1864 — Yellow Fever, esp. New Bern NC/1,359, Charleston, SC/700, Galveston, NOLA –2,414
–2,414 Blanchard tally based on numbers below.
Summary of State Breakouts of Yellow Fever Mortality
Alabama ( 6) Mobile
Florida ( 1) Key West Aug
Georgia ( 16) Savannah
Louisiana ( 57) New Orleans
North Carolina (1,359) Beaufort/New Bern Sep-early Nov, especially Sep-Oct
South Carolina ( 700) Charleston July 27-Nov
Texas ( 259) Galveston
Maritime ( 18) U.S. Gunboat John Chambers, Aug; Dudley Buck
Breakout of 1864 Yellow Fever Mortality by State and Locality (where noted):
Alabama ( 6) Mobile
— 6 Mobile Augustin. History of Yellow Fever, 1909, 444.
Florida ( 1) Key West Aug
— 1 Key West, Aug 18. General Woodbury, Commander of U.S. forces at Key West.[1]
Georgia ( 16) Savannah
–16 Savannah. Jones. Contagious and Infectious Diseases. 1884, p. 209.[2]
–14 Whites, p. 209.
— 2 Blacks. Jones, p. 210. [3]
Louisiana ( 57) New Orleans
— 57 New Orleans. Keating 1879, 102
North Carolina (1,359) Beaufort/New Bern Sep-early Nov, especially Sep-Oct
— 1,359 Beaufort, Morehead City and New Bern. Blanchard tally from breakouts below.[4]
–~1,300 Beaufort and New Bern.[5] Benjamin. The Great Epidemic in New Berne…1864.[6]
— 356 “ civilians and military. Blanchard compilation of breakouts below.
— 288 “ military, Sep-Nov. U.S. War Department Circular 1, 1868, xxxvi.
— 15 “ “ Hand. “Epidemic of 1864.” APHA, 1880, p. 295.[7]
— 76 “ civilians. Hand. “Epidemic of 1864.” APHA, 1880, p. 295.
— 68 “ “ Augustin 1909, 552; Keating 1879, 102; Sternberg 1908.
— 55 Morehead City.[8] Hand. “Epidemic of 1864.” APHA, 1880, p. 295.[9]
— 34 “ civilians. Hand. “Epidemic of 1864.” APHA, 1880, p. 295.
— 21 “ military. Hand. “Epidemic of 1864.” APHA, 1880, p. 295.
— 1,200 New Bern. Hand. “Yellow Fever,” p.101, 7th An. Rpt. MN Board of Health, 1879.[10]
–>1,000[11] “ civilians. Muniz. “A Perfect Reign…Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1864,” 26.[12]
— 700 “ civilians Augustin 1909, 552; Keating 1879, 102; USMHS 1896, 438
— 303 “ military, Sep-Nov. [13] U.S. War Dept. Circular 1, 1868, xxxv; Muniz, 26.[14]
South Carolina ( 700) Charleston July 27-Nov
–700 Charleston July 27-Nov U.S. War Department. Circular 1, 1868, xxxvii.[15]
Texas ( 259) Galveston
–259 Galveston. Carroll 1905, 73; Keating 1879, 102; Sternberg 1908, 719; USMHS 1896, 438.
