Chapter II: Part 2

While the British forces rested, well nourished, warm, and relatively secure in Philadelphia, Washington's troops, hardly more than 20 miles away, were tortured by cold, hunger, and disease. On December 23 there were 2,898 men at Valley Forge reported sick or unfit for duty because of lack of clothing.[129] Even so, the lack of medical supplies was nowhere near as bad as the conditions that existed in '76. Under the command of Director General Shippen and Purveyor General Potts,[130] the medical department operated a series of hospitals in such Pennsylvania communities as Easton, Bethlehem, Lancaster, Ephrata, and Lititz. The principal hospital for Valley Forge was established 10 miles away at Yellow Springs (now Chester Springs).

The largest drain on medical supplies appears not to have been during the height of winter but rather in the early spring when the medicine chests of various regiments and hospitals were being restocked for the expected spring offensive. The first step was to supplement the supply of medical supplies on hand. In late February or early March, Dr. William Brown sent Purveyor General Potts a list of needs of the entire medical department that included L20,000 worth of medicines, vials, corks, etc.[131] Dr. Brown supplemented this list with a letter to Potts dated March 11 in which he itemized the following equipment:[132]

3 doz. Boxes Small Apothecary's Weights & Scales
3 doz. Bolus knives
3 doz. Pot Spathulae
2 doz. Marble Mortars, of one pint, & Pestles
2 doz. Setts Measures, from 1/2 ounce to 1 [pint?]
6 doz. Earthen Vessels (deep) with handles--of different
sizes, from 2 quarts to 2 galls, for boiling Decoctions, or
2 doz. copper Do. of one gallon--for that purpose.
6 doz. Delft Ware Tiles, for mixing Boluses &c. on.

While Dr. Brown was completing his report on medical supplies, he was also concluding his compilation of an emergency military hospital formulary which has become known as the _Lititz Pharmacopoeia_, so named because Brown was making Lititz his headquarters at the time. The preface is dated "Lititz, March 12, 1778." The actual title (translated from Latin) reads: "Formulary of simple and yet efficacious remedies for the use of the military hospital, belonging to the army of the Federated States of America. Especially adapted to our poverty and straitened circumstances, caused by the ferocious inhumanity of the enemy, and the cruel war unexpectedly brought upon our fatherland." This formulary was published by Styner & Cist of Philadelphia in 1778, which means that it was not actually printed until sometime after June 18, when the British evacuated Philadelphia.

In the preface Brown explained that there were two types of formulas contained in the _Lititz Pharmacopoeia_; one was the "medicaments which must be prepared and compounded in a general laboratory; the others are to be mixed, as needed, in our hospital dispensaries."

The main store of drugs was housed at Manheim until late March, when Shippen ordered Apothecary Cutting to pack the medical stores there and proceed on to Yellow Springs.[133] Cutting wrote Potts on March 30 that

... the articles that we have in store are now ready to put on
board the waggons excepting the want of cases to contain them....
Paper, Twine, Square Snuff Bottles & Corks are so essentially
necessary to take with us, to fit up the Regimental Chests that I
wish your order to buy them at Lancaster immediately. I never heard
what place in the vicinity of Camp has been chosen for our
temporary Medicine Shop, nor what quantities the Regimental
Surgeons are to be supply'd when we get there....[134]

On April 16 Cutting[135] wrote that the

... dispensing store is open'd here [at Yellow Springs] and we have
begun to supply the Regiments in Camp.... Dr. Cochran has given
orders to the Division on the left to bring their Chests first, and
we propose going through the whole Army in the order in which they
lay.... The best method I can think of is to act immediately about
preparing new Chests upon the Northern Plan at some convenient
place for all such Battallions as did not get chests from Dr.
Craigie [in the] last campaign. When these new parcels are ready,
let us call all the large chests into the Stores ... which are too
compleat & capacious for Field Service, & in lieu of them give out
our smaller ones. By this exchange, the Genl. Hospital will be
well supplied with standing Chests & acquire a great variety of
useful articles which are not essential in Camp.

Apothecary Cutting was concerned, however, over supplies and

... very apprehensive that the several Hospitals in this vicinity
will render a further reinforcement necessary before we shall be
able to compleat the whole.... To give only a few of the Capitals
to each will be a work of Time, & a much more intensive piece of
business than I at first imagined.

Meanwhile, Potts had sent Apothecary Craigie to Baltimore to obtain a fresh stock of drugs, and probably to prevent further friction between Craigie and Cutting. This feud started early in 1777 when Apothecary Cutting, serving with Shippen in Philadelphia, was named, over his preceptor Craigie, to head the newly organized "Apothecary department" of the army.[136] On March 27 Craigie wrote from Annapolis advising Potts that he had been in Baltimore

... not long since and waited on Messrs. Lux & Bowly. The medicines
were not come to hand but were expected.... I have engaged the
whole invoice which contains several important medicines not
mentioned in your list. I think the prices are full high, tho'
somewhat less than Dr. Shippen affixed, and it was not in my power
to procure them at a cheaper rate. They were offered L20 per lb.
for all the Cantharides and much higher price for the Bark. They
are not yet arrived from some place in Virginia where they were
first landed. I shall examine them immediately on their arrival,
and if good forward them on to Manheim, if they prove not good
shall reject them, as the engagement is conditional.[137]

Then on April 4, Craigie wrote from Chester Town:[138]

I this day received a letter from Messrs. Lux & Bowley informing
me, the waggons were arrived, but to their great surprise with only
two packages of medicines, the others being seized near
Williamsburg for the use of Virginia State. Those arrived contain
but a very small share of any of the articles mentioned in your
list and I believe none of the Bark and Cantharides. I shall
immediately proceed to Baltimore and examine those two packages &
if good send them on to Manheim, provided the price is
agreeable.... I shall inquire into the circumstances of the seizure
and endeavor to find out if there has been any unfair play which I
can hardly suspect from the character of the Gentlemen.

