The Mexican-American War was one of the deadliest wars in American History. It was not do to casualties in the battlefield, but to diseases that arose throughout the camps and the lack of medical help. 13% of the entire US Force died due to illnesses. Out of the total overall 13,238 war deaths, 11,155 people died due to disease and poor medical treatment. The terrible conditions of the war and the lack of medical personnel and supplies was the main reason why so many people died. In the Army Camps pollution was a great cause of these illnesses, the lack of hygiene fueled the outbreaks and further continue the spread of these diseases through natural circumstances and flies. This has become known as a medical disaster in US history.
During the Mexican- American War the numerous of challenges that The Army Medical Department of the U.S. Army(AAMDD) faced was astronomical. The places where the camps were stationed made it hard to receive supplies, so there weren't enough supplies to meet the demand for the number of ill patients. Since the camps were so ill-equipped they often had to force the less- qualified volunteers to help perform surgeries and take care of the patients by themselves. This was a major problem because the volunteers had almost no training and did not go through the same examination requirements that the surgeons went through. They were also ignorant of the connection between illness and sanitation, and never filled out any of the required medical reports that were crucial to the maintenance of supply levels and they were wasteful with their use of supplies. Furthermore, due to an act passed in 1847 by Congress, the army got substantially bigger, and thus the number of surgeons compared to the number of soldiers became more drastic. Instead of increasing the number of medical personal Congress instead promoted civilian contract surgeons who “for the most part were adventures who had come to see what they can pick up and were utterly worthless”. In a standard military regiment, there are one to three surgeons, but Congress ordered that each regiment would only receive two physicians. This further decreased the amount of certified medical personnel to help the sergeants. For instance, in regiments like Fort Gibson and Fort Leavenworth, there were severely high rates of diseased personal and it was usually only one surgeon operating and taking care of the sick. Surgeons were so busy that Stewarts would have to help confirm if a patient is healthy enough to go back to the battlefield instead of a surgeon. Due to the war being so severe Congress would not increase the AMEDD, and It was only until 1847 years after the Mexican-American War began that finally Congress took into account the fact demands of the war and required that each regiment has to have one surgeon general, numerous surgeons, and assistant surgeons.
Many soldiers got sick and died even before they made it into the war. Many of the soldiers were from remote towns and have not been exposed to the same germs as those who live in big cities, so they most frequently fell ill. Due to the lack of medical knowledge at this time six soldiers were transported with healthy ones. This happened because conditions such as diarrhea and fevers that affected many soldiers were not considered contagious diseases. Conditions on the transport ships, or terrible some 300 men were crammed into tiny spaces between the Ducks of the ship with sick men mixing with the healthy. They slept on damp wood with what blankets and what the shortest supplies surgeons were not able to treat these men. This resulted in over 40 men dying at sea. During the war surgeons only had one Medical wagon per regiment to use for casualty evacuation and medical supply. This meant that the number of supplies which is restricted to what fit in the wagon. Due to the number of men wounded and sick rendered the number of these wagons insufficient, because the diseases and wounded had no other choice but walking to the next station or staying behind.
Regimental Hospital we're set up and large tents, makeshift structures, or outside in the open. The quality of the tents or flimsy and leaked. Soldiers who were ill and didn't have tents slept on the muddy ground with only a blanket to keep them warm. There was no furniture or materials, wounded men had to sleep in blood-soaked clothes and surgeons only had what they can carry in order to treat the sick and diseased. Due to the minimal protection of the outside elements, diarrhea and measles ravage the soldiers due to the exposure of the unsanitary conditions. The typhoid epidemic, as well as the spread of other diseases, was caused by an abundance of fly breeding and infected feces. In the military camps, sanitation and hygiene was something that was non-existent. Piles of horse manure, human feces, rotten food had the most abundant forms of typhoid germs. In a congested camp filled with tens of thousands of men not only intensified the danger of being infected but also supercharged the spread. ^1(Smallman-Raynor and Cliff 2001)
Overall during the Mexican-American War the greatest threat to the army was not the Mexicans, but the prevalent diseases. The AMEDD was structured to care for an army in peacetime and not war. Due to the lack of supplies and lack of supporting these soldiers who fought for there country were also neglected by there country. The cause of numerous amounts of deaths should not be placed on disease, and unsanitary conditions, it should be placed on Congress and higher up officials for neglecting the people they were supposed to be protecting.