George B. Griffenhagen
DRUG SUPPLIES in the
AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Paper 16, pages 109-133, from
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM
OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY
United States National Museum
BULLETIN 225
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION WASHINGTON, D.C., 1961
Contributions from
The Museum of History and Technology
Paper 16
Drug Supplies in the American Revolution
George B. Griffenhagen
CONTINENTAL MEDICINE CHESTS 111
TREASON, POISON, AND SIEGE 113
FROM BAD TO WORSE 115
"MEDICINES—NONE" 118
PRIVATEERS TO THE RESCUE 121
BRISK BUSINESS IN BOSTON 122
THE SITUATION IMPROVES 122
VALLEY FORGE 123
IN SUMMARY 129
DRUG SUPPLIES IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
by George B. Griffenhagen
At the start of the Revolution, the Colonies were cut off from thesource of their usual drug supply, England. A few drugs trickledthrough from the West Indies, but by 1776 there was an acuteshortage.
Lack of coordination and transportation resulted in a scarcity ofdrugs for the army hospitals even while druggists in other areasresorted to advertising in order to sell their stocks. Some reliefcame from British prize ships captured by the American navy andprivateers, but the chaotic condition of drug supply was not easeduntil the alliance with France early in 1778.
The Author: George Griffenhagen—formerly curator of medicalsciences, United States National Museum, SmithsonianInstitution—is director of communications, American PharmaceuticalAssociation, and managing editor, Journal of the AmericanPharmaceutical Association.
As one historian has reminded us, "few fields of history have beenmore intensively cultivated by successive generations of historians;few offer less reward in the shape of fresh facts or theories" thandoes the American Revolutionary War.[1] This is true to some extenteven in the medical history of the Revolution. The details of the feudwithin the medical department of the army have been told andretold.[2] Even accounts of the drugs employed and pharmaceuticalse