General Washington was worried the British would use smallpox as a biological agent, so he variolated the entire Continental Army. Variolation was basically a crude form of vaccination involving scraping one's skin and rubbing a small bit of smallpox fluid from a patient. This procedure had a 1-3% fatality rate, which was considered good because smallpox had a 20%+ fatality rate (for Europeans). Benjamin Franklin had his family variolated as well.
It should be noted that smallpox was truly airborne. A British town was found to have higher smallpox cases because it was 1 mile downwind from a ship where smallpox patients were being treated.
General Washington was worried the British would use smallpox as a biological agent, so he variolated the entire Continental Army. Variolation was basically a crude form of vaccination involving scraping one's skin and rubbing a small bit of smallpox fluid from a patient. This procedure had a 1-3% fatality rate, which was considered good because smallpox had a 20%+ fatality rate (for Europeans). Benjamin Franklin had his family variolated as well.
It should be noted that smallpox was truly airborne. A British town was found to have higher smallpox cases because it was 1 mile downwind from a ship where smallpox patients were being treated.