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Many of the leading figures associated with the American Revolution were also involved in the attempt to stop the disastrous spread of smallpox throughout the American Colonies and beyond. Such individuals included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, among others.
In the late 1770s, during the American Revolutionary War, smallpox returned once more and killed thousands. [70] [71] [72] Peter Kalm in his Travels in North America, described how in that period, the dying Indian villages became overrun with wolves feasting on the corpses and weakened survivors. [73]
John Ely (September 24, 1737 – October 3, 1800) was a Connecticut surgeon and Colonel in the American Revolution. [1] ... He specialized in the treatment of smallpox.
Becker, Ann M., "Smallpox in Washington's Army: Strategic Implications of the Disease during the American Revolutionary War," The Journal of Military History 68, no. 2 (April 2004) Benenson, Abram S., "Immunization and Military Medicine", Reviews of Infectious Diseases, Vol. 6 No. 1 (January – February 1984)
Despite the mortality rate, Washington did curb the spread of smallpox, which had plagued the Continental Army since the American Revolution had begun in 1775. In January 1777, Washington had ordered mass inoculation of his troops, but a year later at Valley Forge, smallpox broke out again.
Onesimus (late 1600s–1700s [1]) was an African (likely Akan) man who was instrumental in the mitigation of smallpox in Boston, Massachusetts.. He introduced his enslaver, Puritan clergyman Cotton Mather, to the principle and procedure of the variolation method of inoculation, which prevented smallpox and laid the foundation for the development of vaccines.
Azor Betts (September 13, 1740 – September 14, 1809) was an American Loyalist medical doctor who began his practice in the Province of New York before the American Revolutionary War. His staunch defense of smallpox inoculation and support of the Loyalist cause led to his arrest and eventual departure to Canada.
John Thomas (1724 – 2 June 1776) was an American medical doctor and soldier from Massachusetts who became a major general in the Continental Army. [1] He was a leader during the siege of Boston. Thomas briefly commanded the withdrawal from Canada after the unsuccessful invasion by the Continental Army. He died from smallpox during the retreat.