My Brother Sam is Dead Connections
If you’ve read My Brother Sam is dead, you know that it has a lot to do with this website. The book was actually what inspired me to create this website and look further into the medical care in this era.
Sam, Tim’s brother, was away at Yale and decided to go off to war to fight for his country without his father’s permission. To make matters worse, he was fighting for the side that his family believed against. When Sam came home for a visit, Father and he engaged in a fight that caused Sam to run away. Sam had actually come home to ask for the “Brown Bess”, Father’s gun, to use in battles but never got a chance to ask. So, instead of asking, he intended to steal it against Tim’s pleads.
Sam successfully stole the gun and left again. Later on, rebel soldiers came to raid Tim’s house for weapons and Father tried to explain to them that Sam had stolen the gun, but they wouldn’t believe him. Tim ran off to try and get the gun from Sam and surprised himself by almost shooting Sam. Sam came with him, but left as soon as he saw the rebels had left. Later, Father made the decision to take Tim with him Verplank’s point to trade cattle. On the way back, Father was captured and put on a prison ship and Tim managed to find his way back home. One day, when Sam came home for a visit, their cattle were attempted to be stolen. Sam ran out to try and save them, and was arrested for “stealing cattle.” What happened to Sam?
“The worst part was disease: if anyone got sick with anything serious, everybody on the ship was liable to get it. That’s what had happened to Father: they’d had an epidemic of cholera on the prison ship he’d been on.” This interested me. First of all, how closely packed were the people on the ship for almost everyone on the ship to get the disease? Also, how sanitary were the conditions? Obviously, they didn’t have any idea about how disease really spread.
These questions that I asked myself brought me to research the medical field in the Revolutionary War era, and I was appalled at what I found. Most patients were bled, they didn’t know about germs, and surgeons didn’t even wash their hands before operating. This was a completely different world than we are used to.
Sam, Tim’s brother, was away at Yale and decided to go off to war to fight for his country without his father’s permission. To make matters worse, he was fighting for the side that his family believed against. When Sam came home for a visit, Father and he engaged in a fight that caused Sam to run away. Sam had actually come home to ask for the “Brown Bess”, Father’s gun, to use in battles but never got a chance to ask. So, instead of asking, he intended to steal it against Tim’s pleads.
Sam successfully stole the gun and left again. Later on, rebel soldiers came to raid Tim’s house for weapons and Father tried to explain to them that Sam had stolen the gun, but they wouldn’t believe him. Tim ran off to try and get the gun from Sam and surprised himself by almost shooting Sam. Sam came with him, but left as soon as he saw the rebels had left. Later, Father made the decision to take Tim with him Verplank’s point to trade cattle. On the way back, Father was captured and put on a prison ship and Tim managed to find his way back home. One day, when Sam came home for a visit, their cattle were attempted to be stolen. Sam ran out to try and save them, and was arrested for “stealing cattle.” What happened to Sam?
“The worst part was disease: if anyone got sick with anything serious, everybody on the ship was liable to get it. That’s what had happened to Father: they’d had an epidemic of cholera on the prison ship he’d been on.” This interested me. First of all, how closely packed were the people on the ship for almost everyone on the ship to get the disease? Also, how sanitary were the conditions? Obviously, they didn’t have any idea about how disease really spread.
These questions that I asked myself brought me to research the medical field in the Revolutionary War era, and I was appalled at what I found. Most patients were bled, they didn’t know about germs, and surgeons didn’t even wash their hands before operating. This was a completely different world than we are used to.