Just prior to May 1, Craigie returned to Carlisle, where the "Elaboratory and Stores for the reception of the medicines &c. belonging to the military hospitals" was established,[139] and complained that he did not find the medicinal store in the order which he expected to find it:

We have many important medicines but by no means an assortment
sufficient for the Army. I speak only of what is now in store.
There are Medicines in different places of which I have no list.

Craigie further noted that Cutting had come up from Yellow Springs on May 1 to confer regarding plans for completing medicine chests, and would leave the following day for Baltimore where he obviously was going to try to purchase more drugs.

Craigie was puzzled by the establishment of a dispensing store at Yellow Springs, and asked whether or not the plan was

... to have the principle Store at Carlisle, where all the
medicines shall be prepared, and the Chests compleated supposing
the Genl. Hospitals will be more collected, and the number
lessened. I would propose that an Apothecary attend each with a
compleate Chest of Medicines; that the Surgeon & Physician Genl of
the Army be attended by an Apothecary with good Chest, and the
Regiments supply'd upon the Northern Plan. I would have an Issuing
Store established at a convenient distance from the Army, from
which the Hospital and Regimental Chests might occasionally be
replenished.[140]

A sizable stock of drugs was finally received from Baltimore,[141] and a fairly good stock was brought down from the stores in the Northern Department, which were left well supplied by Craigie and Potts.[142] An improved plan for obtaining lint from the Moravian Sisters at Bethlehem and Lititz was proposed by Dr. Brown,[143] and "the propriety of setting the glass works at Manheim agoing" was offered as a solution by Craigie for obtaining much needed vials.[144] Local manufacturing at Carlisle[145] and "in the Jersies"[146] was used as a source of volatile and purging salts.

Gibson records[147] that between April 19 and May 3, 1778, the commands of Generals Patterson, Leonard, Poor, Glover, Scott, and Woodward turned in their medicine chests to Apothecary Cutting at Yellow Springs, and that every regiment received a standardized field box containing a definite list and quantity of necessary drugs and supplies. However, it appears likely that the project started by Cutting and continued by Craigie was not completed until late June at the earliest.[148] The "invoice of those things thought essential for the protection and health of soldiers in the field or camp" presented by Gibson[149] is actually an "Invoice of a Chest of medicines &c. compleated in the medicinal Store, N[orthern] D[epartmen]t for Thos. Tillotson Esq."[150] Inasmuch as the plan used in the Northern Department was employed by both Craigie and Cutting, the items on this invoice may serve as a reasonably good picture of the medicine chests of '78 as compared with those of '76 (see page 130).

One of the reasons for better supplies at a time when other conditions were even worse than they were in 1776 is the fact that Congress was advancing sizable, if not always completely adequate, amounts of money for the cash purchase of supplies instead of seeking credit or expecting those responsible to procure supplies by using their personal money and waiting on Congress to reimburse them. During 1778, Congress advanced some $940,000 to Purveyor General Potts alone for the exclusive use of the hospital department, and these funds were in turn distributed to the proper medical procurement officers, including the apothecaries. It is significant to compare the sum of $1,095,000 provided by Congress in 1778 with L10,000 (about $27,000) which, according to Morgan, was the limit for medical and hospital supplies in 1776.[151] True, inflation had set in by 1778, and the value of money had declined greatly. For example, cantharides purchased from the Marshalls' apothecary shop in Philadelphia in 1776 cost 10 shillings per pound as compared with the cantharides Craigie purchased in Baltimore in 1778 at L20 per pound. However, the worst of the inflation was yet to come.[152]

In Summary

Initially the drug supplies for the American Revolutionary Army had come from stocks largely in the hands of private druggists. However, this source of supply was totally inadequate for a war that attained such proportions as the Revolution. Even if stocks of drugs in the Colonies had been far greater than they were, there is little reason to believe that shortages would not have developed. After all, a good many of the suppliers were Loyalists, and others were indifferent to the cause of American liberty. Even the most patriotic pharmacists were faced with a complete financial suicide, caught between a spiraling inflation and a Congress that had no money and only a promise for the future.

As if all these problems were not bad enough, the internal organization of the medical department of the army was so chaotic that, even if adequate supplies were available and if the almost insurmountable problems of communications and transportation were solved, it is almost certain that shortages would have developed at least during the campaign of 1776. Add to this the fact that any retreating army is subject to loss of supplies and the reasons for the shortages become very obvious.

The encouragement which Congress, through its Secret Committee, gave to private shippers for the importation of vital war materials offered little relief in the field of medical supplies. Importation was, of course, cut off from England, and France did not directly export any quantity of medical supplies, at least until 1778. American privateers found it much more profitable to prey on British shipping than initiating trade channels with countries which prior to the Revolution were prohibited from shipping directly to the Colonies. These channels of commerce did not develop extensively until well after the Revolution.

Hence the most immediate relief from medical supply shortages was provided by the American privateers. Drug cargoes from British prize ships, many of which were en route to New York, served as a most important source of supply, particularly in 1777 and 1778.

However, even with the most adequate supplies, competition between different branches of the army and navy and the confiscation of supplies destined for Continental troops by state militias further encouraged inflationary trends.

The number of individual drugs mentioned in various inventories was considerable, as evidenced by the listing on page 130. However, of these, only about a dozen constituted the really critical shortages. Heading the list of these "capital articles" was Peruvian or Jesuits' bark, the same cinchona from which quinine was later discovered. Tons of bark were used during the Revolutionary War, and the price more than quandrupled between June 1776 and September 1777.

