Is it true that the British deliberately distributed contaminated blankets to the Indians?

Recently, social network users and Russian politicians are increasingly recalling the story of distributing smallpox-infected blankets to American Indians. We decided to check whether this actually happened.

Senator Konstantin Kosachev in May 2022, speaking at the forum “New meanings, new realities”, statedthat the British were the first to use bioweapons. According to the senator, they “distributed blankets infected with cholera to the Indians.” Slightly modified version stated on the air of the Zvezda TV channel Igor Nikulin, whom state media call “a former member of the UN Commission on Chemical Weapons.” In the 18th century, Americans, under the guise of humanitarian aid, gave blankets to the Indians, in which they previously wrapped patients with measles and smallpox, the expert assured.

A similar episode actually happened in American history. In the spring of 1763, Indian tribes, united under the leadership of Chief Pontiac, besieged Fort Pitt, where several hundred colonists took refuge. The situation became critical, and smallpox spread among the defenders of the fort. Trader William Trent, who was at the fort at the time, recorded in his diary that one day the Indians came to the colonists for negotiations. Before leaving, they asked for gifts as a sign of friendship. “We gave them two blankets and a handkerchief from the hospital where smallpox patients are kept. I hope this has the desired effect,” Trent wrote. This might turn out to be the fantasy of an individual memoirist, but there is other evidence. Explorer Elizabeth Fenn found accounts from Fort Pitt, which indicate that the Indians were given just two blankets and one silk handkerchief from the hospital.

Another possible proof of the malicious intent of the colonists and the military is the correspondence between General Jeffrey Amherst and Colonel Henri Bouquet. Bouquet reported the bad news to his superiors about a smallpox outbreak within the fort's walls. “Is it possible to somehow transfer smallpox to these rebellious Indian tribes? We must use every opportunity to weaken them." replied Amherst. Bouquet, who at that time was going with reinforcements to help the defenders of the fort, noted, in turn, that he would try to follow the general’s advice, but did not understand how to avoid infecting the military himself. However, there is a chronological discrepancy here: the correspondence between Amherst and Bouquet dated July 1763, and the episode with blankets - June. Consequently, there is no evidence that Amherst's idea was implemented.

However, a smallpox epidemic began among the Indian tribes besieging the fort. Historian Elizabeth Fenn cites the testimony of English officers who speak of hundreds of deaths. She also believes that Amherst's plan and the private initiative of the fort's defenders may have been a coincidence—smallpox was an all too common threat at the time, and fear of infection was one of the most common and rational fears. There is no historical evidence of a direct connection between the infirmary blankets and the epidemic among Indian tribes. Moreover, modern researchers pay attentionthat this is not the most reliable way to transmit the virus. Tribal members were more likely to contract smallpox after contact with the inhabitants of the fort than through foreign objects. Therefore, there was undoubtedly an intention to infect the Indians (though not with cholera, but with smallpox), but whether this became the cause of the epidemic is unknown.

Cover image: Wikipedia.

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Read on topic:

1. Elizabeth A. Fenn: Biological Warfare in Eighteenth-Century North America: Beyond Jeffery Amherst
2. V. Barras, G. Greub: History of biological warfare and bioterrorism
3. Francis Parkman: The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian War after the Conquest of Canada