Mosquito Soldiers: Malaria, Yellow Fever, and the Course of the American Civil War

In this groundbreaking medical history, Andrew McIlwaine Bell, PhD ’07, explores the impact of two terrifying mosquito-borne maladies on the major political and military events of the 1860s, revealing how deadly microorganisms carried by a tiny insect helped shape the course of the Civil War. Soldiers on both sides frequently complained about the annoying pests that invaded their tents and generally contributed to the misery of army life. Little did they suspect that the South’s large mosquito population operated as a sort of mercenary force, a third army, one that could work for or against either side depending on the circumstances.