President George Washington's Final Days in December 1799.^2,3

Thursday, Dec. 12

1-5 p.m.

Washington rides about Mount Vernon all afternoon in a winter weather mix of cold, rain, sleet and snow.

Friday, Dec. 13

Washington spends part of the day outside, and then complains of a sore throat in the evening, speaking in an increasingly hoarse voice.

Saturday, Dec. 14

2-3 a.m.

Washington wakes from difficulty breathing.

6-8 a.m.

Washington takes a mixture of molasses, vinegar and butter to soothe his throat. He is bled for the first of several times; one half-pint is taken with the first draw. A piece of flannel dipped in salvolatila is placed around his neck.

8-9 a.m.

Washington requests to be helped from bed, dressed and led to a chair beside a fireplace. Dr. James Craik arrives and administers a blistering agent to Washington's throat to act as counterirritant. The president is bled again and ordered to gargle with vinegar. He sips green tea while breathing in vapors of vinegar and hot water.

10 a.m.

Washington requests to be helped back to bed.

11 a.m.

Washington is bled for third time.

Noon

Dr. Craik administers a second application of the blistering agent to Washington's throat.

3 p.m.

Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick arrives at Mount Vernon and promptly orders the president bled once more. Dr. Brown arrives and prescribes a mixture of calomel and tarter for the president to drink to induce purging.

4 p.m.

President Washington, in obvious pain worsened by his physicians' orders, asks his wife, Martha, to retrieve his will from desk drawer.

5-6 p.m.

Washington, very weak and no longer able to speak, is helped from bed and back to a chair. He remains there for little more than 30 minutes before asking to be undressed and helped back to bed.

8 p.m.

The blistering agent is applied to Washington's throat once more; cataplasms (poultices) of wheat bran are applied to his legs and feet.

10 p.m.

Washington makes several unsuccessful attempts to speak before closing his eyes, appearing to be finally able to rest. Shortly thereafter, the president dies.

Sunday, Dec. 15

Early a.m.

Dr. William Thornton arrives at Mount Vernon with a radical notion that Washington's frozen body be gradually thawed out and a tracheotomy performed to revive him.

Noon

Martha Washington vetoes Thornton's plan.

Wednesday, Dec. 25

President George Washington is buried at Mount Vernon.