— ? Houston. NYT. “From Havana; Southern News, Yellow Fever in Texas.” 11-3-1864, p.1.[16]
Maritime ( 18) U.S. Gunboat John Chambers Aug
–16 U.S. gunboat John Chambers, Key West to Philadelphia, Aug 18-30.[17]
— 2 Steam transport Dudley Buck, Morehead City, NC to Fortress Monroe, VA. Mid-Oct.[18]
Narrative Information
North Carolina, New Bern
[See http://www.tryonpalace.org/pdfs/palace_magazine_summer_2011.pdf for details}
Benjamin: “In the history of this rebellion no city which has been captured and occupied by our forces, situated as far North as New Berne, North Carolina, has been visited by a sweeping pestilence, so completely decimating as the late terrible scourge of yellow fever. In proportion to the population of our city, and taking into consideration the number of those who, for personal safety, visited the Northern States, the epidemic of September and October, 1864, stands unparalleled in its fearful fatality. So general and excellent had been the public health for a long term of years, that no apprehension of disease was exhibited, and, least of all, of an endemic infection so appalling in its ravages, and respecting neither rank, age, sex, or the native born, as the one with which we have been identified, and through which, with all its attending terrors, a merciful Providence has permitted a few of us to pass….” (p. 3)
“When the disease first made its appearance in our midst, no alarm was manifested by our citizens, as it was believed to be a one of simply an ordinary bilious character, and termed in every-day parlance, ” malignant bilious fever.” The first attacked by the insidious foe were John A. Taylor, W. Vanderbeek, Sutler 158th N. Y. Volunteers, Lieut. Johnson of the Ambulance Corps, Capt. Wm. Holden, A. Q. M., and Charles Hoskins, late of the Chief Provost Marshal’s office, under Capt. J. W. Denny. (pp. 4-5)
“Mr. Taylor was the first victim, and deserves particular mention. A young man whose character was without reproach, and universally esteemed by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance; he was one of the proprietors of the principal drug store in the city, and, by energy and unrelaxed industry, had succeeded in amassing a handsome independence, by dealing in naval stores, apart from his regular business….” (p. 5)
“During the illness of Capt. Holden, the disease assumed a bolder and more threatening aspect, breaking out in the Post Commissary’s, and carrying off the detailed clerks….
“The appearance of New Berne at this time was somber in the extreme; with the fading shades of each evening, the kindled fires at every corner emitting heavy columns of the densest and blackest smoke, enveloped the city in a funeral pall….” (p. 6)
“The order came from the Medical Director, Dr. D. W. Hand, to the Chief Provost Marshal, to destroy the wooden buildings on Craven Street Wharf, which concealed in their cellars the standing pools, “green mantled” in their miasmatic robes….
“…the Provost Marshal…fell before the pestilence. Major Henry T. Lawson, of the 2d Massachusetts Artillery, Chief Provost Marshal of New Berne, was a brave soldier, and a conscientious high-toned gentleman.”…. (p. 7)
“Previous to the death of Major Lawson, Charles Weigand, merchant; Joseph Boetzkes, boot and shoe dealer; J. Breen, merchant tailor; Cipher, on Pollock Street, were stricken down, and the daily average of deaths about this time was from six to eight, the mortality rapidly increasing, so that in one week from the death of the above persons, the interments each day reached the number of from twenty to twenty-five, and a general flight of the citizens commenced….” (p. 9)
“And now the pestilence fully established itself as an epidemic, and raged with fearful fatality among native families; in some instances, and not a few, entire households were carried off, leaving not one in the number to tell the tale….
“By the 10th of October the city was well nigh vacated. Nearly all places of business closed….” (p. 10)
“While the yellow fever held undisputed sway, and the destroyer reigned a relentless tyrant, there assembled a little hand of courageous, devoted men, drawn together by the most sacred impulses which can inspire the human heart. They met, forming a phalanx of “Good Samaritans,” and pledged their lives and all for the great purpose of administering comfort to the sick, and the last sad offices to the dead. They presented truly a noble front, and their record is now given to the world. They stand alone and conspicuous in their deeds and career, and their names should be preserved in an immortality of fame. Self-sacrificing men, men who had ties that bound them to this earth as strong as any ties of those who had been the recipients of their ministrations. In a time that appalled the stoutest hearts they shrank not, but heroically faced death with all its terrors; and first and foremost was William L. Poalk, the mainspring, and the head, the mover and originator of the never-to-be-forgotten
‘Dead Corps’
William L. Palk, John Jones,
Henry S. Mandeville, Curtis Peckford,
William P. Moore, Jr., {Who sacrificed their lives.}
