’Gallinippers’ & Glory: The Links between Mosquito-borne Disease and U.S. Civil War Operations and Strategy, 1862

Disease killed two-thirds of the soldiers who died during the Civil War. And of the various maladies that plagued both armies, few were more pervasive than malaria—a mosquito-borne illness which afflicted over 1.1 million soldiers serving in the Union ranks. Yellow fever, another disease transmitted by mosquitoes, struck fear into the hearts of military planners who knew that “yellow jack” could wipe out an entire army in a matter of weeks. Bell examines the physiological and psychological effects of these two diseases and their impact on military operations and strategy in 1862, the first full year of the war.