The most prominent group of drugs on the list of capital articles consisted of cathartics and purgatives. Jalap, ipecac, and rhubarb were the botanical favorites, while bitter purging salts (Epsom salts) and Glauber's purging salts were the chemical choices for purging. Tartar emetic (antimony and potassium tartrate) was the choice for a vomit, and cantharides (Spanish flies) was the most important ingredient of blistering plasters. Gum opium was administered for its narcotic effects, while gum camphor, nitre (saltpetre or potassium nitrate), and mercury (pure metal as well as certain salts) were employed for a variety of purposes. Lint, a form of absorbent material made by scraping or picking apart old woven material, also often was short in supply.

Equipment shortages included surgical instruments and mortar and pestles for pulverizing the crude drugs. Glass vials for holding compounded medicines were also a supply problem, especially after essential drugs were again available.

Some of the shortages were eased, if not solved, by local manufacture. Lint was produced in large quantities in the Colonies, and glass vials were manufactured in numerous glasshouses. Even local manufacture of the purging salts and nitre aided in eliminating shortages of these essential items, and at the same time initiated the first large-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing in America.

Numerous botanicals indigenous to the Colonies were widely employed in medicine of the period, and certain ones such as snakeroot (seneka), which was widely found growing in Virginia, would have been very scarce had not an adequate supply been immediately at hand. However, attempts to substitute other indigenous plants for scarce drugs like Peruvian bark were largely unsuccessful. There is no indication that hysop, wormwood, and mallows called for during the New York crisis were ever found to be suitable replacements for any of the capital articles. Wine apparently was more useful as a substitute for bark than the bark of butternut recommended by the _Lititz Pharmacopoeia_. Peruvian bark, jalap, ipecac, camphor, opium, cantharides--these are the drugs which the American army physicians wanted, and these constituted the most serious shortage problems.

The medical supply problem was placed on relatively firm ground by the summer of 1778, having been established on the principles proven in the Northern Department under the guidance of Drs. Potts and Craigie. Furthermore, the turning point in the war had been reached. Even before Washington's forces went into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Burgoyne[153] had surrendered at Saratoga, on October 17, 1777; and, before the cold bleak winter at Valley Forge was over, the treaty of French alliance was signed on February 6, 1778. The torments at Valley Forge proved to be the birth of a new Continental Army.

The War was still a long way from being over, and a variety of problems were yet to face the Continental Army. Inflation was yet to deal its hardest blow to the supply problem, but not even this could produce the chaos of 1776. The worst of the drug supply problem was over.

Contents of Army Medicine Chests

The following listing is an example of the contents of medicine chests ordered by the Continental Congress. The chest for the Pennsylvania 4th Battalion was filled for "Samuel Kennedy Surgeon" by the pharmacy of Christopher Jr. and Charles Marshall of Philadelphia in May 1776. The medicines are listed on an invoice in the Marshalls' waste book in the possession of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The contents of the Northern Department chest, compiled in the Northern Department's "Medicinal Store" for "Thos. Tillotson Esq. Surgeon & Physician General to the Army," probably was filled by Andrew Craigie at Fort George in 1778. (_Italics_ denote capital article; asterisk indicates that the drug is mentioned in _Lititz Pharmacopoeia_. Contemporary English names are in parentheses following the Latin listings.)

Pennsylvania Northern
4th Battalion Department
Chest Chest
BOTANICALS

*_Cort[ex] Peruv[ianum]_
(Peruvian bark; Jesuits' bark; or bark) 4 lb.
*_Pulv[is] Cort[icis] Peruv[iani]_
(Powdered Peruvian bark) 2 lb. Opt.; 6 lb.
2 lb. 2nd
*_Pulvis Rad[ix] Jalapii_
(Powdered jalap) 2 lb. 2 lb.
*_Pulv[is] Rad[ix] Ipecacuan[hae]_
(Powdered ipecac) 8 oz. 12 oz.
*_Pulv[is] Rad[ix] Rhaei_ (Powdered rhubarb) 1 lb. 4 oz. 4 lb.
Rad[ix] Rhaei (Rhubarb root) 2 lb.
*Fol[ia] Sennae (Sennae or sena) 2 lb.
*Rad[ix] Gentian[ae] (Gentian root) 1 lb. 2-1/2 lb.
*Rad[ix] Seneka
(Senega; rattlesnake root; or snake root) 1 lb.
*Rad[ix] Scillae Sict. (Squill; or sea-onion) 6 oz.
Cinnamomi (Cinnamon) 1 lb.
Cort[ex] Aurant[orium] (Orange peel) 3 lb.
Fl[ores] Chamom[eli] (Camomile flower) 2 oz.
Mellisa[e Folia] (Balm) 1/2 lb.
*_Gum[mi] Camphor[a]_ (Camphor; or camphire) 10 oz. 2-1/2 lb.
*_Gum[mi] Opium_ [also] _Opii_ (Opium) 8 oz. 1 lb.
*Gum[mi] Arabic[um] (Gum Arabic) 2 lb. Opt. 2 lb.
*Gum[mi] Aloe Socotr[ina] (Aloe; or aloes) 8 oz. 1 lb.
Gum[mi] Aloe Hepat[ica] (Aloe; or aloes) 1 lb.
*Gum[mi] Ammon[iacum] (Gum ammoniac) 12 oz.
*Gum[mi] Guaiac[um] (Gum guaiac) 8 oz. 3/4 lb.
*Gum[mi] Myrrh[ae] (Myrrh) 4 oz. 2 oz.
*Bals[amum] Capivi (Balsam of copaiba) 1 lb. 4 oz. 2 lb.
*Bals[amum] Peruvian[um] (Balsam of Peru) 3 oz.
Bals[amum] Tolu[tanum] (Balsam of tolu) 8 oz.
*Ol[eum] Olivar[um] (Olive oil) 2-1/2 lb.
*Ol[eum] Ricini (Castor oil) 1 lb. 4 oz. 2 lb.

