ABSTRACT
William Munro was born to a Scottish army family in 1823. He took his medical degree at the University of Glasgow in 1844, and then joined the Army Medical Service. He was Assistant Surgeon for the 91st (Argyllshire) Highlanders during the Seventh Xhosa War of 1846–47, and during the Crimean War served as Surgeon of the 93rd (Sutherland) Highlanders. Subsequently, with the latter regiment, he took part in the relief of Lucknow during the Indian Uprising. Munro went on to become Surgeon-General in 1874. He became responsible for implementing the co-ordinated army medical service established the year before, which was meant to replace the regimentally based system of appointing medical officers. Munro retired in 1881 and died in 1896. During his retirement he published two books reminiscing on his army life. The excerpt below is from Munro’s book on his experiences with the Sutherland Highlanders, and it begins with an account of an outbreak of cholera in the early 1860s in Peshawur, India.
