George Washington had been impatient since his departure from Philadelphia in early September. When he left the stricken city, he had put Secretary of War Henry Knox in charge of the government, giving the former general clear instructions to report to him weekly concerning the spread of yellow fever. —An American Plague, Jim Murphy What two benefits does the fictional account of events provide that the nonfiction does not? characters readers can connect with George Washington’s feelings about the event details of what it was like to experience the event Mr. Carris’s thoughts on Secretary of War Henry Knox a biography of George Washington