James P. Allen, W. P. Ketcham,
- H. Alexander, G. G. Manning,
- Kahn. (pp. 10-11)
“Wend your way through the empty streets of the crushed city, and whom do you meet? None, save here and there an officer hurrying rapidly along, as though conscious of his peril. There, turning the corner of Broad and Middle Streets, is one who has just been seized by the fever, trembling convulsively from head to foot, and his pallid visage hidden beneath the collar of his coat. Young man, speed thee homeward, the saffron’s hue will soon o’ercloud thy face.” (p. 11)
“Notwithstanding the multifarious duties of the Medical Director, Surgeon D. W. Hand, the number of his patients was so large that it seems wonderful that he should have been able to attend them at all hours of the day and night, deprived of rest, and still not become exhausted. So frequent were the calls for him that it was impossible for him to answer one-half; upon him also devolved the duties of Medical Purveyor, a very responsible and arduous position, requiring, as it does, the distribution of medical supplies to every regiment and hospital in North Carolina, and undertaken by Dr. Hand, in the absence of Surgeon E. V. Morong, the regular purveyor. Dr. Wilson, of the Navy, died in the early part of the epidemic, and Dr. Hendricks, Surgeon in charge of Foster Hospital, was interrupted in his administration by an attack of the disease, and Surgeon P. B. Rice, of the 132d New York Infantry, stationed at Bachelor’s Creek Outposts of New Berne, succeeded him.” (pp. 14-15)
“By the 3d of October the pestilence was making great havoc in Beaufort, and broke out in the Treasury Department, greedy in its terrible ravages for shining marks.” (p. 16)
“Dr. Bellangée found his grave at Morehead City; and Dr. Brannigan, Assistant Surgeon of the 99th New York Volunteers, who was on duty in New Berne, perished about the same time. Their names can never be forgotten, although no towering monument emblazons them. Dr. ———-, who came from Fort Monroe to assist, only lived a few days–a speedy victim. They and Dr. Wilson will live in letters of light in New Berne’s history. Dr. P.B. Rice was then appointed President of the Board of Health, which consisted of himself, Lieut. Col. Poor, Chief Provost Marshal, and ——. The city was subjected to the most thorough cleansing, and from the quantity of lime strown about, one might have easily imagined a snow storm. To the indefatigable exertions of the Medical Director, Dr. Hand, and Surgeon P.B. Rice, may we justly ascribe the early abatement of the epidemic in November, and they richly deserve the everlasting gratitude of the community.” (p. 18) ….
“The 15th Regiment Connecticut Infantry, who were stationed in the city as Provost Guards, lost the following officers and soldiers: [Following is a list of 68 names, (pp. 25-27).]
“Among those who died in Beaufort, were the following: [Following is a list of 36 names (p.27)]
“We are indebted to Mr. James Osgood for the list of prominent persons interred by him. List of deaths during the prevalence of Yellow Fever in New Berne North Carolina, in the fall of 1864. [Following is a list, starting Sep 3 and ending Nov 2, of 170 names. (pp. 27-30)]
“The register of deaths must include the names of…” [list of nine names, p. 30]
“The following list was published in the North Carolina Times, November 26, 1864…” [list of 593 names (pp. 31-37)
“The total number of deaths during the epidemic, as near as can be ascertained, and as published in the North Carolina Times, amounted to about thirteen hundred.” (p. 38)
(Benjamin, W.S. The Great Epidemic in New Berne and Vicinity, September and October, 1864, By One Who Passed Through It. New Berne, NC: Geo Mills Joy, 1865.)
Hand: “In 1864, I encountered an epidemic of yellow fever at Newbern, N.C., which was very severe. Of a white population estimated at 4,200, most of whom took the disease, over 1,200 died in about six weeks; and in that time the epidemic influence gradually spread over the whole town. This epidemic was positively not contagious – personal contact with the sick was in no case known to cause the disease. Large numbers of the exposed citizens and soldiers were sent to other towns in the vicinity, and to numerous farm houses, where many of them sickened and died of the fever, but nowhere did any persons not exposed at Newbern, take the disease, except at one place, Beaufort. This town was badly overcrowded with white and black refugees from the burned towns, Plymouth and Little Washington, and was very filthy. Here a few cases of the fever from Newbern started an epidemic which swept over most of the place and was very fatal. The epidemic influence here, as well as at Newbern, became so strong that persons merely riding through the streets, and without stopping, took the disease. While so sure were we of its non-contagious character, that dozens of yellow fever patients from Newbern were admitted to the Morehead City General Hospital and placed indiscriminately in the wards with other patients, yet in no single instance did any patient or attendant take the disease.
