George B. Griffenhagen

“ The delay in initiating importation can hardly be charged as the only or even the main reason for medical supply shortages in 1776. For example, in August of that year, when at least a half-dozen medical supply officers were pleading for drugs from Congress in Philadelphia, John Thomson of Petersburg, Virginia, advertised that he had for sale "Rhubarb and Jalap, Glauber and Epsom Salts, Jesuits Bark" and a host of other supplies. ”

“ Even more frustrating were those suppliers right under Congress's nose advertising essential drugs. Suppliers like Dr. Anthony Yeldall at "his Medicinal Ware-House" were still advertising "Bark, Camphire, Rhubarb, &c" in July of '76. [101] Philadelphia was second only to New York for Loyalists, and Yeldall was later proven to be a strong Tory. Then there were those who were neither Patriot nor Loyalist; they were just indifferent to the cause for American independence, and thus insisted on cash, even though six months' credit was the common practice just prior to the war. ”

“ On June 10 the responsibility of furnishing medical supplies to the army at Cambridge shifted to Philadelphia when the Continental Congress accepted the [Pg 112] request of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress to assume control and direction of the forces assembled around Boston. The Continental Congress established a Continental Hospital Plan on July 27, but it was not until September 14 that the Congress appointed a "committee to devise ways and means for supplying the Continental Army with medicines." ”

“ 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. ”

“ Merchants who sold on credit found that, when they finally were paid, they received paper money backed only by a promise to exchange for gold and silver at some future time. Furthermore, they were caught in a spiraling inflation, and often found that when they finally received their money from Congress it then would cost them twice as much to replenish their stocks. Medical supply officers therefore found it necessary to pay ready cash for merchandise out of their own pocket, and sometimes they had to wait six months for reimbursement from Congress. ”

“ Gum opium and nitre "found by Congress" was included in the chest for the Pennsylvania 4th Battalion, and by May 11 the Marshalls were out of Peruvian bark, ipecac, cream of tartar, gum camphor, and red precipitate of mercury. The chests outfitted after June 1 also failed to include Epsom salts, and the last chest lacked jalap as well. Thus the majority of the battalions traveling north were already without some of the most necessary drugs in their chests. Blithely their medical officers thought they could obtain the missing drugs when they arrived at the general hospital. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is significant to compare the sum of $1,095,000 provided by Congress in 1778 with £10,000 (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 £20 per pound. However, the worst of the inflation was yet to come. ”

“ Four days before the Battle of Bunker Hill the Congress "Ordered that Doct. Whiting, Doct. Taylor and Mr. Parks, be a committee to consider some method of supplying the several surgeons of the army with medicines," and further "Ordered that the same committee bring in a list of what medicines are in the medical store." ”

“ Drug supplies also were quite adequate in Boston during the British occupation. Sylvester Gardiner at "The Sign of the Unicorn and Mortar in Marlborow Street" reported that "all kinds of the best and [Pg 114] freshest drugs and medicines ... are continued to be sold as usual." However a cautionary note was added that drugs and medicines had been "constantly imported every fall and spring to June last." Implicit in the advertising is the suggestion that the securing of new supplies was highly uncertain. ”

“ Trumbull asked: "Have your Medicines arriv'd? Have Stringer or McHenry made their appearance yet? Our people fall sick by Dozens. I not a Pennys worth of Medicine have for them, even in the most virulent disorders." Surgeon Johnston begged: "Pray if possible send me 4 pounds Pulv. Cort. Peruv. [Bark] and 3 ounces Tart [ar] Emet [ic] . With those medicines I think I could restore a number of our best Men to perfect Health." [88]
In those instances where some drugs were on hand, the shortage of pharmaceutical equipment hampered, if not prevented, the preparation of proper dosage forms. ”

“ To make matters worse, new troops continued to arrive without medical supplies. For example, those from Maryland arrived at White Plains with their regimental surgeons fully expecting Morgan to supply them with medicines, even though the Maryland Convention on October 4 had ordered that these troops be supplied with medicines by the Maryland Council of Safety before their departure. ”

“ Morgan's chaotic situation at New York was mild compared to the conditions at Fort George and Ticonderoga in the Northern Department. Dr. Samuel Stringer, medical director of the Northern Department, wrote General Washington on May 10, 1776, that the majority of the regimental surgeons had neither medicines nor instruments, and that there was no possibility of getting them in Canada. Washington replied that he would direct Dr. Morgan to send the required supplies, and ask for additional help from Congress. ”

“ Washington's forces were defeated at Brandywine on September 11, 1777, and on September 25 the British army occupied Philadelphia. Washington, after trying without success to dislodge them by a sudden attack at Germantown on October 4, retreated to Valley Forge.
Business in Philadelphia under British occupation continued much as it had under American control, except for a few missing suppliers and a few new ones. [Pg 124] One druggist who was little in evidence after the war commenced was back in business advertising within [Pg 125] two weeks after the British occupied Philadelphia. ”

