sufficient to serve the Centinels who are to be on Camp Duty, or
general Guards, in very cold and wet Weather. Some of the Regiments in
_Germany_ had such Coats, and found great Service from them.
In Winter Quarters, Soldiers are apt to make the Rooms in which they
sit, and their Guard Rooms, as hot as possible; especially in
_Germany_, where the Inhabitants use close Stoves, instead of open
Fires; and continue in these warm Rooms till they are called out on
Duty, when, by being exposed to sudden Cold, they are apt to be seized
with Inflammations of the Breast; and therefore Officers ought to
examine carefully the Quarters and Guard Rooms allotted for their Men,
and chuse them dry and comfortable, if possible[120]; but never to
allow the Men to keep them as hot as Ovens, by Means of close Stoves,
or other such Contrivances; but to depend more on good warm Cloathing,
and dry Quarters, for guarding against Diseases, than upon artificial
Heat. Many of the Regiments in _Germany_ made the People in whose
Houses their Men were quartered, take down their Stoves, and use only
open Fires; when there was no Danger of the Soldiers making their
Quarters too warm, as Wood was difficult to be got.
[120] Dr. _Pringle_ has very justly observed, that upper
Stories are preferable to Ground Floors; and that all
uninhabited large damp Houses ought to be rejected.
_Observat. on Diseases of the Army_, part ii. chap. iii.
sect. 2.
If Necessity obliges Officers to put up with such Places for
their Men, Care ought to be taken to clean them well, and to
air and dry them by Means of Fires, before the Soldiers go
into them; and to supply well the Men who are to lodge in
them with Straw and Blankets, and with Wood or Turf.
But although close Stoves are prejudicial in small Rooms, yet when a
Town is much crowded, and Men are obliged to be lodged, in Winter, in
large Barns or Churches, or other large open Places, the _German_
Stoves may be used with great Advantage in airing and drying such
Places, and keeping them of a moderate Heat; especially if there be a
Place in them for an open Fire, or if they be of that Kind which the
_Germans_ call _wynd Stoves_, which have a Door opening into the
Chamber where the People are lodged; or if there be broken Windows, or
any other Opening by which a free Circulation of Air can be kept up
in the Men's Apartments.
In Winter, when the Weather is very cold or wet, a Glass of Brandy, or
of the spirituous Tincture of the Bark, given to the Men as they went
upon Duty, especially in the Night, has been found to be of great
Use[121]. Dr. _Pringle_ has very justly observed, that the Times of
standing Centinel, and being upon Out-posts, ought, if possible, to be
shortened at such Seasons; and that Fires in the Rear of the Camp, for
Men coming off Duty to warm and dry themselves at, were found to be of
great Service.
[121] Dr. _Pringle_ has taken Notice, that it would be a
right Measure to make an Allowance of Spirits to the Infantry
on Service; which certainly would be of great Use, and save
many Mens Lives; and might be done at a small Expence to the
Government, if properly managed; as it would only be
requisite to make such an Allowance when the Troops are in
the Field, and to such Men as mount Guard in cold wet
Weather, or at Nights in Garrison Towns, during the Winter.
If ever such an Allowance be made, what Spirits are given to
the Men ought to be mixed with five or six Times the Quantity
of Water; except when Men are to stand Centinels, or to be
upon Out-Posts, in a frosty Season, or in cold wet Weather;
at which Time a small Glass of pure Spirits may be given them
in Presence of the Officer or Serjeant of the Guard.
In Spring, and the latter End of Autumn, the Days are sometimes
extremely hot, and the Nights cold and damp, and the Men exposed to
these sudden Changes; at such Times, the Men who go upon Duty in the
Night, ought to put on their Flannel Waistcoats, and be warmer
cloathed than in the Day; and use many of the Precautions practised in
Winter for the Preservation of their Health.
In _North America_, when the Men were in the Field in very hard frosty
Weather, Fires were lighted at the Ends of the Tents, and Centinels
set over them to prevent their doing Mischief; and both in _Germany_
and _North America_, when the Troops were in the Field without Tents,
they cut down Wood and made large Fires, and the Soldiers lay down and
slept round these Fires, with their Feet next to them; and Fires were
lighted at all Out-posts, where it could be done with Safety.
In _Germany_, when the Weather set in rainy or cold towards the End of
the Campaigns, and the Army was in a fixed Position, his Serene
Highness Prince _Ferdinand_ constantly ordered the Army to Hutt;
which was done either by thatching their Tents, or building Hurdles,
or digging Pitts, and covering and thatching them over. The Officers
either built Hutts with Fire Places, or had Chimnies built to their
Tents.
