JANUARY 6, 1863:
Corporal
Jacob Berlin, of Claremont, Illinois died this day of measles. The “childhood
diseases” were an ongoing plague on both armies in the close and dirty quarters
of war. Many small-town and country soldiers, having led isolated lives, had no
built-up natural immunity to any illnesses and perished like straw in a fire.
Others were left permanently disabled or scarred. In one Confederate camp of
10,000 men, 4,000 soldiers were stricken with measles. The disease was so
common and disruptive that new units were held back from active service until
they had been "put through the measles".
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