Jane McCrea
1752 CE to 1777 CE
Jane McCrea (sometimes spelled McCrae or MacCrae, 1752 – July 27, 1777) is a young woman who is killed by a Huron-Wendat warrior associated with the British army of Lieutenant General John Burgoyne during the American Revolutionary War.
Affianced to a Loyalist serving in Burgoyne's army, her slaying leadsto expressions of outrage and an increase in Patriot military recruiting, especially in the days following her killing.
The propaganda that follows greatly accentuates her beauty, and the fact that she was associated with Loyalists (although her family was primarily active in serving the Patriot cause) undermines British claims of protection for Loyalists.
Burgoyne's inability to punish the alleged killers also undermines British assertions that they are more civilized in their conduct of the war; the dissemination of this propaganda contributes to the success of Patriot recruiting drives in New York for several years.
McCrea's fiancé is reported to be bitter about the affair, and never marries.
The story of her life and death enters American folklore, and is used by James Fenimore Cooper in The Last of the Mohicans and Kenneth Lewis Roberts in Rabble in Arms.
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Burgoyne had been joined before leaving Skenesboro by about five hundred natives (mostly Ottawas, but also Fox, Mississauga, Chippewa, and Ojibwe, as well as members of the Iroquois) from the Great Lakes region under the leadership of St. Luc de la Corne and Charles Michel de Langlade.
The advance of Burgoyne's army to Fort Edward is, as with the approach to Ticonderoga, preceded by a wave of natives, which chase away the small contingent of troops left there by Schuyler.
These allies become impatient and begin indiscriminate raids on frontier families and settlements, which have the effect of increasing rather than reducing local support to the American rebels.
In particular, the death at native hands of the attractive young Loyalist settler Jane McCrea is widely publicized and served as a catalyst for rebel support, as Burgoyne's decision to not punish the perpetrators was seen as unwillingness or inability to keep the natives under control.
Jane McCrea had been one of the younger children in the large family of Rev. James McCrea of New Jersey.
Since her mother's death and her father's remarriage, she had been living with her brother John near Saratoga, New York, where she became engaged to David Jones.
When the war began, two of her brothers had joined the American forces, while her fiancé had fled with other Loyalists to Quebec.
As Burgoyne's expedition neared the Hudson River during the summer of 1777, Colonel John McCrea had taken up his duty with a regiment of the Albany County militia.
Jones is serving as a lieutenant in one of the Loyalist militia units accompanying Burgoyne, and had been stationed at Fort Ticonderoga after its capture.
McCrea had left her brother's home and was traveling to join her fiancé at Ticonderoga.
She had reached the village by the old Fort Edward, but so had the war.
She was staying at the home of Sara McNeil, another Loyalist and an elderly cousin to the British General Simon Fraser.
On the morning of July 27, 1777, a group of natives, an advance party from Burgoyne's army led by a Wyandot known as Le Loup or Wyandot Panther, descend on the village of Fort Edward.
They massacre a settler and his family, then kill Lieutenant Tobias Van Vechten and four others when they walk into an ambush.
What happened next is a subject of some dispute; what is known is that Jane McCrea and Sara McNeil were taken by the natives and separated.
McNeil was eventually taken to the British camp, where either she or David Jones recognized McCrea's supposedly distinctive scalp being carried by a native.
The traditional version of what happened appears to be based on the account of Thomas Anburey, a British officer.
Two warriors, one of whom was Wyandot Panther, were escorting McCrea to the British camp, when they quarreled over an expected reward for bringing her in.
One of them then killed and scalped her, and Wyandot Panther ended up with the scalp.
Anburey claimed she was taken against her will, but there were also rumors that she was being escorted at her fiancé's request.
The second version of the story, apparently advanced by Wyandot Panther under questioning, was that McCrea was killed by a bullet fired by pursuing Americans.
James Phinney Baxter, in supporting this version of events in his 1887 history of Burgoyne's campaign, asserts that an exhumation of her body revealed only bullet wounds and no tomahawk wounds.
When Burgoyne hears of the killing, he goes to the native camp and orders the culprit to be delivered, threatening to have him executed.
He is told by General Fraser and Luc de la Corne, the agent leading the natives, that such an act would cause the defection of all the native and might cause them to take revenge as they went back north.
Burgoyne relents, and no action is taken against the natives.
The advance of Burgoyne's army to Fort Edward is, as with the approach to Ticonderoga, preceded by a wave of natives, which chase away the small contingent of troops left there by Schuyler.
These allies become impatient and begin indiscriminate raids on frontier families and settlements, which have the effect of increasing rather than reducing local support to the American rebels.
In particular, the death at native hands of the attractive young Loyalist settler Jane McCrea is widely publicized and served as a catalyst for rebel support, as Burgoyne's decision to not punish the perpetrators was seen as unwillingness or inability to keep the natives under control.