If, notwithstanding all Precautions, Men upon Out-posts should be
benumbed with Cold, or Frost bit, as soon as they are brought into
Camp or Quarters, their Extremities ought to be rubbed with Snow, or
put into cold Water[122]; and afterwards well dried, and wrapt up in
Blankets; and warm mild Liquors given them to drink, and afterwards
Cordials; and, after some Time, they may be brought near the Fire, or
put to Bed. Dr. _Lind_[123] mentions one Caution to be used when Men
are found in this Condition; which is, not to give them immediately
strong spirituous Liquors, for that those often prove instantaneously
fatal; but to put them to Bed, and give warm Water Gruel, or some
other mild diluting Liquor, to drink; after which, he says, a Glass of
Spirits will prove less dangerous and more beneficial.
[122] _Hildanus_ relates a very remarkable Instance of the
good Effects of this Treatment. A Man was found quite stiff
and frozen all over. He was put into cold Water, and
immediately the icy Spicula were discharged from all Parts of
his Body, so that he seemed covered with an icy Crust. He was
then put into a warm Bed, and took a Cordial Draught, and a
plentiful Sweat followed; after which he recovered with the
Loss of the last Joints of his Fingers and Toes. _De
Gangræna_, cap. xiii. People who are benumbed with Cold in
frosty Weather ought never to be brought immediately near a
Fire; for that has been found either to cause immediate Death
or Gangrenes of the Extremities; and even Apples and other
Fruits which have been frozen, if brought immediately near a
Fire, turn soft and rot; but if put into cold Water, throw
out the icy Spicula, and recover, so as to be almost as good
as before they were frozen.
[123] _Means of Preserving the Health of Seamen_, 2d edition,
page 19.
When Men are quartered or cantonned in Towns or Villages, whose
Situation is low and damp, and where fresh Meat and Vegetables are
scarce in Winter, and the Scurvy frequent among the lower Class of
People; Commanding Officers, at the Approach of Winter, ought to use
their Endeavours to provide a Store of Potatoes, Onions, Cabbages,
sour Crout; of pickled Cabbages, and other pickled Vegetables; of
Apples and other Fruits, preserved in different Forms, to be laid up,
and sold out to the Men at a cheap Rate during the Winter. They
should contract, if possible, with Butchers to furnish the Men with
fresh Meat[124], and endeavour to procure good small Beer, or Cyder or
Wine in the Wine or Cyder Countries; or Spirits to be mixed with
Water, and a small Proportion of Cream of Tartar or Vinegar; or some
other wholesome fermented Liquor for their Drink[125]; and to put
their Men into as dry comfortable Quarters as possible.
[124] The Regiments in _Germany_ who kept their Butchers in
Winter, and made Stoppages of the Mens Pay, and obliged them
to take a certain Quantity of Meat daily, were much more
healthy than those who used no Precaution of this Kind.
[125] In Places where the Articles here mentioned are at too
high a Price for a Soldier's Pay, a small Allowance, from the
Government, of such Things would contribute much to the
Preservation of the Mens Health in unwholesome Garrisons.
In Times of War, when Men are sent upon Expeditions into warm
Climates, great Care ought to be taken to embark such only as are in
good Health; particular Regard ought to be paid to those who are
picked up in the Streets, or have been taken out of the _Savoy_, or
other Jails. All dirty Rags from off such People ought to be thrown
away or burnt; and the Men, after being well washed, and new cloathed,
ought to be kept for a Fortnight or three Weeks in some Garrison Town,
or with their Regiments, in open airy Places, that it may be
ascertained that they have no infectious Disorder before they be put
aboard the Transports.
All Ships allotted for Transports ought to be well aired and purified,
and every Thing fitted up properly, before the Men are embarked. They
ought to be provided with Ventilators, or Wind Sails, to make a free
Circulation of Air through the Vessel[126]; and they ought never to be
crowded; but full Room allowed for each Man, in Proportion to the
Length of the Voyage[127].
[126] See Dr. _Lind's Treatise on the Means of Preserving the
Health of Seamen in the Royal Navy_, where he takes Notice of
most of the Articles here mentioned with regard to Transport
Ships in treating of Ships of War.
[127] When Ships are too much crowded with Men, if they meet
with a tedious Passage, and hot moist close Weather, they are
often attacked with Diseases which prove very fatal. Dr.
