American genealogists and historians are painfully aware of man's inhumanity to man when we read about the American Civil War. However, one scientist points out that twice as many Civil War soldiers died from insect-related disease than from direct combat.
Gary Miller of Laurel, Maryland, has pored over books, soldiers' letters, and regimental histories for insect references. He found that mosquitoes, body lice, and flies were a constant nuisance to Union and Confederate soldiers. Roughly 60,000 soldiers died from malaria on the Union side alone, he said.
Miller is a professional entomologist who describes new species for the United States Department of Agriculture. His blend of bug expertise with the War Between the States is strictly a hobby, he said.
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