The gifting of blankets and linens contaminated with smallpox onto the Native Americans in 1763, notably at the Siege of Fort Pitt. Sir Jeffery Amherst, commander in chief of the British forces in North America in the early 1760s, discussed its use with Col. Henry Bouquet, a Swiss mercenary working for the British Empire. It was the first biological warfare attack on what later became American soil. Though some historians cast doubt as to how effective it actually was based on archived letters. Amherst's legacy is controversial due to his expressed desire to exterminate the race of indigenous people during Pontiac's War. In 2019, the city of Montreal removed his name from a street, renaming it Rue Atateken, from the Kanien'kéha Mohawk language.
Did Colonists Give Infected Blankets to Native Americans as Biological Warfare?
Several places are named for him: Amherstburg, Ontario (location of General Amherst High School), Amherst, Massachusetts (location of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Hampshire College and Amherst College); Amherst, New Hampshire; Amherst, Nova Scotia; Amherst, New York and Amherst County, Virginia.
Did Colonists Give Infected Blankets to Native Americans as Biological Warfare?
Several places are named for him: Amherstburg, Ontario (location of General Amherst High School), Amherst, Massachusetts (location of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Hampshire College and Amherst College); Amherst, New Hampshire; Amherst, Nova Scotia; Amherst, New York and Amherst County, Virginia.
"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong." – Thomas Sowell