_Lind_, talking of Ships of War, says it is a Mistake
destructive to the Men to crowd too many of them together in
a southern Voyage, or in a hot Climate; as the Ship will be
found, before the End of the Voyage, in more Distress for
Want of Men, than she would have been, had she at first
carried out only her proper Compliment. An additional Number
is made, in order to supply an expected Mortality; but they
generally increase that Mortality to double or triple their
own Number. _Ibid. note to p. 48._
In military Expeditions, Soldiers are put upon Ships Allowance;
which, Dr. _Lind_ very justly observes, ought not, in Voyages to the
warm Climates, be made up so much of salted Beef and salted Pork
(which always tend to the Putrescent), as is the common Practice of
the Navy; but that a greater Share of Biscuit, Flour, Oatmeal, Goarts,
Rice, and other Stores of that Kind, ought to be laid in; and a
greater Proportion of them, and a Less of the salted Meat, distributed
among the Men: And he is certainly in the Right, when he says, that a
full Animal Diet, and tenacious Malt Liquors, are well adapted to the
Constitution of our own, and of other northern Climates; and that
Sailors who visit the _Greenland_ Seas, and are remarkable for a
voracious Appetite, and a strong Digestion of hard salted Meat, and
the coarsest Fare, when sent to the _West Indies_, soon become
sensible of a Decay of Appetite, and find a full gross salted Diet
pernicious to Health. "Instinct (he says) has taught the Natives
between the Tropics to live chiefly on a Vegetable Diet, of Grains,
Roots, and subacid Fruits, with Plenty of diluting Liquors[128]."
[128] The following is the Diet established for the Seamen of
his Majesty's Navy.
Every Man is allowed a Pound of Biscuit, _Averdupoiz Weight_,
and a Gallon of Beer, _Wine Measure_, _per_ Day.
On _Sunday_ and _Thursday_, one Pound of Pork, and Half a
Pint of Peas, _Winchester Measure_.
On _Monday_, _Wednesday_, and _Friday_, one Pint of Oatmeal,
two Ounces of Butter, and four Ounces of Cheese.
On _Tuesday_ and _Saturday_ two Pounds of Beef.
It is left to the Commanders of Squadrons to shorten the
aforesaid Allowance of Provisions according to the Exigence
of the Service, taking Care that the Men be punctually paid
for the same. As it is thought for the Benefit of the Service
to alter some of the foregoing Particulars of Provisions in
Ships employed on foreign Voyages, it is to be observed, that
A Pint of Wine, or Half a Pint of Rum, Arrack, or Brandy,
hold Proportion to a Gallon of Beer.
Four Pounds of Flour, or three Pounds of the same with a
Pound of Raisins, Half a Pound of Currans, or Half a Pound of
Beef Suet pickled, are equal to a four Pound Piece of Beef,
or two Pound Piece of Pork with Peas.
Half a Pound of Rice is equal to a Pint of Oatmeal.
A Pint of Olive Oil is equal to a Pound of Butter, or two
Pounds of _Cheshire_ Cheese.
And Two-thirds of a Pound of _Cheshire_ Cheese is equal to a
Pound of _Suffolk_.
If Soldiers are sent as Passengers on board of King's Ships,
or on board of Transports, their Allowance is generally but
Two-thirds of the above.
A Store of Vegetables, such as Mustard Seed, Garlick, Onions,
Potatoes, pickled Cabbages and other pickled Vegetables, sour Crout
and other Things of that Kind, which can be purchased at a cheap Rate,
and preserved for some Months, ought to be laid in; which may be mixed
with the Soops prepared for the Men, or given them to eat along with
their salted Provisions.
A Quantity of Beer, Cyder, or Wine, ought to be put aboard, and a
certain Allowance distributed to each Man daily. When, for Want of
these, Men are reduced to an Allowance of Spirits, they ought to be
mixed with seven or eight Times the Quantity of Water, or made into
Punch, by the Mixture of Water and Molosses, and the Juice of Lemons,
before they are given to the Men; and, if Lemons cannot be got, Cream
of Tartar, or Vinegar, ought to supply their Place; and it ought to be
a Duty of one of the military Officers on board to see the Punch made,
and distributed among the Men daily.
It would be right, on all Expeditions into warm Climates, to send some
Sloops of War, or other armed Vessels, before the grand Fleet, to take
up a Quantity of Wine that will keep, either at the _Madeira_, or
other Wine Countries; and afterwards to go to any of our Settlements
that are nearest the Place of Destination, and to take in a Quantity
of Limes, Lemons, Oranges, and other Fruits, and Vegetables which will
keep for some little Time; and of Spirits, live Stock, and other
Provisions proper for the Army; and then to meet the Fleet at the
general Rendezvous. When once a Landing is made good, these Vessels,
after having unloaded their Cargoes, may either be employed on other
Services, or kept constantly going and coming for whatever Stores or
Provisions are wanted for the Army or Fleet.
