Honoring the 250th Anniversary of the Fort George Smallpox Hospital

Fort William Henry Hotel
48 Canada St., Lake George, NY  12845

6:30 PM

The Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance is Honoring the 250^th Anniversary of the Fort George Smallpox Hospital by bringing history and medical expertise together.  The Continental Army’s effort to stem the outbreak of smallpox, which devastated its soldier population during the 1775-76 invasion of Quebec, is the focus of 3 presentations and a panel discussion with audience participation at 6:30 PM on Thursday, July 9 in the Fort William Henry Conference Center.  

The speaker/panelist lineup includes:

·       Michael P. Gabriel, author of several books including Major General Richard Montgomery: The Making of an American Hero, discussing the invasion of Quebec and its unfortunate aftermath;

·       Sam Huntington, Crown Point Historic Site Manager, explaining the strategic and deadly impacts of ill soldiers returning to Crown Point and how the Continental Army addressed the crisis;

·       Dr. Richard Leach, Infectious Disease specialist, describing the nature of the virus, the challenges it presented at the Fort George hospital, and actions later employed to mitigate its spread.

This is a free event. Those interested in learning more about this important chapter in Lake George history are requested to register by email with the number attending to info@lakegeorgebattlefield.org.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

With the establishment of the Fort George general hospital in July 1776, Lake George became the focal point of the army’s engagement in combating the deadly effects of smallpox on its troops. More than 3,000 soldiers were hospitalized at Lake George during the summer and early fall of that year, with estimates of fatalities running from 1/4 to 1/3 of the total treated.

The footprint of the hospital likely spread from today’s Lake George Battlefield Park well to the west, so it is not surprising that the 44 remains recently reinterred in the park were discovered nearly a mile away. Given the high fatality rate of smallpox patients and the practice at the time of quickly burying the victims to lessen the number of additional infections, it’s very likely that there are hundreds of additional remains dispersed throughout the community of Lake George.

And so the connection between the Continental Army’s general hospital at Fort George in 1776 and the new Repose of the Fallen burial grounds in Lake George Battlefield Park is direct and historic. The Alliance is proud of the public’s extraordinary response to this new memorial and pleased to furnish additional education on what led to this key moment in American Revolution history.

Michael Gabriel’s book on General Montgomery will be available for purchase and author signature at the July 9 presentation.

And don’t forget these additional free programs within the next couple of weeks—

·       June 20: “The Fallen Heroes of Lake George Battlefield Park”, a guided tour of marked burial sites in the park of soldiers who died in the Battle of Lake George (1755) and of smallpox during the American Revolution (1776) 11:00 AM or 1:00 PM

·       June 25: “Warships of the French & Indian War: Naval Preludes to the American Revolution”, presentation by Joseph W. Zarzynski, RPA, co-sponsored by French & Indian War Society at Lake George. Fort William Henry Conference Center, 7:00 PM (RSVP with number of attendees to info@lakegeorgebattlefield.org)