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From: "Patterson" <>
Subject: [PATTERSON-L] Epidemics and Military Battles
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 12:10:35 -0600

Epidemics and Military Battles
Military campaigns were stopped or the outcome completely changed by insect
borne epidemics.
Typhus [Any of several forms of infectious disease caused by rickettsia,
especially those transmitted by fleas, lice, or mites, and characterized
generally by severe headache, sustained high fever, depression, delirium,
and the eruption of red rashes on the skin. Also called prison fever, ship
fever, typhus fever (American Heritage Dictionary) ]was the lead actor in
many military battles, and determined how many each side had to fight with
Xerces' invasion of Greece.
Xerces, a Persian, tried to capture Greece several times
Famous battle of hermopylae with Spartans, for example Xerces entered
Thessalonia with an army of 800,000 men. He soon lost 300,000 men to what
was probably either plague [Disease of over one-hundred animals, including
rats and humans. Infection occurs from flea bites and can go from people to
rats, people to people, or rats to rats.
The Center for Disease Control has an excellent site with information on
plague, http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/plagindex.htm
including diagnosis, treatement, and vaccine info.] or dysentery, and
abandoned the campaign and swept back into Asia.

The Great Crusades
In 1098, a Christian army besieged Antioch
An epidemic killed 5,000 of their 7,000 horses. Armored horses = modern
tanks
Of the second crusade, led by Louis VII of France, and half a million men,
only a handful survived
Crusade of 1190 and 100,000 men reduced by famine, plague, and desertions to
5,000 men!
WHY: Large group of men moving throughout country, sleeping close together,
liberal use of local populace, poor sanitation.

European Battles

In 1566, army of Maximillian II of Germany and 80,000 men prepared to attack
the Sultan of Hungary
An epidemic of typhus was so violent that the campaign was abandoned
1708, Swedes lost Southern Russia due to plague outbreak

Founding of the Haitian Republic
Napoleon sent General LeClerc with 25,000 men to put down a revolution
there, and yellow fever (mosquito transmitted) killed 22,000 of the French.
So, Haitian Republic was eventually formed.

Napoleon's Russia Campaign of 1812
Napoleon's army started with about 450,000 men
After the battle of Ostrowo, 80,000 sick from dysentery and typhus
Retreat from Moscow began October 19th, 1812, with not more than 80,000 men
fit for duty
About 6,000 finally made it back

The Crimean War of the 1850's
>From 1853 to 1856, this war was fought on the Crimean peninsula, a land mass
on the North shore of the Black Sea
The Russians were opposed by the French, British, and Turks
Purpose was for the Russians to gain control of Crimea
Statistics:

Country*Died-Wounds*Sick*Died Disease
French 20,356*196,430 *9,815
English 18,283*144,390*17,225
Russians 92,381*322,097*37,454



Happy Hunting, Sandy

Monmouth Co., NJ Surnames: TILTON & HARRIS, PYLE & MORAN
Mercer Co., KY Surnames: PATTERSON & BUNTON, LAWSON & McGINNIS
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
--- Helen Keller

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