Did the U.S. Army Distribute Smallpox Blankets to Indians?
You are probably thinking of the smallpox infected blankets that were given to Native Americans by British General Jeffrey Amherst. Despite that instance of deliberate biological warfare, much of the spread of smallpox was unintentional, as the understanding of disease transmission was quite limited. One outbreak of smallpox among the Hurons was caused after the fall of Ft. William Henry during the French and Indian War. When the garrison surrendered to French General Montcalm, his Huron allies were upset at not being able to garner scalps from the English. The Hurons dug up several graves (not knowing that those dead English colonists had died of smallpox) and took their scalps, spreading the disease back to their villages.