DRUGS OF ANIMAL ORIGIN

*_Cantharides_ (Spanish flies; or flies) 4 oz. 3/4 lb.
*Cera Flav[a] (Yellow beeswax) 1 lb. 4 lb.
*Mel[lis] Com[munis] (Honey) 3 lb.
Pul[vis] Oc[uli] Canc[orum]
(Powdered crabs' eyes) 1 lb.
*Sperm[atis] Ceti (Spermaceti) 3 lb.

CHEMICALS

*Alum[en] Com[munis] or Credem (Alum or rock alum) 1 lb.
*Creta ppt [precipitated or praeparata] (Chalk) 6 lb.
*_Pulv[is] Crem[or] Tartar[i]_ (Cream of tartar) 4 lb. 2 lb.
*_Tart[arus] Emetic[um]_ (Tartar emetic) 6 oz. 1/2 lb.
*_Sal Nitri_ [or] _Nitrum_ (Nitre or saltpetre) 4 lb. 4 lb.
Sal Absinthii (Salt of wormwood) 8 oz.
*_Sal Cath[articus] Amar[us]_ (Epsom salts;
bitter purging salts; or bitter
cathartic salts) 10 lb.
*_Sal Cath[articus] Glauber[i]_ [or] _Sal
Mirabile Glauberi_ (Glauber's salts; Glauber's
purging salts; or Glauber's wonderful salts). 10 lb.
*Sal Tartar[isatus] (Salt of tartar) 2 lb.
*Sal Amm[oniacum] (Sal ammoniac) 1/2 lb. Cd.
*Merc[urius] Corros[ivus] Sublim[atus]
(Corrosive sublimate of mercury) 2 oz. 2 oz.
*Merc[urius] Praecip[itatus] Rub[er]
(Red precipitate of mercury) 4 oz. 2 oz.
*_Merc[urius] Dulc[is] Ppt._ (Calomel) 8 oz.
Flor[es] Sulphur[is] (Flowers of sulphur) 4 lb. 2 lb.
*Ol[eum] Vitriol[um] (Oil of vitriol) 6 oz.
Ol[eum] Tereb[inthinae] (Oil of turpentine) 1-1/2 lb.
Tereb[inthina] Venet[ian] (Turpentine) 1 lb. 4 oz.
*Vitriol[um] Alb[um] (White vitriol) 4 oz. 2 oz.
*Elix[ir] Vitriol[i] (Elixir of vitriol) 3 lb. 2 lb.
Vitriol[um] Rom[anum] (Roman vitriol) 4 oz.
Sacch[arum] Saturni (Sugar of lead) 4 oz.
Vitr[um] Antomon[ii] Cerat[um]
(Cerated glass of antimony) 3 oz.
*Extr[actum] Saturni [also] Acetum Lithargyrites
(Litharge of lead; litharge vinegar; or
extract of Saturn). 11 oz.

TINCTURES

*Tinc[tura] Thebaic[a] [or] Tinctura Opii
[or] Laudani Liquidi (Tincture 12 oz. 2 lb.
of opium; thebaic tincture; liquid
laudanum; and Sydenham's laudanam).
*Tinct[ura] Myrrh[ae] & Aloes (Tincture of
myrrh and aloes). 1 lb. 12 oz.
Tinct[ura] Cinnam[omi] (Tincture of cinnamon) 2 lb.

SPIRITS

Sp[iritus] Sal[is] Ammon[iaci] (Spirit of sal
ammoniac) 1 lb. 5 oz.
Sp[iritus] Nitri Dulc[is] [also] Sal[is]
Vol[atilis] (Sweet spirit of nitre) 2-1/2 lb. 1 lb. 12 oz.
Sp[iritus] Lavend[ula] Co[mpositus]
(Compound spirit of lavender) 1 lb. 4 oz. 1-1/2 lb.
Sp[iritus] Vini Rect[ificatus] (Rectified
spirit of wine) 1 lb. 4 oz.

MISCELLANEOUS PREPARATIONS

*Cons[erva] Rosar[um] Rub[rarum] (Conserves
of red roses) 1 lb.
Conf[ectio] Cardiac[a] (Cordial confection) 1 lb.
Elect[uarium] Asthmatic[um] (Asthmatic
electuary) 1 lb. 1 oz.
*Elix[ir] Paregor[icum] (Paregoric elixir) 2 lb.
Pill[ulae] Purgant (Purgative pills) 8 oz.
Pulv[is] e Bol[o Compositus] (Compound powder
of bole with opium) 2 lb.
Linim[entum] Sapo[naceum] (Soap
liniment) 3-1/2 lb.
Sapo[nis] Venet[ian] (Venetian soap) 2 lb. 6 lb.

OINTMENTS

*Ung[euntum] Lap[ide] Calamin[ari] (Ointment
from calamine stone) 10 lb. 4 lb.
*Ung[uentum] Basilic[um] Flav[um] (Yellow
basilicon ointment) 10 lb.
*Ung[uentum] Merc[urale] Fort[is] (Strong
mercurial ointment) 6 lb.
Ung[uentum] e Gum[mi] Elemi (Ointment of
gum elemi) 3 lb.
Ung[uentum] Alb[um] Camp[horatum] (Camphorated
white ointment) 3 lb.

