USA > New York > Washington County > Washington county, New York; its history to the close of the nineteenth century > Part 24
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205
REMINISCENSES RELATIVE TO LIEUT. JONES.
addressing the young in the few slowly uttered but impressive words which he seldom exceeded when speaking to them. He was very fond of his grandniece, and silent and reserved as he was with others, he never tired of listening to her sprightly prattle.
"As soon as I found a proper occasion I plied her with questions as to this interesting relative, whom she had never mentioned when telling me about her family. With all the eager pertinacity natural to small daughters of Eve, I drew from this reluctant witness that her grandfather, Captain Jonathan Jones and this gentleman, his brother -Lieutenant David Jones-were officers in Burgoyne's army during the first years of the Revolutionary War; that the Lieutenant was engaged to a beautiful young lady, whose brother was a staunch sup- porter of the American cause and opposed to her union with the Tory officer, and that she was killed and scalped by the Indians while going with a friend and escort to meet that officer in the British camp at Sandy Hill, 1 not long before the surrender of Burgoyne. He was so crushed by the terrible blow and disgusted with the apathy of Bur- goyne in refusing to punish the miscreant who brought her scalp to the camp as a trophy, claiming the bounty offered for such prizes by the British commander, that he and his brother asked for a discharge and were refused, when they deserted-he having first rescued the precious relic of his beloved from the savages-" and retired to this Canadian wilderness, which he had never been known to leave except upon one mysterious occasion many years before.
"She did not know the name of the lady so long and faithfully mourned, but when I asked her if this tragedy did not occur near Fort Edward on the Hudson, she remembered to have heard that place mentioned in connection with it. She said they were all forbidden to speak in his presence of American affairs or history, but she had once persuaded him to let her see the mournful relic so precious to him. She described to me the hair as the most beautiful she had ever seen, light auburn in color, soft and glossy as silk, perfectly even and a yard and a quarter in length. 3
1 A lapse of memory on the part of the elderly narrator, as Burgoyne, it will be recalled, was then at Fort Anne.
2 This corroborates Mr. Lossing's statement. See ante-that David Jones purchased Jenny's scalp from the Indian.
3 This statement. it will be noted, conflicts with Mrs. Teasse's statement that Jenny's hair was " dark as the raven's wing." This very different description, however, goes to prove the accuracy in the main, of this old lady's narrative-as. if it had been made up, she would have given it consistently with the published accounts to which, as Mrs. Smalley states, she had just had access.
206
WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
"Well, my dear A-," said I, "it so happens that I know more about this sad affair than even yourself, who have always lived in the house with him. When my father and mother used to visit his eldest sister in Bennington, Vt., they took me with them at her special request; for being the only daughter of her favorite brother, she al- ways treated me with more tender affection than she showed to her other nieces. Her house, which she had long occupied, was one where the officers [British?] quartered at the Battle of Bennington and I remember the speechless awe with which I was wont to con over the names of these officers, recorded by themselves on the eve of the bat- tle upon a pane of glass in the window with a diamond in a ring be- longing to one of their number, who was killed in the conflict of the next day. 1
" My aunt's memory was a store house of tales of those times and I never tired of listening to them. No sooner was one finished than I teased for another, until, I am sure, that the patience of the good dame must have been sorely tried. She knew this young lady, whose name was Jane McCrea, and also Mrs. McNeal, the Tory friend whom Miss McCrea was visiting at the time of their capture by the Indians. " I little thought, when I cried over the doleful story, that the lover was still living-much less that I should ever see him." "A- did not dare repeat to her venerable relative what I had told her, but she ventured to beg that I might be allowed to see the beautiful hair of his lost love. He was deaf to her entreaties, assur- ing her that she was the only one who had or would see it while he lived and that he wished to have it buried with him when he died.
" After our return to school I drew from her some facts in relation to the 'mysterious journey' she had mentioned he had once taken. ' I do not know much about it,' she said, 'I heard it from an old ser- vant woman of the family, who told me that many years before I was born a stranger came there one evening, who appeared to be a gentle- man's valet. He brought a fine-looking, intelligent young boy with him and enquired for my grandfather, Captain Jonathan Jones.
