Lake George Colonial Wars Walking Tour Stop 17: Smallpox Hospital 1776
In June of 1776, after evacuating from Canada, the American army was ravaged by smallpox and other infectious diseases. In order to prevent the further spread of sickness, a "General Hospital" was established in Lake George.
At its peak, near the beginning of August, the hospital housed between 2,000-3,000 patients. There were not enough beds and not enough clothing for the soldiers, and the shelter the hospital provided was insufficient to protect them from the elements. Between 20-30 soldiers died every day.
By mid-September, the crisis was largely over, but it left a significant mark on the area. In just five weeks, the smallpox epidemic of 1776 claimed over 300 soldiers, most of whom were entombed nearby in what Dr. Lewis Beebe called, "the burying place," which was no more than a mass grave for smallpox victims.
Continue the Walking Tour Stop 18: Battlefield Park Visitor Interpretive Center >>
This "Colonial Wars" guide that Mannix Marketing has adapted for lakegeorge.com, with the Alliance's OK, is attributed to Bateaux Below, Inc.
TOUR WRITTEN BY: Dr. Russell P. Bellico, Bob Benway, Tim Cordell, John Farrell, Scott Padeni and Joseph W. Zarzynski
ART BY: Tim Cordell
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: Bob Benway
©1996, 2022 Bateaux Below, Inc. Reprinted 2022 with the permission of Bateaux Below, Inc. Historical updates provided by Dr. Russell P. Bellico and Dr. Lyn Karig Hohmann The reproduction of this brochure has been made possible by an Occupancy Tax Grant award from the Town of Lake George.
Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance PO Box 26, Lake George, NY 12845 www.lakegeorgebattlefield.org
SUGGESTED READING LIST:
Bellico, Russell P. - Chronicles of Lake George - Journeys in War and Peace. Purple Mountain Press, Fleischmanns, NY, 1995.
Bellico, Russell P. - Sails and Steam in the Mountains – A Maritime and Military History of Lake George and Lake Champlain. Purple Mountain Press, Fleischmanns, NY, 2001.
Bellico, Russell P. - Empires in the Mountains - French and Indian War Campaigns and Forts in the Lake Champlain, Lake George, and Hudson River Corridor. Purple Mountain Press, Fleischmanns, NY 2010.
Griffith IV, William R. - The Battle of Lake George - England’s First Triumph in the French and Indian War. History Press, Charleston, South Carolina, 2016
Steele, Ian K. - Betrayals – Fort William Henry & The “Massacre.” Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom, 1990.
Zarzynski, Joseph W. - Ghost Fleet Awakened - Lake George’s Sunken Bateaux of 1758. State University of New York, Albany, NY, 2019.
