Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues

by Jonathan Kennedy

In early August, the British Army set up camp in Yorktown. In late September they were surrounded by the enemy, which included not just American forces but also newly arrived French soldiers who had come to help their fellow revolutionaries. Cornwallis surrendered twenty-one days after the siege began. He had no choice: over half of the soldiers under his command were unable to fight due to falciparum malaria. The newly arrived French soldiers were also susceptible to malaria, but because it takes about a month from being bitten by an infected mosquito to the onset of symptoms, they didn’t fall ill until after the British had given up.[64] Seven thousand British troops were captured at Yorktown, a quarter of their forces in North America. This changed the trajectory of the war.