Jane McCrea had been one of the younger children in the large family of Rev. James McCrea of New Jersey.
Since her mother's death and her father's remarriage, she had been living with her brother John near Saratoga, New York, where she became engaged to David Jones.
When the war began, two of her brothers had joined the American forces, while her fiancé had fled with other Loyalists to Quebec.
As Burgoyne's expedition neared the Hudson River during the summer of 1777, Colonel John McCrea had taken up his duty with a regiment of the Albany County militia.
Jones is serving as a lieutenant in one of the Loyalist militia units accompanying Burgoyne, and had been stationed at Fort Ticonderoga after its capture.
McCrea had left her brother's home and was traveling to join her fiancé at Ticonderoga.
She had reached the village by the old Fort Edward, but so had the war.
She was staying at the home of Sara McNeil, another Loyalist and an elderly cousin to the British General Simon Fraser.
On the morning of July 27, 1777, a group of natives, an advance party from Burgoyne's army led by a Wyandot known as Le Loup or Wyandot Panther, descend on the village of Fort Edward.
They massacre a settler and his family, then kill Lieutenant Tobias Van Vechten and four others when they walk into an ambush.
What happened next is a subject of some dispute; what is known is that Jane McCrea and Sara McNeil were taken by the natives and separated.
McNeil was eventually taken to the British camp, where either she or David Jones recognized McCrea's supposedly distinctive scalp being carried by a native.
The traditional version of what happened appears to be based on the account of Thomas Anburey, a British officer.
Two warriors, one of whom was Wyandot Panther, were escorting McCrea to the British camp, when they quarreled over an expected reward for bringing her in.
One of them then killed and scalped her, and Wyandot Panther ended up with the scalp.
Anburey claimed she was taken against her will, but there were also rumors that she was being escorted at her fiancé's request.
The second version of the story, apparently advanced by Wyandot Panther under questioning, was that McCrea was killed by a bullet fired by pursuing Americans.
James Phinney Baxter, in supporting this version of events in his 1887 history of Burgoyne's campaign, asserts that an exhumation of her body revealed only bullet wounds and no tomahawk wounds.
When Burgoyne hears of the killing, he goes to the native camp and orders the culprit to be delivered, threatening to have him executed.
He is told by General Fraser and Luc de la Corne, the agent leading the natives, that such an act would cause the defection of all the native and might cause them to take revenge as they went back north.
Burgoyne relents, and no action is taken against the natives.
Most of Baum's detachment never returns from the August 16 Battle of Bennington, and the reinforcements he had sent after them come back after they are ravaged in the same battle, which deprives Burgoyne of nearly one thousand men and the much-needed supplies.
What Burgoyne had been unaware of is that St. Clair's calls for militia support following the withdrawal from Ticonderoga had been answered, and General John Stark had placed two thousand men at Bennington.
Stark's force had enveloped Baum's at Bennington, killing him and capturing much of his detachment.
The death of Jane McCrea and the Battle of Bennington, besides acting as rallying cries for the Americans, have another important effect.
Burgoyne blames his native and Canadian allies for McCrea's death, and, even after the natives had lost eighty of their number at Bennington, Burgoyne shows them no gratitude.
As a result, Langlade, La Corne, and most of the natives leave the British camp, leaving Burgoyne with fewer than one hundred native scouts.
Burgoyne is left with no protection in the woods against the American rangers.
Burgoyne will later blame La Corne for deserting him, while La Corne will counter that Burgoyne never respected the natives.
In the British Parliament, Lord Germain will side with La Corne.
What Burgoyne had been unaware of is that St. Clair's calls for militia support following the withdrawal from Ticonderoga had been answered, and General John Stark had placed two thousand men at Bennington.
Stark's force had enveloped Baum's at Bennington, killing him and capturing much of his detachment.
The death of Jane McCrea and the Battle of Bennington, besides acting as rallying cries for the Americans, have another important effect.
Burgoyne blames his native and Canadian allies for McCrea's death, and, even after the natives had lost eighty of their number at Bennington, Burgoyne shows them no gratitude.
As a result, Langlade, La Corne, and most of the natives leave the British camp, leaving Burgoyne with fewer than one hundred native scouts.
Burgoyne is left with no protection in the woods against the American rangers.
Burgoyne will later blame La Corne for deserting him, while La Corne will counter that Burgoyne never respected the natives.
In the British Parliament, Lord Germain will side with La Corne.
News of Jane McCrea's death travels relatively quickly by the standards of the time.
News accounts are published in Pennsylvania on August 11 and on August 22 as far away as Virginia.
Often the accounts become more exaggerated as they travel, describing indiscriminate killings of large numbers of Loyalists and Patriots alike.