1 Writing with a diamond on panes of window-glass, seems to have been a favorite amuse- ment of the British officers. The "old Longfellow House" in Cambridge, Mass .. the headquar- ters of General Riedesel and his staff when they were there as prisoners, has his name " Riede- sel" cut in one of the panes, and it is plainly to be deciphered at the present day.
2 This use of the word " captured," corroborates Judge Hay's version of the tragedy-i. e., that the two ladies were taken prisoners by the Indians and not as the result of a quarrel between two opposing parties.
REMINISCENSES RELATIVE TO LIEUT. JONES. 207
" The substance of my friend's account was that, after an interview of some length with her grandfather, his brother, the Lieutenant, was called in, and the three were together in the library during most of the night, discussing some very interesting matter connected with the boy. The butler had been ordered to prepare refreshments in the dining-room, and Robert, one of the waiter-boys-an urchin gifted with a larger amount of mischief and curiosity than his small frame could possibly enclose, insomuch that they were constantly overflow- ing to the annoyance of the whole household-was directed to remain within call to serve them when required. It was not in the nature of this valet that he should remain idle at his post during the long hours of the night, and his faculties were too much on the alert, as to the subject engaging his superiors, to yield to drowsiness; so. in perfect submission to his ruling instincts, he plied the key-hole diligently for such information as it might convey to his ear, when the parties be- came so excited as to raise their voices above the low tone to which most of their conversation was confined. He gathered from these snatches that Captain Jones was urgently entreated to perform some service for the boy which he was reluctant to undertake. He heard him exclaim vehemently: 'I will not be persuaded to receive under my roof the son of that detestable traitor, whose treason, although to an unrighteous cause, caused my dearest friend, one of the bravest and most noble officers in his Majesty's service, to be hung like a dog by the vile rebels. I should be constantly haunted with the thought that I was nurturing a viper to sting me when occasion offered.' His brother David said something in reply, of which Robert heard only enough to infer that there was a retired officer of the American army across the river who might be persuaded to do what was desired. ' Very well,' said Captain Jones, you can undertake the task, if you see fit, but I have no belief that you will gain the consent of one who loathes the father so bitterly to take charge of the son.' Robert heard no more and soon after these remarks the confab broke up and he was called to serve the refreshments in the library. * *
" Lieutenant David Jones departed with the boy the next day. He was absent about a week and nothing further was known as to his journey, its object and result, than was gathered from Robert's story, which was soon circulated throughout the neighborhood.
* I afterwards learned that at the period to which this account of my young friend referred, a settlement was rapidly form-
208
WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
ing on the American shore of the St. Lawrence, opposite a Canadian village and that the fact that a leading man in the community and retired officer of the American Revolution had adopted a boy whose origin was unknown, but who bore the name of a traitor. This lad afterward grew up to manhood and became an enterprising, respecta- ble citizen and a distinguished officer in the volunteer service in the War of 1812.
"The mystery, however, surrounding the retired American officer, the problem of the suspected relationship of the boy to Arnold, the notorious American traitor were never solved.
" It continued for many years to be the subject of evening gossip by rural firesides in that region and strange stories were told by In- dian and white hunters and trappers of the startling things they had heard and seen in the vicinity of the officers's lonely cottage-long since fallen into decay-both during the occupancy of the owner and after his disappearance. Whether he died there or left for some far- off country before his death, was never known. 1"
As might naturally be supposed, many ballads were written upon the tragic death of the unfortunate maiden, which, at the time and
1 " Previous to the Revolution," says Wilson in his Life of Jane McCrea. " there was, perhaps, no family settled on the upper waters of the Hudson, who exerted greater influence or held more extensive possessions than the Joneses. Their landed estates included a section upon which large and thriving villages have since arisen and which, in the progress of time, has become of almost inestimable value. The fortunes of the war drove them from their inheri- tance. Their broad lands were confiscated, and among the later generations that have dwelt upon them, but few probably have known aught of the history of their ancient owners. After the lapse of seventy-five years [this was written in 1853], however, recent developments seem to indicate that the name of the old proprietors is about to become closely connected with the title of the soil. One of their descendants, David Jones [of the same name as his ancestor, the lover of Jane McCrea] appeared before the New York Legislature of 1853, and presented a memorial to that body, wherein he claimed legal title to the forfeited estate of his ancestor. The claim rests upon the ground that the judgment of confiscation was not rendered until after tho Treaty of Peace was signed between Great Britain and the United States. And inasmuch as, by the terms of that Treaty, it was agreed there should be no future confiscations by reason of the part any person might have taken in the war, it is insisted by the claimant that the judgment ren- dered subsequently, is void, and that he is sustained in that position by decisions of both the State and Federal courts. The memorial was referred to the Attorney-General for his opinion, who afterwards submitted to the consideration of the Legislature a report favorable to the claim."