PLASTERS

*Emp[lastrum] Adhesiv[um] (Adhesive plaster) 6 lb.
Emp[lastrum] Diach[ylon] (Simple diachylon
plaster) 6 lb. 2 lb.
Emp[lastrum] Diach[ylon] c[um] G[ummi]
(Diachylon plaster with gum) 1 lb.
*Emp[lastrum] Epispast[icum] [also] Epithema
Vesicatorium (Blistering plaster;
vesicatory plaster). 1 lb.
Emp[lastrum] Stomach[icum] Majest. (Stomach
plaster) 1 lb.

SURGICAL DRESSINGS, ETC.

*_Linteum Praeparatum_ (Lint) 1 lb. fine
Tow 12 lb. fine
Sponge 4 oz. fine
Twine 1 lb. fine 1/2 lb.
Tape 1 piece 2 pieces
Fracture pillows 2
Splints 2 p. Sharps 34 doz.
Thread 4 oz.
Needles 7 common
Pins 1/2 thousand
Compresses 6 doz.
Bandages 700
Flannel 6 yds.
Shears 2 pr.
Rags 1 bundle

SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS

Director 1 1 steel
Probe, silver 1 1
Forceps 1
Catheters 1 silver
Amputating instruments 1 set
Trepanning instruments 1 Trepan 1 set
Lancets 2 best crown,
4 common
Tourniquets 1 Brass 8 common
with
ligatures
Syringe, pewter 4 2
Syringe, ivory 2
Glyster pipe arm'd 6
Tooth-drawing instrument 1 Crow Bill

PHARMACEUTICAL EQUIPMENT

Scales and weights 1 box 1 set
Mortar and pestle 1 Brass,
1 Glass
Tyles (pill tiles) 2
Spatulas 1 wooden 1 large,
handle, 1 1 pocket
iron handle
Bolus knife 1
Plaister knife (plaster spatula) 1
Leather skins 2 lb.

MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES

Bottles Assortment Assortment
Gallypots 1 doz. Assortment
Vials 6 doz. sorted
Corks 10 doz.
Pillboxes 1 pacg.
Wrapp[ing] paper 4 quire
Writing paper 1 quire 6 quire
Ink powder 2 papers
Quiles (quills) 14 hundred

* * * * *

U.S. Government Printing Office: 1961

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington 25, D.C.--Price 25 cents

* * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[1] John C. Miller, _Triumph of Freedom, 1775-1783_, Boston, 1948, preface.

[2] Louis C. Duncan, _Medical Men in the American Revolution, 1775-1783_, Carlisle Barracks, Pa., 1931; William O. Owen, _The Medical Department of the United States Army during the Period of the Revolution_, New York, 1920; James E. Gibson, _Dr. Bodo Otto and the Medical Background of the American Revolution_, Springfield, Ill., 1937; James Thomas Flexner, _Doctors on Horseback_, New York, 1939.

[3] Lyman F. Kebler, "Andrew Craigie, the First Apothecary General of the United States," _Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association_, 1928, vol. 17, pp. 63-74, 167-178; Frederick Haven Pratt, "The Craigies," _Proceedings of the Cambridge Historical Society_ (1941), 1942, vol. 27, pp. 43-86; Edward Kremers and George Urdang, _A History of Pharmacy_, Philadelphia, 1951 edition, chap. 11; Edward Kremers, "The Lititz Pharmacopoeia," _The Badger Pharmacist_, nos. 22-25, June-December 1938; J. W. England, ed., _The First Century of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy_, Philadelphia, 1922, pp. 84-94; _American Journal of Pharmacy_, 1884, vol. 56, pp. 483-491.

[4] Jonathan Potts Papers, four volumes of miscellaneous manuscripts at The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (hereinafter referred to as Potts Papers).

[5] Journals of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts Bay, quoted in Owen, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), pp. 22-23.

[6] Greenleaf Ledger, 1765-1778, at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. (The Greenleaf pharmacy was established by Elizabeth Greenleaf in 1726 or 1727. See J. L. Sibley, _Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts_, Cambridge, 1920, vol. 5, pp. 472-476; Jonathan Greenleaf, _A Genealogy of the Greenleaf Family_, New York, 1854, pp. 89, 91, 205, 207; _Boston Post-Boy_ and _Boston Gazette_, November 8, 1762, obituary of Elizabeth Greenleaf.)

[7] Owen, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), p. 23.

[8] J. R. Alden, _The American Revolution_, New York, 1954 p. 23.

[9] Owen, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), pp. 12-13.

[10] _Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789_, edited by Worthington C. Ford, Washington, D.C., 1905, vol. 2, p. 250. Nearly all excerpts from Ford also appear in Owen, _op. cit._ (footnote 2).

[11] _Ibid._, vol. 3, p. 261. The Samuel Ward diary for September 23 records that "a parcel of medicines for the hospital" was "to be bought" (E. C. Burnett, _Letters of Members of the Continental Congress_, Washington, D.C., 1921, vol. 1, p. 205).

[12] Ford, _op. cit._ (footnote 10), vol. 3, p. 344.

[13] Burnett, _op. cit._ (footnote 11), vol. 1, p. 292.

[14] _Pennsylvania Ledger_, May 6, 1775. [William Smith in Philadelphia was selling drugs in 1772 (Potts Papers, vol. 1, folio 52).]

[15] _Pennsylvania Evening Post_, December 26, 1775.

[16] _Pennsylvania Packet_, September 11, 1775; _Pennsylvania Journal_, September 6, 1775; _Pennsylvania Gazette_, October 4, 1775.

[17] The Marshalls sold drugs to Sharp Delaney and William Smith in April 1776 (Marshall Waste Book, see footnote 20).

[18] E. T. Ellis, "The Story of a Very Old Philadelphia Drug Store," _American Journal of Pharmacy_, 1908, vol. 75, p. 57; England, _op. cit._ (footnote 3), pp. 348-350; Parke, Davis & Co., _A History of Pharmacy in Pictures_, undated booklet edited by George Bender.

