NJ, USA
Continental Army Smallpox Inoculation Program
February 1, 1777
In early 1777, Washington ordered the mass inoculation of the Continental Army against smallpox — one of the most consequential medical decisions in American military history. The disease had killed more soldiers than combat, and the army wintering at Morristown was particularly vulnerable as troops from different regions mixed in close quarters.
Inoculation in the 18th century was not vaccination. It involved deliberately infecting patients with live smallpox material, inducing a (usually) milder case that conferred immunity. The procedure was dangerous: patients were genuinely ill for weeks, and some died. Inoculating an entire army meant temporarily incapacitating a significant portion of the fighting force.
Washington kept the program secret from the British, who could have attacked during the vulnerable period. Soldiers were inoculated in rotating groups so that some units remained combat-ready at all times. Dr. Nathaniel Bond oversaw the operation from makeshift hospitals around Morristown. The results were dramatic: smallpox rates in the Continental Army plummeted, and the disease ceased to be a strategic threat. Historians have called it the first large-scale military public health campaign in American history.
People Involved
Continental Army physician (1730-1807) who served as director general of military hospitals and managed the smallpox inoculation program at Morristown.
Virginia planter and Continental Army commander-in-chief who owned and managed Mount Vernon's enslaved workforce. Absent from his estate for most of the war, he directed Lund Washington's management by correspondence and returned to find the plantation's human community shaped by eight years of wartime disruption.
Joined Washington at Morristown during both winter encampments, managing the headquarters household, organizing sewing circles to produce clothing for soldiers, and hosting events to maintain officer morale.