On the walls of the Saratoga monument, erected by the "Saratoga Monument Association," there is a tablet in bronze in alto relievo, two-thirds the size of life, representing the death of Jane McCrea. She is there shown falling off her horse, after receiving the accidental though fatal shot from her American pursuers.
In closing this sketch some critical reader may say that its concluding paragraphs are somewhat irrelevant. My excuse, however, for giving these facts, is, that as David Jones was such a prominent character for many years among the traditions of the early settlers of Wash- ington County, anything relating to his after career, should not be without very special interest.
209
LINES ON THE DEATH OF JANE McCREA.
afterward, had an extensive circulation both in this country and in Europe. Among them all we cull the following. It was written for and published in the Saratoga Sentinel at the date given at the bottom of the poem, and while the author is unknown, yet I think from the internal evidence, that it was by my friend the late Judge William Hay of Saratoga Springs. This, however, is a mere matter of con- jecture.
REFLECTIONS AT THE GRAVE OF JANE McCREA.
"And thus it is,
The bright and beautiful and wise,
The puling youngster and the gray-haired sage,
Manhood and youth, and infancy and age, Alike yield up their struggling, passing breath- Alike are subject to the grim fiend Death.
" Alike, yet not alike,
For I wist not, that it is death to strike
The sudden blow, beneath some summer flower, And then transplant it into soil more pure, That it may waste its fragrant sweetness where More rare exotics bloom and scent the air.
" A lonely mound, But marked from those that's gathered round.
By słab unstoned all, and neither tells The name, nor worth, nor fame of her that dwell Beneath the sod, within the grave's dark gloom, Our last sought resting-place and common doom.
"She fell by hands Of savage violence-the gleaming brands Of war were gathered far and near around, And seeking love she fell-the lover found Was Death, and in one long embrace, With icy lips, he pressed her marble face. " FORT EDWARD, N. Y., Nov. 5, 1842.
Yet, amid these scenes of desolation and affright, there was one woman whose proud spirit was undaunted. It was the wife of General Philip Schuyler. The General's country seat was upon his estate at
[26 ]
210
WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
Saratoga (now Schuylerville, N. Y.) standing at the confluence of Fish Creek-the outlet of Saratoga Lake-with the Hudson. On the approach of Burgoyne, Mrs. Schuyler went up to Saratoga from Al- bany, in order to remove her furniture. Her carriage was attended by only a single armed man on horseback. When within two miles of her house, she encountered a crowd of panie-stricken people, who recited to her the recent tragic fate of Jane McCrea, and at the same time representing the danger of proceeding further in the face of the enemy, urged her to return. She had yet to pass through a dense forest, within which even then some of the savage foe might be lurk- ing for prey. But to these prudential counsels she would give no heed. "The General's wife," she exclaimed, "must not be afraid," and pushing forward, she accomplished her purpose. 1
Before the mansion was evacuated, however, the General, himself, had a narrow escape from assassination by the hand of a savage, who had hidden himself within the house for that special purpose. It was at the hour of bed-time and while the General was preparing to retire for the night, that a female servant, in coming in from the hall, saw a gleam of light reflected from the blade of a knife, in the hand of some person whose dark outline she discerned behind the door. The servant was a black slave, who had sufficient presence of mind not to appear to have made the discovery. Passing directly through the door into the apartment where the General was yet standing near the fire-place, with an air of unconcern she pretended to arrange such articles as were disposed upon the mantle-piece, while, in an under- tone she informed her master of her discovery and said aloud, "I will call the guard." The General instantly secured his arms, while the faithful servant hurried out by another door into a long hall, upon the floor of which lay a loose board which creaked beneath the tread. By the noise she made in trampling rapidly upon the board. the Indian-for such he proved-being thus led to suppose that the " Philistines were upon him," in numbers, sprang from his conceal- ment and fled. He was pursued, however, by the guard and a few friendly Indians attached to the person of General Schuyler, overtaken and made prisoner. Exasperated at his treachery, the friendly In- dians were resolved to put him to death, and it was with much diffi- culty that they were diverted from their purpose by the General.
