General Discussion

Very interesting, especially the 'variolation' procedure.

Historical Context: During the Revolutionary War, smallpox had a mortality rate of up to 30%, decimating colonial forces and contributing to the failure of the 1776 invasion of Quebec.

The Directive: On February 5, 1777, George Washington wrote to Continental Army Medical Director Dr. William Shippen and Congress, ordering mandatory inoculation for all incoming recruits and veterans who had not yet been exposed.

The Procedure: At the time, there were no modern vaccines. Doctors used a process called variolation, where they cut the skin of a healthy patient and inserted pus taken from an active smallpox lesion to induce a milder, manageable case of the disease. While natural smallpox had a 30% fatality rate, variolation typically induced a milder case, resulting in a 1% to 2% mortality rate and lifelong immunity.

Strategic Secrecy: Washington originally banned unsanctioned inoculations because soldiers would be incapacitated for a month, creating a vulnerability. Once implemented as a mandated army policy, he required it to be done covertly over the winter so the British would not discover that his troops were temporarily weakened.