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Efficient, Efficacious and Humane Responses to Non-European Bodies in British Military Medicine, 1780–1815

An examination of manuscript and printed evidence from correspondence, reports, journals and treatises reveals that the attention afforded to the non-European (male) body within military medicine during the period from 1780 to 1815 stemmed from a combination of strategic, economic, medical and humanitarian concerns. Military medical practitioners were highly aware of bodily, as well as situational, differences between groups of people, and many of these men believed that an understanding of such differences might assist in improving the military effectiveness of British forces in hot climates. One of the recommended methods for promoting greater efficiency within the military in such regions was to supplement or even to replace Europeans with non-Europeans, especially Africans in the West Indies and West Africa. This article contends that, although such strategies (and policies when implemented) were aimed at preserving the lives of white Europeans, increased focus on the health of non-Europeans became a fundamental, albeit perhaps unintended, consequence. The extant records divulge a sustained dialogue about how best to safeguard the health of, and provide ‘necessities’ and efficacious medical care for, the non-European body. In addition to revealing medical opinions and advice concerning aspects such as food, alcohol, hygiene, clothing and lodgings, the sources also highlight the specific challenges that arose within medical encounters between British practitioners and their non-European patients, including those relating to language, religion and native customs and medical practices. Military medical practitioners habitually expressed negative sentiments regarding the health, customs and capabilities of particular non-European groups due to a combination of cultural preconceptions, professional viewpoints and personal predilections and/or prejudices. Yet, as this article demonstrates, many medical men also simultaneously argued that these groups deserved efficacious, compassionate and humane treatment in the context of military medicine.