Burgoyne's campaign had intended to use the natives as a means to intimidate the colonists; however, the American reaction to the news is not the one hoped for.
The propaganda war receives a boost after Burgoyne writes a letter to the American general Horatio Gates, complaining about American treatment of prisoners taken in the August 17 Battle of Bennington.
Gates' response is widely reprinted:
That the savages of America should in their warfare mangle and scalp the unhappy prisoners who fall into their hands is neither new nor extraordinary; but that the famous Lieutenant General Burgoyne, in whom the fine gentleman is united with the soldier and the scholar, should hire the savages of America to scalp europeans and the descendants of europeans, nay more, that he should pay a price for each scalp so barbarously taken, is more than will be believed in England. [...] Miss McCrae, a young lady lovely to the sight, of virtuous character and amiable disposition, engaged to be married to an officer of your army, was [...] carried into the woods, and there scalped and mangled in the most shocking manner [...]
—Gates to Burgoyne
News accounts elaborate on her beauty, describing her as "lovely in disposition, so graceful in manners and so intelligent in features, that she was a favorite of all who knew her", and that her hair "was of extraordinary length and beauty, measuring a yard and a quarter".
One of the only contemporary accounts by someone who actually saw her was that of James Wilkinson, who describes her as "a country girl of honest family in circumstances of mediocrity, without either beauty or accomplishments."
Later accounts will embellish details; historian Richard Ketchum notes that the color of her hair has been described as everything from black to blonde to red; he also cites an 1840s examination of an alleged lock of her hair that described it as "reddish".
Her death, and those of others in similar raids, inspire some of the resistance to Burgoyne's invasion leading to his defeat at the Battle of Saratoga.
The effect will expand as reports of the incident are used as propaganda to excite rebel sympathies later in the war, especially before the 1779 Sullivan Expedition.
David Jones, apparently bitter over the experience, will never marry and will settle in Canada as a United Empire Loyalist.
The story will eventually become a part of American folklore.
An anonymous poet will write "The Ballad of Jane McCrea", which will be set to music and become a popular folk song.
In Philadelphia in 1799, Ricketts' Circus will perform "The Death of Miss McCrea", a pantomime co-written by John Durang, and John Vanderlyn will paint a portrait (shown upper right) in 1803.
Several markers will be placed in and near Fort Edward commemorating her death.
News accounts are published in Pennsylvania on August 11 and on August 22 as far away as Virginia.
Often the accounts become more exaggerated as they travel, describing indiscriminate killings of large numbers of Loyalists and Patriots alike.
Burgoyne's campaign had intended to use the natives as a means to intimidate the colonists; however, the American reaction to the news is not the one hoped for.
The propaganda war receives a boost after Burgoyne writes a letter to the American general Horatio Gates, complaining about American treatment of prisoners taken in the August 17 Battle of Bennington.
Gates' response is widely reprinted:
That the savages of America should in their warfare mangle and scalp the unhappy prisoners who fall into their hands is neither new nor extraordinary; but that the famous Lieutenant General Burgoyne, in whom the fine gentleman is united with the soldier and the scholar, should hire the savages of America to scalp europeans and the descendants of europeans, nay more, that he should pay a price for each scalp so barbarously taken, is more than will be believed in England. [...] Miss McCrae, a young lady lovely to the sight, of virtuous character and amiable disposition, engaged to be married to an officer of your army, was [...] carried into the woods, and there scalped and mangled in the most shocking manner [...]
—Gates to Burgoyne
News accounts elaborate on her beauty, describing her as "lovely in disposition, so graceful in manners and so intelligent in features, that she was a favorite of all who knew her", and that her hair "was of extraordinary length and beauty, measuring a yard and a quarter".
One of the only contemporary accounts by someone who actually saw her was that of James Wilkinson, who describes her as "a country girl of honest family in circumstances of mediocrity, without either beauty or accomplishments."
Later accounts will embellish details; historian Richard Ketchum notes that the color of her hair has been described as everything from black to blonde to red; he also cites an 1840s examination of an alleged lock of her hair that described it as "reddish".
Her death, and those of others in similar raids, inspire some of the resistance to Burgoyne's invasion leading to his defeat at the Battle of Saratoga.
The effect will expand as reports of the incident are used as propaganda to excite rebel sympathies later in the war, especially before the 1779 Sullivan Expedition.
David Jones, apparently bitter over the experience, will never marry and will settle in Canada as a United Empire Loyalist.
The story will eventually become a part of American folklore.
An anonymous poet will write "The Ballad of Jane McCrea", which will be set to music and become a popular folk song.
In Philadelphia in 1799, Ricketts' Circus will perform "The Death of Miss McCrea", a pantomime co-written by John Durang, and John Vanderlyn will paint a portrait (shown upper right) in 1803.
Several markers will be placed in and near Fort Edward commemorating her death.