December 14, 1799

Death of George Washington

George Washington dies after an acute throat illness at Mount Vernon

When Martha started to get up in the freezing night to send for help, Washington stopped her. He was afraid she would catch cold.

Two in the morning, 14 December 1799

Between two and three in the morning on 14 December 1799, at Mount Vernon, Washington woke Martha unable to speak normally and struggling to breathe. He kept her from leaving the bed to summon help because he feared she would catch cold.

Shortly after sunrise, at Washington's own request, the overseer Albin Rawlins bled him. Martha wanted the bleeding stopped; Washington signalled for more. Tobias Lear estimated that roughly half a pint came out in that first bleeding.

Three doctors and about twenty-one hours

James Craik, Elisha Cullen Dick and Gustavus Richard Brown treated him with further bloodletting, blistering, steam, gargles, calomel and tartar emetic. His difficulty breathing and swallowing continued through the day. Dick opposed excessive bleeding and proposed a tracheotomy; the senior physicians rejected it.

About 21 hours passed between the severe onset and the end. No modern examination was possible: acute epiglottitis is a leading retrospective diagnosis, and a 2020 reanalysis gives equal weight to a retropharyngeal abscess.

Two wills, and who was in the room

Late that afternoon Washington had Martha bring him two wills. He identified one as superseded and watched her burn it, then gave Lear instructions for organising his military papers and accounts.

He died between ten and eleven that night, aged 67. Lear, Craik and Martha were there, along with the enslaved valet Christopher Sheels and enslaved women including Caroline and Charlotte. At about midnight his body was carried downstairs and laid out in Mount Vernon's large room.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 7 sources 2 audit passes

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

What the sources leave uncertain

No modern examination was possible. Contemporary physicians used diagnoses such as inflammatory quinsy and cynanche trachealis; later specialists have proposed acute epiglottitis, while a 2020 Clinical Infectious Diseases study gives equal weight to a retropharyngeal abscess.
The widely repeated claim that approximately 80 ounces or three quarts of blood were removed is disputed by the 2020 reanalysis, which concludes that the actual total cannot be known and was probably smaller.