6o 4 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



THE WAR AND THE WEATHER DURING THE FIRST THREE 

 MONTHS OF THE FIGHTING 



By Pkofessob ROBERT DeC. WARD 



HABVAED UNIVERSITY 



W'AR and the weather seem, at first sight, to have no relation to 

 one another. Set in motion by human forces apparently far 

 beyond the control of our ordinary physical surroundings, military 

 campaigns seem likely to go on unaffected by such more or less "acci- 

 dental" conditions as cold or heat; rain or snow; wind or cloud. Yet 

 all through human history, as far back as we can secure accounts of 

 wars and of military campaigns, the weather element stands out as one 

 of the great controls, a control to be reckoned with by every commander, 

 and one which, when powerful enough, has had consequences of far- 

 reaching historical importance. The weather factor in war is not a 

 joke. It is a perfectly serious subject for study on the part of military 

 and naval strategists. It must be taken into account in laying out a 

 campaign or in organizing troops for a battle. To disregard the 

 weather factor in warfare is almost, if not sometimes quite as serious 

 an omission as to forget to provide food, or clothing, or ammunition. 

 The weather has, time and again, turned the scale, for victory or for 

 defeat. Written large in history, as events of the greatest significance, 

 we have the retreat of the Turks from Vienna in 1529, their siege 

 artillery having been left behind in Hungary on account of heavy 

 rains which made the roads impassable, and the besieging army being 

 hampered by inclement weather and by the scarcity of provisions, 

 which were both difficult to secure, and almost impossible to transport. 

 All three of the Spanish Armadas (1588, 1597, 1719) suffered from 

 hostile winds and storms. In 1719 the Spanish fleet was scattered off 

 Cape Finisterre by a violent storm which raged for twelve days. Only 

 two ships succeeded in reaching the coast of Scotland. To take an il- 

 lustration from our own early history, the closing chapter in the evac- 

 uation of Boston by the British would probably have been quite differ- 

 ent if a severe storm had not frustrated General Howe's plans. The 

 Americans had begun the fortification of Dorchester Heights during 

 the night of March 4, 1776. The morning of the 5th dawned clear 

 and mild, with a bright sun and a warm southerly wind. General 

 Howe and Admiral Shuldham, realizing that their own positions were 

 insecure as long as the Americans remained on the heights, sent be- 

 tween 2,000 and 3,000 men in transports across the Bay, the plan being 

 to have them land and attack the enemy in the rear. But a violent 



