Observations on the Diseases of Seamen. Blane Gilbert
in it, the remarks shall, for this reason, be somewhat more full and particular.
Three ships of the line having been sent to protect convoys to Jamaica, and one having been sent to protect a convoy to Barbadoes, there remained thirty-six at St. Lucia in the beginning of this month. By the end of the first week their damages were repaired, their water and provisions complete, and the sick in a great measure recovered.
An equal force of the enemy lay over against us at Martinico, the two powers of Britain and France being to make this distant quarter of the world the theatre for trying their strength, and deciding the sovereignty of the seas. In the view of this great event, our commander forwarded the necessary duties of the fleet with such zeal and diligence, and watched the motions of the enemy with such vigilance, that he overtook their grand squadron a few hours after they left their own port, and engaged them two several days, with a success, glorious and complete.
Nothing had been wanting to equip this fleet for the great and decisive exertion it was to make. Every ship, except two, might be said to be healthy, most of them were complete in men, well appointed with officers, and well found in stores and provisions. – Conformable to this was the eagerness, the confidence, and resolution, which led them to success and victory.
After this battle, the whole fleet, with the prizes, bore away for Jamaica, where part of it arrived on the last days of April, but the greater part of it kept the sea, till after the middle of May.
As this month is more than usually interesting, the tables are given at full length, and a column is added for the wounded.
The sum total, of the numbers of the men on board of the thirty-six ships that composed the line of battle on the 12th of April, was 21,608, and the mortality during the month, exclusive of those who were killed or died of wounds, was one in 862.
There was less sickness, and less death, from disease in this month, than any of the former twenty-three months, in which I kept records of the fleet, and less than in any subsequent month, till the fleet got to the coast of America.
To account for this, it is to be observed, that the men had not been exposed to the noxious air of the shore in watering, as in the preceding month: they had received from England a fresh supply of provisions, among which was sour krout, melasses, and essence of malt, all in addition to the ordinary articles of victualling: many of the ships were supplied with wine, in place of rum, and as the weather was all along dry and fine, the men suffered the less from the exposure and want of sleep, which are the necessary consequences of keeping ships clear for battle for several days and nights together.
Transcriber's Keys:
F Sick on board on the 1st of the Month.
M Put on the List during the Month.
D Dead.
H Sent to the Hospital.
N. B. The Ships marked thus, *, came from England in February and March, 1782.
All the Ships named in the Table were in the Engagements in April, except the Ramillies and the two Frigates.
In the Spaces marked thus, §, no Return was made.
Might not this extraordinary degree of health have also been owing, in part, to the effects of success upon the spirits of the men? It is related13, that, when the fleet under Admiral Matthews was off Toulon, in daily expectation for some time of engaging the combined fleet of France and Spain, there was a general stop put to the progress of disease, particularly of the scurvy, from the influence of that generous flow of spirits, with which the prospect of battle inspires British seamen. But if the mere expectation and ardour of a battle, without any happy event, could have such a sensible effect, what must have been the effect of the exultation of VICTORY, a victory in which the naval glory of our country was revived and retrieved, after a series of misfortunes and disgraces, which had well nigh extinguished the national pride in every department of service! The plain and honest, though unthinking seaman, is not less affected by this than the more enlightened lover of his country. Even the invalids at the hospital demonstrated their joy, upon hearing of this victory, by hoisting shreds of coloured cloth on their crutches.
It would appear, that there is something in situations of exertion and danger, which infuses a sort of preternatural vigour. When the mind is interested and agitated by active and generous affections, the body forgets its wants and feelings, and is capable of a degree of labour and exertion, which it could not undergo in cold blood. The quantity of muscular action employed in fighting at a great gun for a few hours, is perhaps more that what is commonly employed in a week in the ordinary course of life, and though performed in the midst of heat and smoke, and generally with the want of food and drink, yet the powers of nature are not exhausted nor overstrained; even the smart of wounds is not felt; and the future health of those who survive unhurt by external violence is so far from being injured, that it is sometimes mended by this violent, but salutary agitation.
The loss in action, and the number of mortal wounds, were not so great as might have been expected in a battle continued for a whole day. This advantage was owing to the superiority of our fire, as well as to the closeness of the fight, of which the Commander in Chief set the illustrious example, by penetrating the enemy’s line with his own ship; a bold and singular effort which first decided the event of the day. When ships in action are opposed to each other at a small distance, the velocity of cannon balls is so great, that in penetrating a ship’s side, few or no splinters are torn off; and by these more men are commonly killed and wounded, than by the ball itself. For the same reason, a close shot does less damage also to the ship itself, than a distant one; for a quick-flying ball makes an aperture less than its own diameter, whereas a spent one produces innumerable deadly splinters, at the same time shivering the object it strikes, and making wide and extensive rents in it. The proportion of the wounded to the killed, is also greater in distant, than in close fight, on account of the great number of small splinters; and we have an experimental proof of this, in comparing the action in Fort Royal Bay in April 1781, with this near Dominica in April 1782. In the former, the enemy having kept far to windward, and engaged at a great distance, the proportion of the wounded to the killed was considerably more than four to one14; whereas in the latter, where the greater part of the battle was close, the proportion of the wounded to the killed, was little more than three to one15.
Though it is a remark not belonging to a medical work, yet it may be observed, that the greatest advantage that arose to us from close action was, that the fire of the enemy was thereby silenced; for the advantages would be mutual and equal, on the supposition, that the French, in such a situation, were to keep the deck, and stand to their guns equally well with the British seamen.
It appears, by examining the table, that the ships in which the fevers chiefly prevailed this month, were those that came last from England, and that those in which the fluxes prevailed most were chiefly of the squadron we found on the station, namely, the Canada, Resolution, and Prince William. The latter however recovered greatly in the course of this month. Some of the Ships that arrived last from England, namely, the Arrogant, Prothée, and Anson, were also considerably afflicted with fluxes, but they were of an extremely mild kind; and the small number of deaths from this disease in comparison with those from fevers, is a proof of a former observation, that this is the safest form in which an acute disease can shew itself. This small degree of mortality was also owing to the judicious method of treating it which was in general practised throughout the fleet; and it is but justice to the medical gentlemen to say, that they shewed on this, as well as every other occasion, great skill and attention in the treatment of the sick and wounded.
The sum total of fevers and fluxes that have been put on the list this month, is much the same as that of the preceding month; but the proportion of fluxes in April is much greater.
The proportion of scurvy is somewhat increased; which is not to be wondered at, when it is considered, that though the fleet
Dr. Lind, on the authority of Mr. Ives, surgeon to Admiral Matthews.
London Gazette,
This is well illustrated by the manner in which Captain Nott, of the Centaur, was killed in Fort-Royal Bay. This brave man, having carried his Ship nearer the enemy than the rest of the line, but nevertheless at a great distance, had his signal made to keep the line, and having gone into his cabin, as it is said, to examine the import of the signal, a cannon ball struck him in the groin, and it was so far spent, that it stuck in his body. It tore away a whole plank of the ship’s side, the splinters of which killed a young gentleman, the only person near him.