[TigersEye]

The cases were mild because there were known at the time to be at least two strains of the virus, one of which was mild. That’s the one, through the pustules of which they would draw the thread that would later be placed under the skin of the healthy person (often a Continental Army recruit) to have them get mildly sick and recover in two weeks.

Please provide a link to that information.

[one guy in new jersey]

One or more of these three I think. Sorry can’t be more specific at this point.

These three are all absolutely splendid authors.

Washington himself contracted smallpox as a young man when he visited the Carribean with his older half brother Lawrence. Recovered well enough but had some persistent scarring on his face thereafter. Obviously he believed in natural immunity.

1.
Washington: A Life
by Ron Chernow

2.
1776
by David McCullough

3.
His Excellency: George Washington
by Joseph J. Ellis