“ Meanwhile, in New York City the supply of drugs had returned to normal or near normal within a few weeks after the British occupation. On September 30, 1776, Thomas Brownejohn announced the opening "of his medicinal store at the corner of Hanover-Square ... where gentlemen of the army and navy can be supplied at the shortest notice with all kinds of medicines on the most reasonable terms." ”

“ A letter dated December 2, 1775, from a British officer in Boston to a friend in Edinburgh observed that "many of our men are sick, and fresh provisions very dear." However, the officer added, "but the Rebels must be in a much worse condition...." [31] Drugs were imported into Boston during the siege as evidenced by an advertisement on February 22, 1776, announcing "just imported from LONDON and to be sold at Mr. Dalton's Store, on the Long-Wharf, a proper assortment of Drugs and Medicines of the Best quality in Cases." ”

“ The Situation Improves
Oliver Smith, advertising in a Boston newspaper in October 1777, clearly emphasized the fact that "A Large and Valuable Assortment of Drugs and Medicines" were on hand. Included in the listing were bark, gum camphor, gum opium, jalap, rhubarb, and salts. [113]
Back in Philadelphia, the supply situation was also improving. William Smith, Continental Druggists, received over $5,000 from Congress for drug purchases, [114] [Pg 123] and the Marshalls also continued to furnish Congress with a variety of medical supplies in amounts upwards of $4,000. ”

“ Despite this incident, we have the word of Morgan that "a large, though unassorted stock of medicines" was collected in Boston when the British evacuated. [35] Hospital Surgeons Ebenezer Crosby and Frederick Ridgley reported that "at the evacuation of Boston ... all the Mates of the Hospital that could be spared from Cambridge ... were employed in packing up and sending off [to Cambridge] drugs, medicines and other hospital stores, collected by order of Dr. Morgan, the quantity of which appeared great." ”

“ However, until early in June, Morgan was in no position to outfit medicine chests for any of the troops at New York, much less for the army in the north; and Congress didn't even get around to directing "the committee appointed to provide medicines ... to send a proper assortment of medicine to Canada" until June 17. ”

“ Preserved at Fort Ticonderoga Museum, New York.
Two days after the battles at Lexington and Concord, the Provincial Congress ordered that a man and horse be made available to transport medicines. On April 30, Andrew Craigie was appointed to take care of these medical stores and deliver them as ordered.
Medical supplies were an early source of anxiety to the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. The supply of drugs in Boston must have been largely controlled by the British after Lexington-Concord, and the limited supply in the neighboring smaller towns was soon exhausted. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The good people of the neighboring towns, and even those who live more remote from this city, by carefully collecting and curing quantities of useful herbs will greatly promote the good of the Army, and considerably benefit themselves. ”

“ After Morgan had established the general hospital at New York, he wrote to Samuel Adams on June 25 that
... the state of the Army in Canada ... for a supply of medicines is truly deplorable. General Gates sets out to-morrow to take command of the Army in Canada. Dr. Potts will accompany him. I have therefore given orders to supply him from the General Hospital with a large chest of such medicines as I can best spare, and which can be got ready to-morrow before his departure. [76]
Until July 24, the only medicines to arrive at Fort George were the "few that Dr. ”

“ Inasmuch as few medicines were listed in the inventory of stores left by the British on the wharfs and in the scuttled ships in the harbor, [37] it appears that most of these drugs obtained in Boston were confiscated from the homes, offices, and shops of the Loyalists who fled when the British evacuated. ”

“ It was William Drewet Smith (not to be confused [Pg 126] with William Smith) who advised "friends and customers ... that they can be supplied with Medicine and Drugs as usual, at his shop in Second-Street." To indicate that he was expecting an active business, Smith also advertised for "a person who can be well recommended for honesty and sobriety ... to attend a Druggist's Shop." [125]
Figure 3.—Page from the Waste Book manuscript of the Christopher Marshall, Jr., and Charles Marshall apothecary shop in Philadelphia. ”

“ 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
... ”

“ Soon after the British evacuated Boston, the Greenleaf apothecary shop in Boston was again supplying medicines to the Continental Army. The Greenleaf ledger [41] shows that on May 25 the shop sold nearly £4 worth of "Sundry Medicines ... [to] the Committee of War, State of Massachusetts Bay." Then, on June 20, the Massachusetts Assembly resolved that "Dr. John Greenleaf of Boston be requested to supply the Chief Surgeon of ... Colonels Marshall's, Whitney's and Craft's Regiments [Pg 115] ... with medicines as may be necessary...." ”

“ Drugs were occasionally being imported into Philadelphia despite the British blockade. In January 1777, Robert Bass, an apothecary in Market Street, advertised [116] "A Quantity of Peruvian Bark, just imported ... together with Drugs and Medicines of most kinds." Bass was supplying the Northern Department with drugs in February 1777, but, according to a letter from John Warren to Potts, "he is determined not even to pack them untill he shall receive the money in payment for them." [117] In March, Bass wrote Potts directly that
... ”