Surgeons, Punishments, and Fires on board a privateer ship

Surgeons, Punishments

and Fires on board a ship

The 18th century there was a great turn in medical knowledge. Many new skills were developed, new understandings let to new courses that began to be taught at universities. One university that became one of the biggest and most advanced in medicine, during the time was the university in Edinburgh. New instruments and tools were invented to better assist doctors, many of which were beginning to ask more questions and delve deeper into the knowledge of medicine. Old practices of course were still being used by some, such as bloodletting, but many new doctors were excited to learn about new remedies and understand how illnesses were spread and how the human body works the way it does. As more and more doctors and surgeons asked questions, did research, and documented their findings, some branched out into more specialized areas, such as midwifery. One of these doctors invented the first successful pair of forceps, which proceeded to save the lives of many mothers and babies.

Doctors, rather than simply giving opium to a sick patient, started to try and understand why the patient was sick and studied, examined, and documented others with the same illnesses and what made them better and what harmed them more. While learning about the different illnesses, another extremely common and useful instruments was invented, the stethoscope. One doctor, discovered, “tapping,” he figured out that like tapping on a cask to find out how much liquid was remaining, he could tap and listen to the chest of a patience and hear if there was liquid in the lungs.

Doctors began to understand that proper diet and hygiene made a big different in preventing illnesses as well as helping to make those that were sick, better. Certain foods, such as citrus were being recommended by physicians, in preventing scurvy, which ran rampant on ships and in the slaves’ quarters on plantations.

While working on a plantation or on a ship, many dangers were present. Accidents happened constantly. Bullet wounds, bites, stings, burns, cuts, and illnesses. In Rogue Wave, Doc teaches Catherine a number of treatments. Note the mention of vinegar water and various alcohols, this was discovered to prevent further illness and contamination. Doc taught Catherine about the instruments used for amputation and bullet removal. Doc reassures Catherine the tools for the appendage removal would not be needed, this was not only because Doc had no wish to use them, but as a skilled and well-trained surgeon, he would know that it would only be used as in a very drastic circumstance. Often times a patient would not survive such a surgery, due to infection, so he would not risk it unless there was no other option. In movies they tend to show a saw, during this procedure (honestly, I am really glad they do not show more, that is bad enough). But in fact, several tools were used, and it was a complex procedure. The surgeon would need to even know how to properly tie blood vessels off and what tool would be used for each step.

Catherine has to extract her first bullet from a sailor during the battle. She uses a hook and scoop, those were the most common instruments to use, though there were others that could get the job done as well.

Many new herbs, ointments and medicines were discovered by the colonists. They brought over what herbs they knew about but were not afraid to try new ones. Tobacco was a very common remedy in the colonies. It cured a variety of illnesses and was easy to come by. Ipecac, sassafras, lavender, fennel, and comfrey were among other herbs that were discovered to be extremely useful.

While doing my own research, I discovered that there are countless herbs that grow all around that are very useful and cure illnesses or aid in keep one healthy. It was not just the flowers that was collected. The seeds, stems, leaves and bark were often more helpful or more potent. I found a small white flower that was growing all over my yard. I was finally able to identify it. After a bit, I found out if was actually once used to help a mother’s milk supply while she nursed.

In order to use any of the herbs though, you had to know how much to give, how to cure and prepare the herb properly and more. Some were fresh, some dried and crushed, and some boiled down to oils. You also needed to know if it was use topically or ingested.

Many of these herbs, new medicines and better knowledge of illnesses and the human body assisted in treating the most severe of conditions. Of course, there were cuts and broken bones, these were often times minor compared to other battle injuries or injuries sustained from punishment and were easily cured.

Punishment

Now onto an even more unpleasant topic, punishment. The Royal Navy ran a strict ship, they did not put up with any disorder. Privateers were not as tight, though they were usually more orderly than a pirate ship, especially if the privateer ship was manned by a reputable and decent captain. Punishments varied in severity and the captains did not lack options, they had many they could choose from, though most were not used often.

We have all heard of being marooned, our very own Thomas Banning was marooned, remember? Marooning was the most common form of punishment for traitors, deserters, or sailors that had fallen out of favor with the captain. Marooning is where the captain would drop the traitor off on a small island or piece of land that they came across. They may or may not live, if they were fortunate enough to find food and water on the island, they had a better chance of survival and if they were rescued by another ship, they would be very fortunate. There were two other similar punishments, these are even more commonly known, though, were used far less. Walking the plank and throwing the sailor overboard, both would inevitably leave the traitor for dead.

Cat o’ nine tails, we all know it is a sort of whip, but do you know what it looks like or why it is referred to as a “cat of nine tails?” This form of punishment was the most common, amongst, pirates, privateers, and the Royal Navy. It was typically made of leather, though some were made from different material. There was a straight handle that had nine strips coming from it. The stripes were made of thinner bits of leather, plaited together. It is referred to as a “cat,” because it leaves claw like marks across the offenders back. Depending on the leniency of the captain and how drastic the offense was, determined how many lashes a man would get. Typically, they did not strike more than twenty-five times, only the most ruthless and cruel of captains would do that.

Believe it or not, there were even worse and far more gruesome punishments, thankfully, they were rarely used. Most likely used on the poor soul that found themselves under the command of a very cruel captain that enjoyed torturing his cruel. Some of these punishments included keelhauling, dunking, and sweating. I will not go into the terrible details of these, instead I will tell you about the less severe punishments.

These less severe punishments were most often the ones chosen by the captain to use. One of which, sailors actually hoped for, as it gave them a break from their duties and chance to catch up on their reading if they knew how. They would be told to sit high up in the rigging and stay there in the hot sun or freezing weather for a few hours, before being allowed to come down. As the men were already quite accustomed to the weather, it did not matter much to them.

The other punishment was usually used on the much younger sailors, it was a simple thrashing, much like their Pa’s probably did to them on more than one occasion.

Certain actions required certain punishments, such as being careless. Being careless could cost the crew their lives and it was punishable by whatever means the captain saw fit. Most commonly, a whipping, though depending on the rank and age of the crew member, it might not be as severe. In Rogue Wave, a shipmate forgets to cap his pipe, causing a ship fire. Pipes on ships were typically required to have a cap for this very risk.

Fires

Usually started by a fallen lantern, from the galley, a pipe, or of course a battle. Ships were extremely flammable and not just because of the obvious, being made of cloth and wood but to make the entire ship waterproof, the planking that made up the ship had to be soaked in tar. The lines and sails were also, usually soaked in pitch. A fire could travel extremely fast. Crews, even on the harshest of ships were well trained in stopping a fire. Water barrels and sand filled barrels were used to stop the traveling flames.

Questions

Thank you for reading my blog, if you have any questions or would like to know more about the historical aspects of the Rogue Wave series, please send me an email. I would be happy to chat and answer any questions. Like always, keep an eye out for my next blog.