BURGOYNE AT SKENESBOROUGH—PREPARES TO MOVE TOWARDS THE HUDSON—MAJOR
SKENE THE ROYALIST—SLOW MARCH TO FORT ANNE—SCHUYLER AT FORT
MILLER—PAINTED WARRIORS—LANGLADE—ST. LUC—HONOR OF THE
TOMAHAWK—TRAGICAL HISTORY OF MISS MCCREA—ITS RESULTS—BURGOYNE
ADVANCES TO FORT EDWARD—SCHUYLER AT STILLWATER—JOINED BY
LINCOLN—BURGOYNE DESERTED BY HIS INDIAN ALLIES.
In a preceding chapter we left Burgoyne, early in July, at
Skenesborough, of which he had just gained possession. He remained there
nearly three weeks, awaiting the arrival of the residue of his troops,
with tents, baggage and provisions, and preparing for his grand move
toward the Hudson River. Many royalists flocked to his standard. One of
the most important was Major Skene, from whom the place was named, being
its founder, and the owner of much land in its neighborhood. He had
served in the French war, but retired on half pay; bought “soldiers’
grants” of land lying within this township, at a trifling price, had
their titles secured by royal patent, and thus made a fortune. Burgoyne
considered him a valuable adjunct and counsellor, and frequently took
advice from him in his campaign through this part of the country.
The progress of the army towards the Hudson was slow and difficult, in
consequence of the impediments which Schuyler had multiplied in his way
during his long halt at Skenesborough, bridges broken down had to be
rebuilt; great trees to be removed which had been felled across the
roads and into Wood Creek, which stream was completely choked. It was
not until the latter part of July that Burgoyne reached Fort Anne. At
his approach, General Schuyler retired from Fort Edward and took post at
Fort Miller, a few miles lower down the Hudson.
The Indian allies who had hitherto accompanied the British army, had
been more troublesome than useful. Neither Burgoyne nor his officers
understood their language, but were obliged to communicate with them
through Canadian interpreters; too often designing knaves, who played
false to both parties. The Indians, too, were of the tribes of Lower
Canada, corrupted and debased by intercourse with white men. It had been
found difficult to draw them from the plunder of Ticonderoga, or to
restrain their murderous propensities.
A party had recently arrived of a different stamp. Braves of the Ottawa
and other tribes from the upper country; painted and decorated with
savage magnificence, and bearing trophies of former triumphs. They were,
in fact, according to Burgoyne, the very Indians who had aided the
French in the defeat of Braddock, and were under the conduct of two
French leaders; one, named Langlade, had command of them on that very
occasion; the other, named St. Luc, is described by Burgoyne as a
Canadian gentleman of honor and abilities, and one of the best partisans
of the French in the war of 1756.
Burgoyne trusted to his newly arrived Indians to give a check to the
operations of Schuyler, knowing the terror they inspired throughout the
country. He thought also to employ them in a wild foray to the
Connecticut River, to force a supply of provisions, intercept
reinforcements to the American army, and confirm the jealousy which he
had, in many ways, endeavored to excite in the New England provinces. He
was naturally a humane man, and disliked Indian allies, but these had
hitherto served in company with civilized troops, and he trusted to the
influence possessed over them by St. Luc and Langlade, to keep them
within the usages of war. A circumstance occurred, however, which showed
how little the “wild honor” of these warriors of the tomahawk is to be
depended upon.
In General Fraser’s division was a young officer, Lieutenant David
Jones, an American loyalist. His family had their home in the vicinity
of Fort Edward before the Revolution. A mutual attachment had taken
place between the youth and a beautiful girl, Jane McCrea. She was the
daughter of a Scotch Presbyterian clergyman of the Jerseys, some time
deceased, and resided with her brother on the banks of the Hudson a few
miles below Fort Edward. The lovers were engaged to be married, when the
breaking out of the war severed families and disturbed all the relations
of life. The Joneses were royalists; the brother of Miss McCrea was a
stanch whig. The former removed to Canada, where David Jones was among
the most respectable of those who joined the royal standard, and
received a lieutenant’s commission.
The attachment between the lovers continued, and it is probable that a
correspondence was kept up between them. Lieutenant Jones was now in
Fraser’s camp; in his old neighborhood. Miss McCrea was on a visit to a
widow lady, Mrs. O’Niel, residing at Fort Edward. The approach of
Burgoyne’s army had spread an alarm through the country; the inhabitants
were flying from their homes. The brother of Miss McCrea determined to
remove to Albany, and sent for his sister to return home and make ready
to accompany him. She hesitated to obey. He sent a more urgent message,
representing the danger of lingering near the fort, which must
inevitably fall into the hands of the enemy. Still she lingered. The
lady with whom she was a guest was a royalist, a friend of General
Fraser; her roof would be respected. Even should Fort Edward be
captured, what had Jane to fear? Her lover was in the British camp; the
capture of the fort would reunite them.
