Article: The Orlando Sentinel, Fla., Robyn Shelton column: 142-year-old mystery: Did Lincoln suffer from smallpox?

Byline: Robyn Shelton

May 29--As if the Civil War weren't enough, Abraham Lincoln also was battling smallpox on the day he gave the Gettysburg address.

That's the conclusion of a new analysis in the Journal of Medical Biography. Two Texas physicians make the claim after examining newspaper articles, historical documents and Lincoln's medical records.

The evidence? According to Drs. Armond Goldman and Frank Schmalstieg, the president started feeling ill the day before he traveled to Pennsylvania in 1863 to honor fallen soldiers at Gettysburg. When he arrived at the battlefield, he was weak, dizzy and his face had a "ghastly" pallor.

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