[19] Ford, _op. cit._ (footnote 10), vol. 3, p. 442; vol. 4, pp. 188, 197.

[20] Christopher Jr. and Charles Marshall Waste Book, February 21 to July 6, 1776, at The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

[21] Ford, _op. cit._ (footnote 10), vol. 3, p. 442; vol. 4, pp. 188, 197; Burnett, _op. cit._ (footnote 11), vol. 1.

[22] Owen, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), pp. 18-19.

[23] _American Archives ..._ Peter Force, ed., Washington, ser. 4, vol. 1-6, 1837-46; ser. 5, vol. 1-3, 1848-53. Ser. 4, vol. 3, p. 306.

[24] Duncan, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), pp. 62-64.

[25] _Pennsylvania Packet_, June 24, 1779.

[26] It is quite possible that the designation "bad" was a typographical error for "rad[ix]."

[27] _American Archives_, ser. 4, vol. 5, p. 115.

[28] _Connecticut Courant_, February 12, 1776.

[29] _Newport Mercury_, January 15, 1776.

[30] _Massachusetts Gazette_, September 7, 1775.

[31] _American Archives_, ser. 4, vol. 4, p. 159.

[32] _Massachusetts Gazette_, February 22, 1776.

[33] _Boston Gazette_, April 15, 1776.

[34] _Ibid._, April 22, 1776. It is worth noting that Morgan did not think this important enough to include in his _Vindication_ (see footnote 35).

[35] John Morgan, _A Vindication of His Public Character in the Station of Director-General of the Military Hospital, and Physician in Chief of the American Army; Anno, 1776_, Boston, 1777.

[36] _Pennsylvania Packet_, June 24, 1779.

[37] _American Archives_, ser. 4, vol. 5, p. 488.

[38] Morgan, _op. cit._ (footnote 35), pp. 102, 144; and _Independent Chronicle_, April 10, 1777.

[39] James Thacher, _American Medical Biography_, Boston, 1828, vol. 1, pp. 270-273.

[40] For biographies of Sylvester Gardiner see _Dictionary of American Biography_, New York, 1931, vol. 8, pp. 139-140; _Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography_, New York, 1887, vol. 2; H. A. Kelly and W. L. Burrage, _Dictionary of American Medical Biography_, New York, 1928, pp. 450-452; James H. Stark, _The Loyalists of Massachusetts_, Boston, 1910, pp. 313-315.

[41] Greenleaf Ledger (see footnote 6).

[42] _American Archives_, ser. 5, vol. 1, pp. 282, 284.

[43] _Ibid._, p. 314.

[44] S. E. Morison and H. S. Commager, _The Growth of the American Republic_, New York, 1950, vol. 1, p. 210.

[45] _New-York Journal_, July 13, 1775.

[46] _Ibid._, May 11, 1775.

[47] _New-York Gazette_, January 1 and January 29, 1776. For a history of the English patent medicines in America, see G. B. Griffenhagen and J. H. Young in _The Chemist and Druggist_, 1957, vol. 167, pp. 714-722, and in _U.S. National Museum Bulletin 218_, 1959, pp. 155-183 (Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, Paper 10).

[48] George Washington, _The Writings of George Washington_, edited by John C. Fitzpatrick, Washington, 1931, vol. 4, pp. 464-465.

[49] Morgan, _op. cit._ (footnote 35), pp. 4, 9, 68; _Pennsylvania Packet_, June 19, 1779; and Washington, _op. cit._ (footnote 48), vol. 4, pp. 464-465.

[50] Duncan, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), p. 135; Morgan, _op. cit._ (footnote 35), p. 11.

[51] _New-York Gazette_, May 6 and December 23, 1776.

[52] _American Archives_, ser. 4, vol. 4, p. 1026.

[53] _Ibid._, vol. 6, p. 1431.

[54] Morgan misspelled Delaney as "Delancey" in his letter of June 25 to Adams.

[55] Morgan, _op. cit._ (footnote 35), p. 128.

[56] Ford, _op. cit._ (footnote 10), vol. 5, p. 570.

[57] _American Archives_, ser. 4, vol. 6, p. 1069.

[58] Ford, _op. cit._ (footnote 10), vol. 5, p. 633.

[59] Morgan, _op. cit._ (footnote 35), p. 12.

[60] _Pennsylvania Packet_, June 26, 1779.

[61] Washington, _op. cit._ (footnote 48), vol. 6, pp. 58-59.

[62] _Connecticut Courant_, January 6, 1777.

[63] Morgan, _op. cit._ (footnote 35), pp. 13, 136, 146. William Smith was appointed Continental Druggist on August 20; see Ford, _op. cit._ (footnote 10), vol. 4, pp. 292-293.

[64] Washington, _op. cit._ (footnote 48), vol. 6, pp. 86, 113.

[65] _American Archives_, ser. 5, vol. 3, pp. 116, 837.

[66] _Pennsylvania Packet_, June 24, 1779.

[67] Morgan, _op. cit._ (footnote 35), p. 129.

[68] _Ibid._, p. xxv. [For details of the manner in which Shippen moved in on Morgan to replace him eventually as director general, see Flexner, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), pp. 3-53.]

[69] _Ibid._, p. xxxv; Owen, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), p. 55.

[70] Ford, _op. cit._ (footnote 10), vol. 7, p. 91.

[71] _New-York Gazette_, September 30, December 16, 23, 1776, January 20, 1777.

[72] _Ibid._, December 9, 1776, April 28, June 9, 1777.

[73] Plough Court Pharmacy letterbook dated April 7, 1778, through December 8, 1779, in possession of Allen and Hanburys, London. See also Chapman-Huston and Ernest C. Gripps, _Through a City Archway: The Story of Allen and Hanburys, 1715-1954_, London, 1954.

