed tents or two to a bed in billets. Keep in mind that one's bed partner might have been someone recently recovered from illness or worse; perhaps some elderly convict scraped out of some dirty street in London. And of course, there were the occasional drinking binges enjoyed by the men with their meager savings or loot, whichcould not have helped in the body's fight against disease, although lack of sobriety was not a trait confined soley to the enlisted men.

All things considered, Pringle and Monro fought a difficult battle to achieve better health for the troops. Their efforts at sanitation, organization, and paying attention to the wants of the lowest ranks saved many lives. Their memory is an honorable one.

Bibliography

Atwood, R., The Hessians, Cambridge University Press. New York 1980.
Cantlie, N., A History of the Army Medical Department, Churchill Livingston. Edinburgh 1974.
Frey, S.R., The British Soldier in America, University of Texas Press, Austin. 1981.
Monro, D., An account of the diseases which were most frequent in the British Military Hospitals in Germany , Miller, Wilson & Payne, London,1764.
Pringle, J. Observations on the diseases of the Army in Camp and Garrison, Miller, Wilson & Payne, London, 1752.
Skrine, F.H., Fontenoy and Great Britain's Share in the War of Austrian Succession, Blackwood& Sons, London, 1906.
Walker, M.E.M., Pioneers of Public Health, Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh, 1930.

Influence of Disease on the Mid-18th Century British Expeditions Flanders and Germany

Introduction
Sir John Pringle
Donald Monro