During the French and Indian war there was a commanding general of the British forces who resided in North America from 1754 through 1763. His name was Jeffery Amherst. Jeffery Amherst was one of the first examples of biological warfare. During the French and Indian war, he sent blankets infected with smallpox to the Indians as a way to beat the Indians in the war. The smallpox disease was new to the Indians and they had never dealt with an illness this severe before and did not know what was going on.
Jeffery Amherst was born on January 29th in 1717. He was the son of Jeffery Amherst and Elizabeth Kirill. At age 12 he became a page of the household the duke of Dorset. Later on Major General John Ligonier made him a cornet. Ligonier then recommended he get a promotion to lieutenant. Ligonier referred to Amherst as his “dear pupil”. Because of this, he served in the war of the Austrian succession. This then led to Amherst going to more wars and receiving higher ranks as time went on. By the time he was preparing for a coming campaign, he was recalled to Britain.
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Ligonier was made commander-in-chief of the British forces and he chose his former “dearest pupil” to oversee the operation. Because Ligonier chose him it made Amherst a temporary “major general in America”. He then planned many attacks for many different wars and battles all the way up until Pontiac's Rebellion. This was a riot led by the native American Indians living in pays d'en haut. The leader of the Pontiac was able to convince many of his members to follow him to capture Fort Detroit. Though the Pontiac had wanted to take the fort by surprise the British had already prepared for their coming. Forced to retreat, they came back on May 9th and killed many settlers and soldiers. This made the British make their own attack and sieged the Pontiacs' camp. As fighting became more intense many settlers fled to fort Pitt. But under siege, fort Pitt was cut off.
Amherst was very concerned about that situation; his solution was to kill off the native American Indians. He used blankets infected with the disease and gave them to the Indians. Smallpox comes from the virus variola, it is usually contracted through inhaling the virus. An infected person is only contagious after the skin eruptions have begun. The disease takes about two weeks before it takes another life. Mortality of smallpox can be anywhere from 10 to 30 percent, depending on the age and habitat of the victim. These are some of the symptoms of smallpox: high fever, chills, headache, severe back pain, abdominal pain, and vomiting.
Though the Indians had not known what the illness was, they had already been put through a smallpox epidemic before in the Ohio Valley. This made it easier for most of them not to die off quickly. William Trent, who was with Jeffery Amherst during the French and Indian war wrote: “out of regard for them, we gave them two blankets and a handkerchief out of smallpox. Hope to have the desired effect.” This was very unethical because it would not only target the warriors/ or soldiers, but it would also target women, children, and elders.
Jeffery Amherst overall was a very good lieutenant in the beginning. With all the battles he was in and how fast he would get promoted. He did in fact make history, not for all his battles though, or how much he was admired but because of biological germ warfare. A smart tactic but very brutal for the natives and there could have been other ways to drive out the Indians.
- Eden, Dan. Smallpox the Weapon. http://viewzone.com/smallpox.html.
- Ahmerst Jeffery 1st Baron Ahmerst. http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/amherst_jeffery_4E.html.
- Kiger, Patrick J. Did Colonists Give Infected Blankets to Native Americans as Biological Warfare? https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/news/colonists-native-americans-smallpox-blankets.
- Amherst, Anthrax And Remembering The Past. http://dickshovel.com/op/10301.html.
- Gill, Harold B. Colonial Germ Warfare. https://www.history.org/foundation/journal/spring04/warfare.cfm.
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