[Pharmboy]

Washington contracted smallpox during his trip to Barbados (accompanying his half-brother Lawrence) and was thus immune himself. That trip was the only time he was ever out of this country.

[cripplecreek]

Seems like I read that Washington employed a crude form of smallpox vaccination at Valley Forge.

[Pharmboy]

A particularly ugly chapter in the Brit war strategy. An easy click-through to the full story.

The RevWar/Colonial History/General Washington ping list...

[max americana]

After all this time, new info comes out about the War of Independence. Not only was he begging for money daily with Congress, but did everything possible to keep the Army together. GW is the Man’.

[Red6]

Biological and chemical warfare are nothing new. Even psychological warfare is as old as warfare itself. They use to sling human feces, beat holly cats against Egypt's fortified walls, salt the earth or poison wells...

[Red6]

Very interesting read.

THX for the post.

[ZULU]

Thanks for that Pharmboy. I remember reading the Brits used that against Indians during Pontiac’s rebellion. Didn’t realize they that they used it against us too. But then they used the indians against us too.

[nkycincinnatikid]

But the english were forced to use such tactics.
Killing up to half of the children of the Boers in concentration camps was unfortunate but after all the Boers were a threat to the entire world.
Starving up to one million central Europeans with blockade AFTER the surrender in 1918 was necessary as the central European powers had of course started the war by their reaction to the assasination of the heir to the Austrian throne.
This is war, or well in the case of the Boers maybe naked english aggression for their land, and in the case of the blockade, not exactly war as the enemy had surrendered,but just mass murder to dictate terms, but War, or not war it is Hell.

[colorado tanker]

Thanks for the post. The "inoculations" (I know they weren't really) at Valley Forge probably saved the Continental Army.

I have never seen any hard evidence the British actually tried to spread the disease among the rebels. Frankly, it sounds a little like Ward Churchill's claim the U.S. Army tried to kill Indians with "smallpox blankets." More likely is the explanation that the British troops had better immunity from smallpox because it was endemic in Europe. In contrast, smallpox was much more rare in America and our soldiers, especially those from rural areas had no immunity at all.

[GraceG]

I wonder how much an influence Ben Franklin was in General Washington’s decision.