ABSTRACT
A defining event of the war was the typhoid fever epidemic of July to November 1898, which exposed the culpability of line officers and brought home to the army the supreme importance of sanitation. The Reed-Vaughan-Shakespeare report forced army officials at the highest levels to recognize that sanitation was essential for the maintenance of military effectiveness, and that history would repeat itself in the war if line officers remained ignorant of the fundamentals of military hygiene and sanitation. Typhoid fever was the major killer of American soldiers during the Spanish-American War, running rampant through the national encampments. The events of the Spanish-American War awakened the military establishment to the need for educational reform. The greatest source of friction, however, lay in the assignment of male nurses during the typhoid epidemic, which peaked in September 1898. The tension between medical officers and line officers escalated, with tragic consequences for the health of American soldiers.