A sufficient Quantity of Vinegar ought to be put on board of each
Transport, both for the Men to eat with their Victuals, and likewise
for fumigating and washing between Decks occasionally. And a Quantity
of Molosses, or coarse brown Sugar, and of Lemons, or their
inspissated Juice, or Cream of Tartar, ought to be allowed for making
the Punch, as well as for other Purposes.
If the Water become foetid, the Quantity to be used in the Day ought to
be sweetened by Means of the Ventilator contrived by the ingenious Dr.
_Hales_[129] for that Purpose.
[129] This Ventilator is no more than a long Tube, with a Tin
Box, about six Inches wide and four high, with a Number of
Holes at the Top, fixed at one End; and this Box is put down
to the Bottom of the Water, and the Nose of a Pair of Bellows
fixed to the other End of the Tube, which is above the Water;
by working the Bellows, fresh Air is driven through the whole
Body of Water, the putrid Effluvia are evaporated and
dispersed, and the Water becomes sweet in a very short Time.
The Men ought to be brought upon Deck, and Roll called two or three
Times a Day; they should be made to comb their Hair, and wash their
Hands and Face every Day, and to shift themselves sometimes, if
possible; and in every respect keep themselves as clean as the Nature
of the Service will admit; and proper Exercises should be contrived,
to keep them in Health.
All the Parts of the Ship ought to be kept very neat and clean; and
the Hold, and all between Decks, ought to be scraped and swept daily;
and every Morning, in fair Weather, ought likewise to be washed, and
afterwards sprinkled or washed with warm Vinegar, while the Men are
upon Deck[130].
[130] This ought always to be done in the Morning, that all
the Parts of the Ship may have Time to dry before the Men go
to rest in their Births at Night; but it ought never to be
done after Sun-set.
When the Weather will permit, Fires of dried Wood may be lighted in
Iron Kettles between Decks, and Centinels set over them, and the Fires
sprinkled with Rosin or Bits of Rope dipt in Tar, or with some cheap
Aromatic; and these Fires may be carried into all the Parts of the
Ship that Safety will permit, in order to dry and purify the Air[131].
After this Operation all the Ports and Hatchways should be opened,
and the Air in all the Parts of the Ship often renewed by working the
Ventilators.
[131] It has been proposed, that the Air in Ships of War
should be purified in this Way both by Dr. _Lind_ and by
Mons. _de Hamel de Monceau_.
The Mens Hammocks and Beds ought to be brought up upon Deck in fair
Weather, and well aired, and afterwards put in their Places, and Fires
lighted below Decks.
When Troops, sent on an Expedition into warm Climates, arrive at the
Place of their Destination, particular Care should be taken to guard
them against the Diseases peculiar to such Climates, which are
different from those common to our more northern Latitudes.
Dr. _Lind_ says, that People coming first from a cold into a hot
Climate are apt to have plethoric Symptoms; a Pain of the Head,
Giddiness, a Sense of Weight, and Fulness of the Breast, and a slight
Inflammation of the _tunica conjunctiva_; and that some are apt to be
seized with ardent Fevers and Diarrhoeas. And all Practitioners have
observed, that New-Comers into warm Climates are at first liable to
Fevers tending to the Ardent, and are very subject to Fevers of the
remitting and intermitting Kind, which are the Endemics of all warm
Countries at certain Seasons of the Year; and after some Time they are
apt to fall into Fluxes, the Yellow Fever, and other Diseases
depending on a putrescent State of the Juices. In military Expeditions
these Disorders are liable to be complicated with Fevers of the
Malignant or Hospital Kind, if Care is not taken to prevent it. And
nothing has been found to be more productive of Diseases in those warm
Climates, than indulging freely in the Use of Spirits and other strong
fermented Liquors; exposing one's self to the Damps, especially lying
on the Ground after the Dews fall; and working hard, or using violent
Exercise in the Heat of the Day.
The best Preservatives against Diseases in warm Climates have been
found to be,--1. Temperance; a Diet of light and easy Digestion,
composed more of vegetable than of animal Food; such as a small
Portion of fresh Meat, joined with a sufficient Quantity of
Vegetables; Rice, _Indian_ Corn, and other Grains, and Roots of
various Kinds, prepared in different Forms; well baked Bread; the
moderate Use of ripe Fruits; and the free Use of mild cooling subacid
Liquors, joined with a small Proportion of vinous or spirituous
Liquors; carefully avoiding the too liberal Use of Wine, Spirits, or
other strong fermented Liquors.--2. Great Care not to expose one's
self to the Damps of the Night, nor lie down to sleep on the Grass, or
in woody moist Places, in the Day; and to avoid all violent Exercise
in the Heat of the Sun.--3. Such Means as tend to support the Spirits;
for Chearfulness has been observed to contribute as much to the
Preservation of Health, as Fear and Dejection of Spirits to the
Production of Diseases.--4. Keeping the Body clean, and bathing
frequently in the Sea, or in a River, in the Morning.