“Nor could any proof be found of the disease having been imported. Newbern is situated forty miles inland, on a river at that time strictly guarded by gunboats, and was under such rigid martial law, it seems impossible any infected person or thing could have been brought there without our knowledge. Every effort was made to trace any possible source of importation, but always without success. Of the twenty-two medical officers, all northern men who were with me during that epidemic, eleven died of the fever, but all the others, when the epidemic was over, joined me in the report that it was of local origin. (pp. 101-102)
(Hand, D. W., M.D. “Yellow Fever. Its History in the United States; An Account of the Recent Epidemic in the South and the Conclusions of the Yellow Fever Conference at Richmond, Va., in 1878,” pp. 97-106 in Minnesota State Board of Health. Seventh Annual Report of the State Board of Health of Minnesota, January, 1879. Minneapolis: Johnson, Smith & Harrison, 1879.)
Sources:
Augustin, George. History of Yellow Fever. New Orleans: Published for the Author by Search & Pfaff Ltd., 1909; General Books reprint, Memphis, TN, 2010. 1909 copy digitized at: http://archive.org/stream/historyofyellowf00auguuoft#page/n4/mode/1up
Benjamin, W.S. The Great Epidemic in New Berne and Vicinity, September and October, 1864, By One Who Passed Through It. New Berne, NC: Geo Mills Joy, 1865. Digitized by New Bern Historical Society at: http://newbern.cpclib.org/digital/nbhs/ben0001.htm > Also at: http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/010942281
Carroll, James, MD (Assistant Surgeon, U.S. Army). “Yellow Fever — A Popular Lecture.” Texas State Journal of Medicine (Texas State Medical Association), Vol. I, No. 2, Aug 1905, pp. 69-76. Austin, TX: Von Boeckmann-Jones Co., 1905. Google preview accessed 5-2-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=R7EDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Hand, D. W. M.D., Surgeon, U.S. Army. “Epidemic of 1864,” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting, Richmond, Va., November 21, 1878. Section XX in: American Public Health Association. Public Health Reports and Papers, Vol. IV, Presented at the Meetings of the American Public Health Association in the Years 1877-1878. Boston: Houghton, Osgood and Co., The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1880. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=sq4EAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Hand, D. W., M.D. “Yellow Fever. Its History in the United States; An Account of the Recent Epidemic in the South and the Conclusions of the Yellow Fever Conference at Richmond, Va., in 1878,” pp. 97-106 in Minnesota State Board of Health. Seventh Annual Report of the State Board of Health of Minnesota, January, 1879. Minneapolis: Johnson, Smith & Harrison, 1879. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=10VNAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Jones, Joseph, M.D., President of the Board of Health of the State of Louisiana. Contagious and Infectious Diseases, Measures for Their Prevention and Arrest. Small Pox (Variola); Modified Small Pos (Varioloid); Chicken Pox (Varicella); Cow Pox (Variola Vaccinal): Vaccination, Spurious Vaccination Illustrated by Eight Colored Plates (Circular No. 2, Prepared for the Guidance of the Quarantine Officers and Sanitary Inspectors of the Board of Health of the State of Louisiana.). Baton Rouge: Leon Jastremski, State Printer, 1884. Accessed 2-12-2015 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=3VTboPycbBgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Keating, J. M. A History of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878 in Memphis, Tenn. Memphis, TN: Howard Association, 1879. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=WEIJAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Muniz, Maria L.. “A Perfect Reign: The Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1864,” The Palace: The Magazine of Tryon Palace, Vol. 10, No. 6, Summer 2011, pp. 14-26. http://www.tryonpalace.org/pdfs/palace_magazine_summer_2011.pdf
New York Times. “From New Bern; Arrival of the Dudley Buck, Prevalence of Yellow Fever Deaths from the Disease.” 10-11-1864, p. 2. Accessed 11-21-2019 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1864/10/11/archives/from-new-bern-arrival-of-the-dudley-buck-prevalence-of-yellow-fever.html
New York Times. “Yellow Fever at Key West; Death of Gen. Woodbury, Mortality on the Gunboat John S. Chambers.” 8-31-1864, p. 1. Accessed 11-21-2019 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1864/08/31/archives/yellow-fever-at-key-west-death-of-gen-woodbury-mortality-on-the.html
Sternberg, George M. (US Public Health Service, US Marine Hospital Service). “Yellow Fever: History and Geographic Distribution.” Pages 715-722 in Stedman, Thomas L., M.D. (Ed.) Appendix to the Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences. NY: William Wood & Co., 1908. Google digitized: http://books.google.com/books?id=3ezqX415M5wC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false
United States Marine Hospital Service, Treasury Department. Annual Report of the Supervising Surgeon-General of the Marine-Hospital Service of the United States for the Fiscal Year 1895 (Document No. 1811). Washington: GPO, 1896. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=aTnxAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false
United States War Department. Report on Epidemic Cholera and Yellow Fever in the Army of the United States, During the Year 1867 (Circular No. 1). Washington: DC: War Dept., Surgeon General’s Office, June 10 1868, 161 pages. Digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=RjUAAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[1] New York Times. Yellow Fever at Key West; Death of Gen. Woodbury, Mortality on the Gunboat John S. Chambers.” 8-31-1864, p. 1.
