Surgeons have learnt from African slaves how to harvest a small amount of pus from a smallpox victim and smear it onto the open cuts of a healthy victim. The hope is that the infection spreads at a slow enough rate that the body’s white bodies attack the virus before it can become fatal.

Valley Forge was where the American Continental Army made camp during the winter of 1777-1778. It was here that the American forces became a true fighting unit. Valley Forge is often called the birthplace of the American Army.

Small pox, typhoid or typhus (known as putrid fever), pneumonia, and dysentery were some. Most of the troops were inoculated for small pox at Valley Forge, but these men were usually on an inactive status because they were quarantined.

The trail is being removed because it crosses over some of the original earthworks built by the Continental Army in 1777-78. Repeated walking, erosion, and wear is damaging these historic earthworks.

But when smallpox broke out among the displaced Bostonians, the Americans were forced to redouble their efforts at smallpox control. These efforts paid off. The disease did not spread among the American forces until after the British withdrew on March 17th, 1776.

In response, Washington forbade refugees from Boston to come near the American camp in order to avoid the risk of exposure. After the British left the city in March of 1776, Washington sent in a force of 1,000 smallpox-immune American troops to occupy Boston in order to avoid further spread of the disease.

With few surgeons, fewer medical supplies, and no experience, Washington conducted the first mass inoculation of an army at the height of a war that immeasurably transformed the international system. Defeating the British was impressive, but simultaneously taking on Variola was a risky stroke of genius.

Since the office was established in 1789, 45 persons have served as President of the United States. Of these, eight have died in office: four were assassinated, and four died of natural causes.