And therefore, in warm Climates, Officers ought to be particularly
careful to keep their Men sober and temperate; to procure them good
Bread, and Plenty of Vegetables and fresh Meat, if possible; and
where no other but salted Meat can be got, to make them boil a small
Proportion of it in their Camp Kettles, along with Onions, Goarts,
Rice, Carrots, Turnips, Greens, or any other wholesome Roots or Herbs
which the Country affords, or they can get, and of these to prepare a
good wholesome Soop for themselves; and where there is Plenty of the
ripe acescent Fruits, which are reckoned wholesome, to distribute a
moderate Quantity among the Soldiers daily, which will both help to
preserve their Health, and prevent them from privately stealing and
eating large Quantities to the Prejudice of their Health.--To
encourage their Men, and keep up their Spirits.
They should also prevent, as much as possible, the too free Use of
Wine, Spirits, or other strong fermented Liquors; and in Wine
Countries give every Man a daily Allowance of Wine, to be mixed with
Water for his common Drink; and in Countries where nothing but Spirits
can be got, make the Spirit be mixed with Water, or made into a very
weak Punch, before it is given to the Men, as Lemons, Oranges, Limes,
and other Fruits proper for this Purpose, are generally to be had in
most warm Countries.
They should be careful not to march their Men in the Heat of the Day,
nor order them upon Duty where they must stand exposed to the Dews and
Damps of the Night, unless where the military Operations absolutely
require it.
They should endeavour to make the Bottom of the Tents be covered with
Straw, or dried Leaves of Trees, or dried Reeds, and with
Blankets[132], for the Men to lie upon.
[132] A sufficient Store of Blankets has often been neglected
to be carried out in Expeditions into warm Climates; but
Blankets are no-where more necessary, as it is very
prejudicial to the Health of Soldiers to be obliged to lie
down on the bare Ground; and Straw, dried Reeds, and other
such Things, are often difficult to be got in the warm
Climates.
The Time of standing Centinel, and being upon Out-posts, if possible,
should be short, where Men are exposed to the scorching Heat of the
Sun; and when Men are upon Out-posts in the Night, it should be
recommended to them to lie down on the Ground as little as possible;
and if they do it, to chuse a dry Place; and, where it can be done,
to have it covered with Straw or a Blanket, and to have some light
Covering to defend them from the Dews.
The Tents should be covered with Boughs of Trees, and the Men should
be ordered sometimes to strike them in the Middle of the Day, and air
well every Thing within them.
The Men should be obliged to keep themselves neat and clean; to comb
their Hair, and change their Linen often; and if the Camp be near the
Sea, or a large River, they ought to bathe early in the Morning as
often as the Nature of the Service will permit. However the following
Caution, mentioned by Dr. _Lind_, ought to be observed, which is, not
to go into the cold Bath when overheated with Work or Liquor, or when
the Stomach is full, or when a critical Eruption, called the prickly
Heat, appears on the Skin[133].
[133] Dr. _Lind_ says, the Use of the cold Bath, either in
Tubs under the Forecastle, or to dip in the Sea early in the
Morning, has been found extremely beneficial in warm Weather
and hot Countries; and that he can affirm, from his own
Experience in hot Climates, that many Diarrhoeas and other
Complaints, the pure and sole Effect of an unusual and great
Heat (relaxing the System of the Solids, and occasioning a
Colliquation of the Animal Juices), have not only been cured
by cold Bathing; but their Return, and even the Attack of
such Diseases, effectually prevented by it. _Ibid._ p. 44,
&c.
When Men are seized with inflammatory Symptoms on entering into warm
Climates, they may be blooded freely: Afterwards they do not easily
bear such copious Evacuations, but rather require to have them made in
smaller Quantities, and very early and frequent, as Inflammations make
a rapid Progress in warm Countries. Dr. _Lind_ says, many
Practitioners disapprove of Blood-letting in the Countries lying under
the Torrid Zone, on a Supposition that the Blood is too much
dissolved; but he thinks that this Rule will admit of many Exceptions;
and that Sailors (_and consequently Soldiers_), being strong and
robust, and exposed to greater Vicissitudes of Heat and Cold, and more
Excesses, and other Accidents in general, bear freer Bleeding than any
other Set of People.