You often read that in the era prior to modern medical practice that soldiers were more likely to die of illness than from the fighting, but I rarely run across a salient example like this on the Body Horrors blog:
In 1779, over half of [General Washington’s] 10,000 strong Continental Army had contracted the debilitating [smallpox] virus during an epidemic, a grave tactical setback in the face of a largely immune British army.(5) “We should have more to dread from it, than from the Sword of the Enemy,” he wrote.(6) In February 1777, Washington would demand the use of an innovative technique, variola vaccination, to protect against smallpox and prevent the decimation of his troops in the face of the ensuing British onslaught.(7) He also instituted mandatory quarantine to prevent further spread of the infection among unvaccinated volunteers. By the end of the year, nearly 40,000 soldiers had undergone variolation and the rates of infection were dashed from 17% to 1%.(5) Washington’s oft-overlooked campaign against smallpox would be one of the most successful public health achievements of the era. The rest, as they say, is history.
The numbers are references within the original entry.