1 'This incident was told my father, the late Colonel William L. Stone, by the late Mrs. James Cochran of Oswego, N. Y., who was the youngest daughter of General Schuyler.
211
SCHUYLER DELAYS BURGOYNE.
The effect of these incidents detailed in this chapter as well as other recitals of savage cruelties, not all, as General Burgoyne represented without foundation, was extensive and powerful. The cry of ven- geance was universal and a spirit was aroused throughout the Colon- ies, especially in that of New York, which proved of speedy and great advantage to the American arms.
CHAPTER XVI
1777.
BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN CONTINUED.
SCHUYLER DELAYS THE MARCH OF BURGOYNE-THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON AND ITS DIRECT RESULT IN THE DEFEAT OF BURGOYNE-COMMENTS ON IT-SERGEANT LAMB'S JOURNAL OF HIS TRIP THROUGH THE WILDERNESS FROM FORT MILLER TO TICONDER- OGA-ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS WHILE BURGOYNE WAS AT FORT MILLER-CON- STERNATION PRODUCED AMONG THE PEOPLE OF WASHINGTON COUNTY ON THE AP- PROACH OF THE BRITISH ARMY.
It will be remembered that we left General Burgoyne, at the close of the fourteenth chapter, at Fort Anne where he had arrived on the 25th of July, after a terrible march along the banks of Wood Creek --- owing to the wise foresight of Schuyler in the felling of trees and placing other obstacles in his path. Meanwhile, on Burgoyne's arri- val at Fort Anne, Schuyler had fallen back from his position at Fort Edward to Moses Creek, four miles below that post, because it was a better and much more defensible position. Fort Edward was really no position at all. Nevertheless, many of his fellow citizens who, like the would be military critics of our own day, blamed him greatly for its abandonment. Because it bore the title of "Fort" they thought it must be one; and yet it was a defensive work in nothing but the name. Indeed, if "Old Ty," after the millions expended on it was nothing but "a trap," Fort Edward, neglected, almost in ruins, nestled in a little valley and commanded on all sides, was a delusion and a snare. That experienced soldier, the Marquis de Chastellux, it will be remembered in my sketch of Fort Edward, is quoted as repre-
212
WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
senting the Fort at the time of his visit as utterly indefensible. 1 This charge, therefore, of the unnecessary abandonment of a miserable little earthwork when an army of 7,000 men was advancing against it with an enormous park of artillery, is a sample of the unjust condem- nations heaped upon the judicious Schuyler." "
From his camp at Moses Creek, Schuyler wrote his famous letter, promising "to obstruct every mile of Burgoyne's advance"-a promise which was kept to the letter. He had already, as has been seen, caused Burgoyne the irreparable loss of five weeks, and the same causes, attributable to Schuyler's sagacity, kept Burgoyne two weeks longer at Fort Edward. Indeed, as Burgoyne afterwards admitted, " There is no doubt that I lingered too long at Fort Edward."
As Burgoyne sluggishly made his way southward Schuyler fell back from Moses Creek (ever presenting a bold front to the enemy) to Sar- atoga on the 21st of July. Thence, for excellent strategic reasons, he changed his position to Stillwater, about nine miles further south. He finally made his stand on Van Schaick's Island at the mouth of the Mohawk near its confluence with the Hudson (sometimes called "The Sprouts of the Mohawk ") where he threw up extensive earth- works on the right bank of the river, 3 some thirteen miles nearer Albany, which city again is nine miles south of Cohoes Falls.
While his troops were posted at "Half Moon," which derives its name from the fact that Hendrick Hudson, with his Ilieboot (Half Moon) ascended to this point-the junction of the Mohawk with the "Great River of the North "-Schuyler's own headquarters continued to be at Stillwater, thirteen miles nearer to the enemy. Here he con- tinued until (as will be seen further on) he was superseded by Gates on the 19th of August.
