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Rheumatic disease in wartime: gouty generals in battles lost or won
1From the Department of Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.
Insights
Commander
Area of Science:
- Military history
- Medical history
- Leadership studies
Background:
- Leadership significantly influences military campaign success.
- Historical analysis of 19th-century military command.
Observation:
- Examined two wars (First Afghan War, Spanish-American War) where commanding generals had severe gout.
- Assessed the impact of commander's debilitating illness on military operations.
Findings:
- Disastrous outcomes in the First Afghan War (1839-1942) linked to the general's gout.
- Successful intervention by subordinates in the Spanish-American War (1898) despite the general's orders, due to his gout.
Implications:
- Highlights the critical role of commander's health in military strategy.
- Demonstrates how subordinate initiative can mitigate leadership failures caused by health issues.
Abstract:
Leadership by a commander is an important determinant of military outcomes. This report describes 2 19th-century wars in which the commanding general was afflicted with severe, disabling gout. In the First Afghan War (1839-1942), the result was disastrous, but in the Spanish-American War (1898), subordinates ignored the general's orders and saved the day.
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