[2] Table: “Deaths from Malarial Fever and from Yellow Fever in Savannah, Georgia, During a Period of Sixteen Years, 1854-1869l Whites.”
[3] “Table–Deaths from Malarial Fever and from Yellow Fever in Savannah, Georgia, During Sixteen Years, 1854-1869; Blacks and Colored.”
[4] We use the U.S. War Dept. Circular 1 for military deaths and Augustin, Keating, and U.S. Marine Hospital Service for reporting on civilian fatalities in Beaufort and New Bern. We do not include the separate breakout of New Bern soldiers and civilians who died at a hospital in Morehead City which Hand reports in that it appears that these fatalities are incorporated into his broader estimate of 1,200 New Bern fatalities.
[5] It is not made totally clear that the number “about thirteen hundred” is for New Bern and Beaufort, but deaths for both localities are noted in the manuscript. The North Carolina Times, New Bern, is cited as the source.
[6] Benjamin, W.S. The Great Epidemic in New Berne and Vicinity, September and October, 1864, By One Who Passed Through It. New Berne, NC: Geo Mills Joy, 1865.
[7] “A few cases of the fever brought from Newbern here [Beaufort], started an epidemic which spread over most of the town.”
[8] Morehead City is about two miles to the west of Beaufort and approximately 35 miles southeast of New Bern.
[9] These were all “patients removed from hospitals in Newbern.” Thus, these fatalities could be part of the New Bern fatalities reported by other sources.
[10] Given a reading of other sources it would appear that the figure of 1,200 deaths is more appropriate for both New Bern and Beaufort.
[11] In that this is 300 deaths more than Augustin, Keating and the U.S. Marine Hospital Service report, one wonders if it incorporates fatalities from nearby Beaufort, and Morehead City, for which we have separate breakouts.
[12] Muniz, Maria L. “A Perfect Reign: The Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1864,” The Palace: The Magazine of Tryon Palace, Vol. 10, No. 6, Summer 2011, pp. 14-26. http://www.tryonpalace.org/pdfs/palace_magazine_summer_2011.pdf
[13] There were a few deaths in Nov – the listing of death dates in a long list of names and days of death of prominent citizens in Benjamin, is from Sep 3-Nov 2 – but clearly the great majority of deaths were Sep-Oct.
[14] Muniz writes that “The official Union army reports indicate that of 763 Union soldiers who contracted the disease, 303 died.”
[15] “The disease spread extensively in Charleston, and Dr. Hand estimates the number of cases at 2,000, with a mortality of thirty-five percent.”
[16] “The blockade-runner Denbegh arrived here [Havana] on the 27th…She reports from Galveston…The yellow fever is reported to be increasing at Galveston and Houston. Among the deaths is that of Gen. J. M. Hawes.
[17] NYT. “Yellow Fever at Key West; Death of Gen. Woodbury, Mortality on the Gunboat John S. Chambers.” 8-31-1864, p. 1. “Philadelphia, Tuesday, Aug. 30. Advices from Key West to the 18th inst. ….The gunboat John Chambers lost her Captain, his clerk and 14 men by yellow fever. They were buried at sea. The Chambers had sailed for the North. The fever was disappearing at last advices.”
[18] New York Times. “From New Bern; Arrival of the Dudley Buck, Prevalence of Yellow Fever Deaths from the Disease.” 10-11-1864, p. 2.