The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

When the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, the American colonies still needed to win the Revolutionary War to truly gain their independence from the British Empire. The war continued another seven years until Sept. 3, 1783. One of the deadliest threats to the Continental Army, however, was not the British Army, it was disease, especially smallpox.

Boston had an outbreak of smallpox in 1775 from British Redcoats arriving to fight the rebellion. George Washington knew very well the dangers of smallpox after having had it himself as a young man, which left scars on his fa...