An Army Doctor's American Revolution Journal, 1775–1783

by James Thacher

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

An Army Doctor's American Revolution Journal is a reformatting and re-release of excerpted journal entries and observations made by James Thacher during his time as an army surgeon during and after the American Revolutionary War. This reprinting, due out 14th Aug 2019 from Dover is 336 pages and will be available in paperback format.

Dover has an important place in book history as the guardians and re-publishers of so much esoteric knowledge and history which might very well otherwise be lost. My interest in this particular book came from an unusual embroidered sampler which was likely stitched by one of Thacher's descendants. Anyhow, this book provided a fascinating glimpse into a world where antibiotics, anesthesia, x-rays, sterile surgical techniques, and all of the other modern essentials simply didn't exist. Despite that, Dr. Thacher was an erudite, intelligent, philosophical man whose surgical skill was apparently well known. He wrote other books on diverse subjects such as the history of medicine in the USA and beekeeping.

This book contains a chronological series of journal entries from January 1775 - 1783. There is also a well written publisher's note with a short bio by John Grafton. The language of the book itself is dated and formal, but entirely accessible and readable.

I enjoyed reading about the famous historical figures whose lives intersected Thacher's (George Washington!) during his professional life as well as the unimaginable occurrences of day to day life in the period. The author writes incredibly of one occurrence (26th May 1780) of orders of execution for 10 of 11 criminals who received pardons while they were literally standing on the scaffold. One was still to be executed and the retelling was harrowing. Thacher was an eye-witness. Later in June he recounted the murder of a Presbyterian minister's wife and the firing of their home by the British who were intent on revenge for the minister's support of the American side during the war.

The book is full of striking anecdotes. The author's wit and intelligence fairly leap off the page. I think I would've liked to meet and chat with him. This would make a superlative read for fans of military or social history. There is no reference list, bibliography, index or the like, but the stories speak for themselves.

Four stars. Long live Dover Publications.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.