A Civil War Memorial In Ringmer Church

[poliphilo]

I saw this out of the corner of my eye and thought,"monument to a Victorian lady." Then I looked more closely and saw that the girlish phizog actually belongs to Colonel William Springett who died, aged 23, fighting for Parliament at the siege of Arundel in 1643. He wasn't gunned down while storming the breach- but- like the majority of soldiers in most wars before the 20th century- died of a horrid disease- in his case a calenture- whatever that is- which brought him out in purple spots.

Good looking dude.

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The person who supplied the notes (you can see them in a frame to the right of the monument) guesses at typhoid.

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

I'd say typhoid would be more likely in a town than a military camp. Dysentery, aka camp fever, was far and away the biggest killer.