[74] Duncan, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), p. 97.

[75] Owen, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), p. 39.

[76] _American Archives_, ser. 4, vol. 6, p. 1069.

[77] _American Archives_, ser. 5, vol. 1, pp. 651-652, 1114.

[78] Potts Papers, vol. 1, folio 77; Morgan to Potts, July 28, 1776.

[79] _Ibid._, folio 89; Stringer to Potts, August 17, 1776. See also Gibson, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), pp. 108-109. Washington mentions Stringer's visit with Morgan in a letter to Gates dated August 14 (Washington, _op. cit._ footnote 48, vol. 5, pp. 433-435).

[80] _Ibid._; McHenry to Potts, August 3, 1776. [Stringer arrived in Philadelphia on the evening of August 2.]

[81] _Ibid._; Stringer to Potts, August 17, 1776.

[82] _Ibid._; McHenry to Potts, August 21, 1776.

[83] _American Archives_, ser. 5, vol. 1, p. 1271. For a similarly worded letter to Egbert Benson dated August 22, see Gibson, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), p. 112.

[84] Potts Papers, vol. 1, folio 98; Stringer to Potts, September 7, 1776. Stringer arrived in Albany on September 5 (Potts Papers, vol. 1, folio 97).

[85] _American Archives_, ser. 5, vol. 1, p. 1266. Other items included "Acet. Com. six barrels; Alo. Hepta. 3 lb.; Calomel 2 lb.; Emp. Diachyl 10 lb.; Cantharid. 2 lb.; Gm. Guiac 1 lb.; Myrrh 1 lb.; Hord. Com. 100 lb.; Jerc. Precip. Rub. 1/2 lb.; Merc. Cor. Sublim. 1 lb.; Rad. Serpent. Virg. 3 lb.; Sal. Nit. 5 lb.; Spirit Sal. Ammo. 4 lb.; Ung. Diath. 3 lb.; Elix. Asthmat. 5 lb.; and Elix. Vitriol. 10 lb." Also included were six gross of vials and corks and three reams of wrapping paper.

[86] Potts Papers, vol. 1, folios 102-106, 108-111, 114, 119.

[87] _Ibid._, folio 99. There was a listing for 170 pounds of "Cathart: Am" (Epsom salts). The 7 pounds of rhubarb was listed as "3 lb. Rad. Rhaei and 4 lb. Pul. Rhaei." Also on hand were 1-1/2 pounds of "Mithridat" (opium).

[88] _Ibid._, folios 73, 94, 124.

[89] _Ibid._, folio 4; McCrea to Potts, September 2, 1776.

[90] _Ibid._, folio 124; Johnston to Potts, September 19, 1776.

[91] _Ibid._, folio 125; Craigie to Potts, October 3, 1776.

[92] _American Archives_, ser. 5, vol. 2, p. 923. Stringer also wrote Potts on October 6 to advise him of the stock (Potts Papers, vol. 1, folio 126).

[93] Potts Papers, vol. 1, folio 131; Stringer to Potts, October 15, 1776.

[94] _Ibid._, folio 133; Stringer to Potts, October 25, 1776.

[95] _Ibid._, folio 132; Craigie to Potts, October 22, 1776.

[96] _Ibid._, folio 138; Stringer to Potts, November 7, 1776.

[97] Duncan, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), p. 110.

[98] Ford, _op. cit._ (footnote 10), vol. 3, p. 453, vol. 4, pp. 24-25.

[99] Miller, _op. cit._ (footnote 1), pp. 103-113.

[100] _Virginia Gazette_, August 24, 1776.

[101] _Pennsylvania Evening Post_, July 18, 1776.

[102] G. B. Griffenhagen, "The Day-Dunlap 1771 Pharmaceutical Catalogue," _American Journal of Pharmacy_, 1955, vol. 127, pp. 296-302.

[103] 103 Miller, _op. cit._ (footnote 1), pp. 110-112.

[104] Greenleaf Ledger, _op. cit._ (footnote 6).

[105] Potts Papers, vol. 2, folio 213.

[106] _Ibid._, vol. 3, folio 305.

[107] _Ibid._, folio 331.

[108] _Ibid._, folio 346.

[109] _Ibid._, folio 336.

[110] _Ibid._, folio 369.

[111] _Ibid._, folio 331; Craigie to Potts, September 1, 1777.

[112] Preserved at the Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts.

[113] _Independent Chronicle_, October 30, 1777.

[114] Ford, _op. cit._ (footnote 10), vol. 5, p. 748, vol. 7, p. 274, vol. 8, p. 538. (Smith received $2,490 on September 9, 1776, $2,952 on April 17, 1777, "for sundry medicines," and Caldwell & Co. received $666 on July 7, 1777, "for sundry medicine delivered William Smith.")

[115] _Ibid._, vol. 7, p. 321. (Christopher and Charles Marshall received $4,151 on May 2, 1777, "for sundry medicines and chirurgical instruments supplied by them for the use of different battalions of continental forces.")

[116] _Pennsylvania Journal_, January 29, 1777.

[117] Potts Papers, vol. 2, folio 150.

[118] _Ibid._, folio 153; Bass to Potts, March 17, 1777.

[119] _Pennsylvania Journal_, June 11, July 9, 23, 1777.

[120] Ford, _op. cit._ (footnote 10), vol. 11, p. 546.

[121] _Pennsylvania Evening Post_, March 18, May 27, 1777.

[122] _Boston Gazette_, February 3, 1777; _Connecticut Courant_, April 7, 1777.

[123] _Pennsylvania Packet_, April 15, 22, 1777. This anonymous article was written by Dr. Benjamin Rush and reprinted as a pamphlet.

