Dr. Blackburn and the Yellow Fever Conspiracy

Dr. Blackburn and the Yellow Fever Conspiracy
11 August 2024 J.W.H
ghosts

In the post-9/11 world, bioterrorism is a nightmare. During the Cold War arms race, the United States and the Soviet Union amassed extensive stockpiles of biological and chemical agents.

The fear is that terrorists could acquire a modified strain of smallpox, anthrax or plague and unleash it on the city. Such an epidemic could, at the very least, derail an entire region. At worst, it could end civilization as we know it.

But this fear is far from a current obsession. Medieval armies threw plague-infected bodies over enemy walls to spread disease, and smallpox plagues (in some cases deliberately spread) among Native Americans are well documented.

A lesser-known case of bioterrorism occurred during the American Civil War, when a Southern sympathizer attempted to spread yellow fever to Northern cities.

The virus that causes yellow fever. Symptoms include fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, back pain, and loss of appetite. In extreme cases, the victim vomits blood, which turns the vomit black.

Dr. Blackburn: Doctor… and Terrorist?

Dr. Luke Blackburn was a Kentuckian, physician, and Southern sympathizer. He was eminent for treating yellow fever epidemics in Louisiana and Mississippi, which made him well-qualified to facilitate when the terrible disease broke out in Bermuda.

The year was 1864, and the South was in a complex position in its war with the Union. From the outset, it lacked the industrial and labor resources of its northern neighbor, a fact that would not last three years into the conflict.

The Confederacy desperately needed funds and could not afford an outbreak in Bermuda, a key partner in its trading network.

Luke P. Blackburn (Portrait of Nicola Marschall, 1883)

So Dr. Blackburn, eager to facilitate the Southern cause, was duly sent to Bermuda, where he offered his services free of charge. Little did his patients know that his expertise was not offered out of the goodness of his heart.

Dr. Blackburn gathered up their bedding, clothing, vomit-stained rags, and other such disgusting items. He packed them into trunks, which he left in the care of a co-conspirator named Mr. Swan.

The plan was to send the trunks first to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then on to New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Norfolk, and Washington, where the plague-infected items would be sold to clothing dealers who would unknowingly infect their customers with yellow fever.

The witness claimed that the worthy doctor had prepared a suitcase full of elegant shirts for Abraham Lincoln himself.

Since there was no massive outbreak of yellow fever to disrupt all war plans and ensure victory for the South, it should be obvious that the entire plot failed.

Witnesses to Dr. Blackburn's nefarious deeds came forward, and the Union Consul in Bermuda learned of the plot. The operation was closed down, and Dr. Blackburn fled back to Canada.

Fruitless effort and its consequences

When Dr. Blackburn returned to Canada, he was arrested and were charged with violating the Canadian Neutrality Act. However, the charges were dropped because there was no tough evidence that the plague-ridden trunks had ever crossed the Canadian border.

In a strange twist, especially in lithe of today's attitudes toward terrorism and terrorist threats, the U.S. government never pursued the matter, although newspapers had a chance to report it. While a Confederate connection was suspected, all records were destroyed in the aftermath of the South's defeat.

As for Dr. Blackburn, he refused to discuss the conspiracy. He continued his work on yellow fever, fighting an epidemic in Louisiana in 1878.

He was elected governor of his home state of Kentucky from 1879 to 1883, where he was highly respected for his work on prison reform. In his only public appearance on the subject, Blackburn denied any involvement and said the plot was too absurd for a gentleman to have been involved in.

It turns out he was right about that. The yellow fever plot failed from the start, because yellow fever can't spread directly from person to person. Instead, it's spread by mosquitoes. But don't be too tough on Dr. Blackburn for that technicality.

First, the germ theory had not yet been discovered. Second, the yellow fever vector had not been discovered until 1911, so Dr. Blackburn could not have known that his little plan was doomed from the start.

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Image Source: Pixabay.com

  • J.W.H

    About John:

    John Williams is a Reincarnationist paranormal Intuitive freelance writer...he is living proof of reincarnation existence, through his personal exploration, he has confirmed its authenticity through visits to the very lands where these events transpired.

    Through guided meditation/s using hemi-sync technology he has managed to recollect 3 previous lives to his own, that go back to the Mid to Late 19th century.

    JWH - "You are the GODS! - Inclusion of the Eternal Light of Love and you shall never die”.

    “Death is Just the Beginning of Life”