Social problems; United States -- Social conditions -- 1865-1918
came over to General Arnold and agreed with him to a cartel by which
certain prisoners were exchanged. The American prisoners were returned
in a destitute and forlorn condition. The pitiful sight deeply excited
the generous sympathies of the kind-hearted Joseph, who did what he
could to comfort them by dividing his own supplies with them.
General Arnold now returned with his troops to Montreal, exercising
great vigilance to avoid further surprise. He then crossed the St.
Lawrence and encamped at St. Johns. Here the small-pox appeared in camp.
In order to avoid the severity of the disease, Joseph procured the
necessary virus and inoculated himself with the point of a needle, which
produced the desired effect. Two days after the disease had appeared in
camp, the troops were ordered to Chambly. The British hove in sight and
began to land on the opposite side of the bay. The invalids were
numerous and continued to increase. They were directed to march back to
St. Johns,--a distance of twelve miles. Most of them could hardly carry
gun, cartridge-box, and blanket, and were often obliged to sit down and
rest by the wayside, Joseph among the rest. In the course of a few days
the sick were transported to Isle aux Noix, at which place all the
shattered army were collected under command of General Heath. From this
place the troops, including the sick, proceeded amid sundry
embarrassments to Crown Point, where they encamped. Here the small-pox
spread among the men, and in its most aggravated form, with fearful
rapidity. The scene in camp soon became appalling. The groans and cries
of the sick and dying were heard night and day without cessation. As it
happened, the surgeons, for want of medicines and hospital stores, could
render but little aid. In some instances as many as thirty patients died
in a day, and were buried in a single vault or pit, for the reason that
there were not well men enough to bury them in separate graves.
The humane and philanthropic Joseph, who had previously inoculated
himself with success, and thus avoided further danger from the
contagion, now devoted himself to nursing and caring for his sick
companions-in-arms with unwearied assiduity. As soon as the contagion
began to abate, the sick were transferred in boats to Fort George, while
the men fit for service were ordered to Mount Independence, opposite
Ticonderoga, to erect works of defence. The mount was covered with
forest trees, loose rocks, and dens infested with rattlesnakes, which
often crept into camp and were killed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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