[124] Potts Papers, vol. 2, folios 158, 159.

[125] _Pennsylvania Ledger_, October 10, 1777; _Pennsylvania Evening Post_, October 14, 18, 1777.

[126] _Pennsylvania Evening Post_, November 1, 8, 13, 1777, April 29, 1778. (A large number of advertisements announcing thefts appeared during the British occupation.)

[127] _Pennsylvania Evening Post_, January 10 through April 20, 1778, and _Pennsylvania Ledger_, April 4, 15, 1778. [Yeldall advertised his "Anti-Venereal Essence" only once under American occupation, but at $4.00 per bottle (_Pennsylvania Evening Post_, August 26, 1777).]

[128] _Pennsylvania Evening Post_, June 25, 1777.

[129] Gibson, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), p. 149.

[130] It was in February 1778 that Dr. Potts assumed his office as purveyor general for the hospital department of the Continental Army with the duty of purchasing and distributing all supplies and medicines (_ibid._, p. 154).

[131] Potts Papers, vol. 1, folio 24. (This apparently is the list prepared by Brown, even though it is not signed by him. The item "Medicines, Vials, Cork &c L20,000" was added with the statement "The above enumerated articles should be purchased immediately," and both were in the handwriting of "W. Shippen, D.G." The document is undated.)

[132] _Ibid._, vol. 4, folio 419; Brown to Potts, March 11, 1778.

[133] _Ibid._, folio 428; Cutting to Potts, March 25, 1778.

[134] _Ibid._, folio 432; Cutting to Potts, March 30, 1778.

[135] _Ibid._, folio 441; Cutting to Potts, April 16, 1778.

[136] _Ibid._, vol. 2, folio 151; Tillotson to Potts, February 22, 1777. [Cutting served as Assistant Apothecary under Craigie at Cambridge and Roxbury. The feud has not been explored in any of Craigie's biographies.]

[137] _Ibid._, vol. 4, folio 429; Craigie to Potts, March 27, 1778.

[138] _Ibid._, folio 437; Craigie to Potts, April 4, 1778.

[139] _Ibid._, folio 411; Potts to Gates, February 24, 1778.

[140] _Ibid._, folio 441; Craigie to Potts, May 1, 1778.

[141] _Ibid._, vol. 1, folios 41, 44; undated invoices from Lux & Bowly that undoubtedly were supplied during the spring or summer of 1778. Also, vol. 4, folio 476; letter from James Caldwell to Potts advising "I sent forward from Baltimore a case of medicine & five cases of Bark ... I have three cases more of Bark not yet up from Williamsburg where it arrived."

[142] _Ibid._, vol. 4, folio 458; Craigie to Potts, May 1, 1778. Craigie advises: "Enclosed is a small List directed to Mr. Root [Israel Root or Josiah Root, both apothecaries from Connecticut] which I think may well be spared from the Northward, and are much wanted here. I wish therefore they may be ordered. Andrew Atekin our assistant there might come with them--he would make a good Hospital Apothecary." Also, vol. 4, folio 431, an undated "Invoice of Medicines &c. to be forwared for Head Quarters to Compleat ye Regimental Assortments for the Army of the United States in the Middle Department for the Campaign 1778."

[143] _Ibid._, folio 419; Brown to Potts, March 11, 1778.

[144] _Ibid._, folio 458; Craigie to Potts, May 1, 1778.

[145] _Ibid._, folio 428; Cutting to Potts, March 25, 1778. Cutting notes: "as to volatile salts, I expect a fine parcel manufactured at Carlisle by tomorrow."

[146] _Ibid._, folio 471; Craik to Potts, May 24, 1778. Dr. Craik, a regimental surgeon, advises: "I wish you could procure some Cathartic salts. The Regimental surgeons complain greatly for want of them.... You may engage any quantity at the salt works in the Jersies."

[147] Gibson, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), pp. 166-167.

[148] Potts Papers, vol. 4, folios 462, 467; Craik to Potts, May 2 and May 15. On May 2, Craik advises that "the medicine chests are much wanted in the Regiments. Doctr. Cutting had best have them filled up as soon as possible to prevent complaints." On May 15 Craik commented: "I am sorry Doctr. Cutting went away before the Regiment Chests were finished; there is great clamour about them tho Doctr. Layman is as busy as possible.... I hope Doctr. Craig[ie] will soon have his chests ready."

[149] Gibson, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), pp. 167-168.

[150] Potts Papers, vol. 1, folio 25, undated.

[151] Gibson, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), p. 178, and Duncan, _op. cit._ (footnote 2), pp. 115-116, 275.

[152] Miller, _op. cit._ (footnote 1), pp. 425-477.

[153] An interesting account of the medical aspects of Burgoyne's campaign is recorded by R. M. Gorssline in _Canadian Defense Quarterly_, 1929, vol. 6, pp. 356-363.

* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes:

The marker for footnote 3 is missing, but it appears to belong after
"of the _Lititz Pharmacopoeia_ of 1778."

In footnote 15 I corrected a typo, Pennslyvania for Pennsylvania

On page 115 I removed an extra quotation mark
(purchasing such medicines "as)

On page 118 I corrected a typo, capitivity for captivity
(happily delivered from his late capitivity)

On page 118 I removed an extra quotation mark
(will turn to good Account.")

On page 120 I corrected a typo, enitrely for entirely
(one half the load is enitrely)

On page 128 I corrected a typo, mediicines for medicines
(Invoice of a Chest of mediicines)

On page 129 I corrected a typo, quandrupled for quadrupled
(price more than quandrupled)

On page 133 I corrected a typo, instument for instrument
(Tooth-drawing instument)

These words occur both ways in the text and I have not changed them:
Bowly and Bowley, Barnabas and Barnabus