George Washington: Smallpox and the Continental Army

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	George Washington: Smallpox and the Continental Army

smallpox

At age 19 Washington and his half-brother Lawrence spent time on the island of Barbados, hoping the climate would benefit Lawrence. Lawrence was ill with tuberculosis. Around this time George developed a severe case of smallpox, which ultimately left his skin scarred for life. [3e] [7a].

Later, as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in the 1770s, Washington took an unprecedented step by insisting that no recruit could join the army until vaccinated against smallpox [7b] [8a].

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By this action, the American army became the first to try wholesale inoculations of its soldiers against smallpox.

Washington obtained approval from the Continental Congress for this program after observing the effect of smallpox on General Horatio Gates' American Northern Army. Of Gates' 10,000 troops, 5500 had to be hospitalized, and the campaign had to be suspended for five weeks. [8a]

Of note, Edward Jenner did not perform his first smallpox inoculation until 1778. [8a]

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Blinderman A. George Washington's health. NY State Med J. 1975;75:122-132. Pubmed.
Boller, Paul F. Jr. Presidential Anecdotes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981. ISBN 0-19-502915-1 @ Amazon
Bumgarner, John R. The Health of the Presidents: The 41 United States Presidents Through 1993 from a Physician's Point of View. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland & Company, 1994. ISBN 0-89950-956-8 @ Amazon [a] pp. 1-8 [b] pp. 1, 4, 6 (year might have been 1786) [c] p. 4 [d] pp. 1-6 [e] p. 1
Devotes one chapter to each President, through Clinton. Written for the layperson, well-referenced, with areas of speculation clearly identified, Dr. Zebra depends heavily on this book. Dr. Bumgarner survived the Bataan Death March and has written an unforgettable book casting a physician's eye on that experience.
Cooper, Pauline. The Medical Detectives. New York: David McKay, 1973. ISBN 0-679-50382-X @ Amazon
Donald, David Herbert. Lincoln. New York: Touchstone / Simon & Schuster, 1996. ISBN 0-684-82535-X @ Amazon
Dugan, James. Bedlam in the boudoir. Colliers. 22 Feb. 1947; pages 17, 69-70.
Credibility is dubious. Just before a list of Presidents, the article states: "Twenty of the 32 Presidents ... are proved or believed on a thick web of circumstance to have been nocturnal nuisances in the White House."
Flexner, James Thomas. Washington: The Indispensible Man. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974. ISBN 0-316-28616-8 @ Amazon [a] p. 8 [b] p. 132
Distillation of Flexner's four-volume biography of Washington published from 1965 to 1972.
Gabriel, Richard A.; Metz, Karen S. A History of Military Medicine, Volume 2. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992. ISBN 0-313-28403-2 @ Amazon [a] p. 108
Grusin, Sarah. The root of the matter. Washington Post Magazine. Feb. 27, 1994;9.
Part of the "J Street" column.
Hayes H, Talbert G. The facial lesion of George Washington. Plast Reconstructive Surg. 1987;80:133-136. Pubmed.
Henriques, Peter R. The Death of George Washington: He Died as He Lived. Mt. Vernon, VA: The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, 2000. ISBN 0-931917-035-2 @ Amazon [a] p. vi (introduction by Philander D. Chase)
MacMahon, Edward B. and Curry, Leonard. Medical Cover-Ups in the White House. Washington, DC: Farragut, 1987. ISBN 0-918535-01-8 @ Amazon
Marion, Robert. Was George Washington Really the Father of our Country?. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1994. ISBN 0-201-62255-6 @ Amazon
Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (ed). Burke's Presidential Families of the United States of American. 2nd ed. London: Burke's Peerage Limited, 1981. ISBN 0-85011-033-5 @ Amazon
Enumerates the ancestors and descendants of American presidents up through Ronald Reagan.
Morens DM. Death of a President. New Engl J Med. 1999:341;1845-1849. Pubmed.
Smith, MJV. The father who was not a father. Virginia Medical Monthly. 1976;103:14-16, 21-22, 33.
Smith, RN. The Surprising George Washington. Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration. 1994 (Spring);26 (1).
Available on the web at: http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/spring_1994_george_washington_1.html
Wallenborn, White McKenzie. George Washington's terminal illness: a modern medical analysis of the last illness and death of George Washington. [on line]. 31 March 1999.
From the papers of George Washington at the University of Virginia. Accessed 17 December 2002. http://www.virginia.edu/gwpapers/articles/wallenborn/index.html
Web page: http://www.virginia.edu/gwpapers/faq/gwteeth.html
(From the papers of George Washington at the University of Virginia)
Picture of a set of Washington's dentures, complete with springs.
The George Washington web page at the White House.
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