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In 1766, while still a general for England, George
Washington and his soldiers were unable to take
Quebec in the French and Indian War. In part this
failure was due to smallpox outbreaks that affected
his troops.
Later when Washington led Continental
Army troops against the British, a smallpox epidemic
reduced his healthy troop strength to half while the
British troops, who had been variolated, were already
immune to the spreading contagion. Troops were often
gathered together from remote parts of the fledgling
nation and placed into crowded camps, mingling with
local civilian populations, which expanded variola
transmission even further into vulnerable populations.9
Washington proclaimed smallpox to be his
“most dangerous enemy,” and by 1777 he had all his
soldiers variolated before beginning new military operations.
In doing so, Washington fulfilled the ethical
responsibility of ensuring the health of his military
personnel, which in turn served to fulfill his professional
responsibility as commander of a military force
to preserve the nation. However, a public unfamiliar
with the stakes or conditions weighing on this choice
criticized Washington’s actions.
