Troops Fighting Disease

            During the Civil War, troops were not only fighting against opposing troops-but also fighting for their lives against disease. In an article written by Rhonda M. Kohl, titled “This Godforsaken Town:” Death and Disease at Helena, Arkansas, 1862-63, disease is described as a deathly weapon. Many accounts at Helena, Arkansas, are described and reviewed to express the impact disease can have on a war.

            The main argument of this article that the author attempts to make is that disease is one of the primary reasons of why the Army of the Southwest achieved little toward hindering the Confederate sources in Arkansas in 1862. The article goes in depth to explain that diseases were often misdiagnosed and mistreated, which in turn led to death. Disease also proved to be the reason for eighty percent of the Union hospital deaths. It was reveled in this article that many soldiers wrote in diaries and letters addressing blame towards their officers for the unhealthiness of the camps. In this article, a specific account at Helena is reviewed of one officer by the name of Major General Samuel R. Curtis. He was described to not care so much about his troop’s welfare, but more for cotton speculation.

            Within the article it is also expressed that disease is not the only element that needs to be taken into account when planning an Army’s campaign. The author argues that the climate and weather also need to be taken into account. A description of an Army’s campaign is given within the article that exemplifies the lack of planning. The troops are led to Helena exposed to circumstances favorable to the spread of diseases and many troops died of these diseases.         

          This was the case not only at Helena, but also other war locations. Disease was killing as many or more troops as actual battles war. As this author argued the idea of disease as well as other different environmental conditions should have been taken into account when planning for the war.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Kohl, Rhonda M. “This God Forsaken Town:” Death and Disease at Helena, Arkansas, 1862-63. Civil         War History 50, no. 2 (2004): 109-144.