Her brother’s messages now became peremptory. She prepared, reluctantly,
to obey, and was to embark in a large bateau which was to convey several
families down the river. The very morning when the embarkation was to
take place, the neighborhood was a scene of terror. A marauding party of
Indians, sent out by Burgoyne to annoy General Schuyler, were harassing
the country. Several of them burst into the house of Mrs. O’Niel, sacked
and plundered it, and carried off her and Miss McCrea prisoners. In her
fright the latter promised the savages a large reward, if they would
spare her life and take her in safety to the British camp. It was a
fatal promise. Halting at a spring, a quarrel arose among the savages,
inflamed most probably with drink, as to whose prize she was, and who
was entitled to the reward. The dispute became furious, and one, in a
paroxysm of rage, killed her on the spot. He completed the savage act by
bearing off her scalp as a trophy.
General Burgoyne was struck with horror when he heard of this bloody
deed. What at first heightened the atrocity was a report that the
Indians had been sent by Lieutenant Jones to bring Miss McCrea to the
camp. This he positively denied, and his denial was believed. Burgoyne
summoned a council of the Indian chiefs, in which he insisted that the
murderer of Miss McCrea should be given up to receive the reward of his
crime. The demand produced a violent agitation. The culprit was a great
warrior, a chief, and the “wild honor” of his brother sachems was roused
in his behalf. St. Luc took Burgoyne aside, and entreated him not to
push the matter to extremities; assuring him that, from what was passing
among the chiefs, he was sure they and their warriors would all abandon
the army, should the delinquent be executed. The British officers also
interfered, representing the danger that might accrue should the Indians
return through Canada, with their savage resentments awakened, or, what
was worse, should they go over to the Americans.
Burgoyne was thus reluctantly brought to spare the offender, but
thenceforth made it a rule that no party of Indians should be permitted
to go forth on a foray unless under the conduct of a British officer, or
some other competent person, who should be responsible for their
behavior.
The mischief to the British cause, however, had been effected. The
murder of Miss McCrea resounded throughout the land, counteracting all
the benefit anticipated from the terror of Indian hostilities. Those
people of the frontiers, who had hitherto remained quiet, now flew to
arms to defend their families and firesides. In their exasperation they
looked beyond the savages to their employers. They abhorred an army,
which, professing to be civilized, could league itself with such
barbarians; and they execrated a government, which, pretending to
reclaim them as subjects, could let loose such fiends to desolate their
homes.
The blood of this unfortunate girl, therefore, was not shed in vain.
Armies sprang up from it. Her name passed as a note of alarm, along the
banks of the Hudson; it was a rallying word among the Green Mountains of
Vermont, and brought down all their hardy yeomanry.[52]
As Burgoyne advanced to Fort Edward, Schuyler fell still further back,
and took post at Saratoga, or rather Stillwater, about thirty miles from
Albany. He had been joined by Major-general Lincoln, who, according to
Washington’s directions, had hastened to his assistance. In pursuance of
Washington’s plans, Lincoln proceeded to Manchester in Vermont, to take
command of the militia forces collecting at that point. His presence
inspired new confidence in the country people, who were abandoning their
homes, leaving their crops ungathered, and taking refuge with their
families in the lower towns. He found about five hundred militia
assembled at Manchester, under Colonel Seth Warner; others were coming
on from New Hampshire and Massachusetts, to protect their uncovered
frontier. His letters, dated the 4th of August, expressed the
expectation of being, in a few days, at the head of at least two
thousand men. With these, according to Washington’s plan, he was to hang
on the flank and rear of Burgoyne’s army, cramp its movements, and watch
for an opportunity to strike a blow.
Burgoyne was now at Fort Edward. “The enthusiasm of the army, as well as
of the general, upon their arrival on the Hudson River, which had been
so long the object of their hopes and wishes, may be better conceived
than described,” says a British writer of the day. The enthusiasm of the
general was soon checked, however, by symptoms of ill-humor among his
Indian allies. They resented his conduct in regard to the affair of Miss
McCrea, and were impatient under the restraint to which they were
subjected. He suspected the Canadian interpreters of fomenting this
discontent; they being accustomed to profit by the rapine of the
Indians. At the earnest request of St. Luc, in whom he still had
confidence, he called a council of the chiefs; when, to his
astonishment, the tribe for whom that gentleman acted as interpreter,
declared their intention of returning home, and demanded his concurrence
and assistance.
Burgoyne was greatly embarrassed. Should he acquiesce, it would be to
relinquish the aid of a force obtained at an immense expense, esteemed
in England of great importance, and which really was serviceable in
furnishing scouts and outposts; yet he saw that a cordial reconciliation
with them could only be effected by revoking his prohibitions, and
indulging their propensities to blood and rapine.
To his credit be it recorded, he adhered to what was right, and rejected
what might be deemed expedient. He refused their proposition, and
persisted in the restraints he had imposed upon them, but appealed to
the wild honor, of which he yet considered them capable, by urging the
ties of faith, of generosity, of every thing that has an influence with
civilized man. His speech appeared to have a good effect. Some of the
remote tribes made zealous professions of loyalty and adhesion. Others,
of Lower Canada, only asked furloughs for parties to return home and
gather in their harvests. These were readily granted, and perfect
harmony seemed restored. The next day, however, the chivalry of the
wilderness deserted by scores, laden with such spoil as they had
collected in their maraudings. These desertions continued from day to
day, until there remained in the camp scarce a vestige of the savage
warriors that had joined the army at Skenesborough.[53]