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Napoleon Bonaparte Visiting the Plague-Stricken at Jaffa
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During the Egyptian campaign all those whose imagination was struck by fear died of it [the bubonic plague]. The surest protection, the most efficacious remedy, was moral courage.—Napoleon Bonaparte1(p151)
On March 21, 1799, 29-year-old Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) felt it incumbent to visit his troops who had contracted bubonic plague when they took the fortress at Jaffa, Palestine (modern-day Tel-Aviv, Israel), by storm. His goal was to dispel fear about a disease that had caused panic among his troops.2 René-Nicolas Desgenettes, the chief physician, and his general staff accompanied him. Dr Desgenettes recorded the visit as follows:
The General walked through the hospital and its annex, spoke to almost all the soldiers who were conscious enough to hear him, and, for one hour and a half, with the greatest calm, busied himself with the details of the administration. While in a very small and crowded ward, he helped to lift, . . . [Full Text of this Article]
James C. Harris, MD
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES
Raft of the medusa.
Harris
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2006;63:602-603.
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