Meanwhile, the patriot inhabitants in the towns along the line of Burgoyne's march had nearly all fled before that General's advance with his Indian allies. The latter spread out on both flanks of his army and were but too ready to carry slaughter among the Whig families of Washington County. Even the Tory families, like the Allens, as we have seen, were not safe when there was an opportunity
' He said, it will be recollected, that it could not have resisted four hundred men with four cannon.
% (ieneral J. W. de Peyster.
3 These earthworks may yet be distinctly seen by the traveller on the railroad train from Troy to Waterford, N. Y., just before the train crosses the river into that village.
213
ABANDONMENT OF FARMS.
afforded either for booty or scalps. The patriots also, in the southern part of the county, were equally dismayed. They were daily expect- ing the appearance of the Indians among them; and an order issued by General Schuyler directing them to leave their farms and seek refuge in the interior was almost as disheartening. The harvest time was close at hand; and what were they to live on if they abandoned their crops ?
The county committee met at New Perth (Salem) on the 25th of July, John Rowan being chosen chairman. After declaring very un- gratefully, that "universal desolation had overspread the county, on account of General Schuyler's order to abandon their farms"-though admitting that it was unsafe to remain-they appointed a committee as appraisers to estimate the value of their crops and buildings with a view of obtaining compensation in case they were lost in obedience to the order. "Alas!" says Johnson, " both the national and state gov- ernments were unable to pay or feed their soldiers, much less to make good the loss of destroyed crops or burned buildings!"
Schuyler's order was carried by Captain Joseph McCracken, and soon after his arrival it was resolved to build a fort at New Perth, which might serve as a refuge to the inhabitants from wandering bands of red or white marauders. For this purpose, the old log church-the first one erected in the county and to which allusion has already been made-was torn down and the logs set up in a stockade around a frame church which had been more recently erected. It was finished on the 26th of July, and received the name of "Salem Fort " -Captain McCracken being placed in command. "This was," says Johnson, "the first use of the name of Salem, so far as we can dis- cover, in the town which now bears that appellation." It was proba- bly derived from the town of Salem in Massachusetts-though it is possible "that some biblical scholar may have thought the Hebrew meaning of Salem-Peace-might properly be applied to a fortress made of two churches and intended to preserve peace to their homes." This explanation of the name, however, seems to me very far-fetched and not deserving of consideration.
THE EXPEDITION TO BENNINGTON.
On General Burgoyne's arrival at Fort Anne, instead of advancing at once upon Fort Edward and thence to Saratoga, Stillwater and
214
WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
Albany before Schuyler had had time to concentrate his forces in his front, he sent a detachment of Brunswickers, under Colonel Baum, by way of the Battenkill and thence southward through the county to Bennington to surprise and capture some stores which he had heard were at that place and of which he stood sorely in need. He was also influenced to this step by the advice of his friend, Major Skene, who assured him that large numbers of the yeomanry of the country would flock to his standard-an expectation which the event proved to be entirely fallacious.
General Riedesel, who commanded the German allies, was totally opposed to this diversion ; but, being overruled, he proposed that Baum should march in the rear of the enemy, by way of Castleton, toward the Connecticut river. 1 Had this plan been adopted, the probability is that the Americans would not have had time to prevent Baum from falling unawares upon their rear. Burgoyne, however, against the advice of Riedesel and Philips, insisted obstinately upon his plan, which was, that Baum should cross the Battenkill opposite Saratoga, move south and parallel with the Connecticut river in a direct line to Bennington, destroy the magazine at that place and mount the Bruns- wick Dragoons, who were destined to form part of the expedition. 2 In this latter order a fatal blunder was committed by employing troops, the most awkward and heavy, in an enterprise where every- thing depended on the greatest celerity of movement, while the ran- gers who were lightly equipped were left behind!
Let us look for a moment at a fully equipped Brunswick Dragoon as he appeared at that time. He wore high and heavy jack-boots, with large, long spurs, stout and stiff leather breeches, gauntlets, reaching high up upon his arms, and a hat with a huge tuft of orna- mental feathers. " On his side he trailed a tremendous broad-sword, a short, but clumsy carbine was slung over his shoulder, while, down his back, like a Chinese mandarin, dangled a long queue. Such were
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