Interior of the Old Jersey Prison Ship in the Revolutionary War

Interior of the Old Jersey Prison Ship in the Revolutionary War. Engraving. 1855 by Felix Octavius Carr Darley (American, 1822-1888). Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Public domain. Even before microbial infection was understood, it was suspected that dysentery might well be infectious. As a condition that caused severe weakness and even death, dysentery was common among soldiers during military action. During the American Revolutionary War, dysentery became epidemic, killing scores of soldiers. Earlier in the 18th century, John Pringle, a Scottish physician, published a study of military hygiene and dysentery, in which he proposed that the disease might have been acquired by soldiers through contact with filthy straw as they slept. But in addition, he also suggested that it might be transmitted through excrement in the latrines (Pringle, Observations on the Diseases of the Army, 1752). As depicted by the American illustrator Felix Octavius Carr Darr Darley, the “Old Jersey” was a British prison ship anchored near Brooklyn, housing thousands of American prisoners of war during the American Revolutionary War. This repurposed ship was notorious as a prison for its crowding and filth, with rampant disease, especially dysentery, smallpox, and yellow fever. After the war, the ship was sunk into the ocean.