‘They were marched almost day and night’: The effects of sleep deprivation on the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution

Abstract

Abstract The effects of sleep deprivation on the Civil War generals has become well established in the recent years. However, a similar study of Revolutionary War generals and armies has not been so forthcoming. Focusing on the crucial Southern Campaign (1780–81), this article will explore the effects of sleep deprivation on both commanders and the armies of the Revolutionary War. Using contemporary scientific research and primary sources from the Revolutionary period, this study will show how sleep deprivation affected two of the major battles of the Revolutionary War: Camden and Cowpens. Both of these battles were decisive, and the evidence points strongly to sleep deprivation playing an important role in their outcomes. This article will also explore contemporary ideas of sleep deprivation from the Revolutionary era. Using medical journals and pamphlets, this paper will assess what the armies of the Revolutionary War and their generals knew of sleep deprivation, as well as the ways in which they attempted to combat it. More broadly, discussing the contemporary excuses given by defeated leaders and explaining the cultural concepts from the eighteenth century will show how different people in the period used the word fatigue in very different ways.