Mount Vernon To Display Smallpox Inoculation Orders

Starting today, George Washington’s Revolutionary War smallpox inoculation orders will be displayed at the Donald W. Reynolds Museum at the Mount Vernon Estate.

The one-page letter was purchased at auction by funds provided by the Mount Vernon Licensing Fund. The Licensing Fund consists of royalty revenue from Mount Vernon licensees.

The manuscript ordering the inoculation of troops was written by aide-de-camp Alexander Hamilton and signed by George Washington in 1777. Although it is brief, the order demands that one of Washington's regimental colonels gather all his men and divide them into two groups: those who had been inoculated against smallpox or who had survived the disease, and those who had not been inoculated. Those men in the former group were sent to join the main army in Morristown and those in the latter group were sent to Philadelphia to be inoculated. Similar letters were sent to other regimental colonels.

Washington also inoculated new recruits to his army to combat the spread of the disease. This tactic reduced the rate of smallpox deaths from 17 percent to 1 percent. His careful handling of the smallpox epidemic at the start of the Revolutionary War was a major reason why his army did not succumb to the disease.

“Today’s visitors to Mount Vernon are likely to be more aware of General Washington’s military setbacks and triumphs than of his masterful handling of such seemingly mundane details as transportation, providing food and supplies, and avoiding disease,” said Mount Vernon curator Susan Schoelwer in a statement issued by the Estate. “This letter provides compelling testimony to Washington’s awareness of medical advances, his concern for his men, and his far-sighted leadership.”

Washington, who contracted the disease in 1751 while in Barbados, called smallpox a greater threat “than…the Sword of the Enemy.” The disease left Washington with slight scarring and gave him immunity. He was so adamant against spreading the disease that he paid for his slaves at Mount Vernon to be inoculated against smallpox. He also ensured that his family members were inoculated. Martha Washington was inoculated in 1776 and Washington’s stepson John Parke Custis was inoculated in 1771. 

The letter will be on display until January 10, 2012.