In Sickness & in Health

In Sickness and in Health. . More soldiers were killed by disease, accidents, and harsh weather than by battle. Diarrheal diseases such as dysentery, typhoid, and cholera were the most common and deadly, followed by malaria. These diseases spread rapidly due to poor diet, hygiene, and sanitation. On average, a soldier was hospitalized three times per year., [Captions] , Dr. William C. Gorgas served as assistant surgeon at Fort Randall and other frontier forts in the 1880s. He earned international recognition for his work to prevent yellow fever and malaria and became Surgeon General of the Army in 1914., This sketch of the old post hospital was drawn by Private W.S. Mackenzie, Company A, 6th Iowa Cavalry, in 1865. A new hospital was built in the 1870s., The hospital at Fort Randall, about 1874., [Book pages] , Cholera was raging and soon we had a dozen men sick of it. Some were unconscious, their features had turned to a bluish black color. The doors and windows were all open, but the stench was terrible. Flies in great numbers swarmed around them, settling on their open lips and staring eyes. After a day or two of illness one of our men died and was soon followed by another. It cost my company the lives of one officer and four privates.