The Land We Live In Part 6

King George regarded Ma.s.sachusetts as the hotbed and centre of colonial discontent, and in the autumn of 1768 he sent two regiments of British regulars to that city to a.s.sist in enforcing the Townshend acts. The troops and the citizens had frequent disputes, for the colonists were unused to military arrogance, and refused to be ordered about by martinets in uniform. The Boston Ma.s.sacre, so-called, in March, 1770, when seven soldiers fired into a crowd of townspeople, killing five and wounding several others, helped to inflame the antagonism between the provincials and the military, and Governor Hutchinson, at the demand of Samuel Adams, speaking in behalf of three thousand resolute citizens, removed the troops to an island in the harbor. In April, 1770, Parliament again yielded to the Americans in so far as to take off all the Townshend duties except the duty on tea, which the king insisted upon retaining as a vindication of England's right to impose the duty.

The colonists continued as determined as ever not to submit to British taxation, or to the domineering course of the king's officers, which in some of the provinces had led to harsh and even b.l.o.o.d.y strife between the people and their oppressors. An armed schooner in the British revenue service called the Gaspee, gave offence to American navigators on Narragansett Bay by requiring that their flag should be lowered in token of respect whenever they pa.s.sed the king's vessel. The Gaspee ran aground while chasing a Providence sloop. Word of the mishap was carried up to Providence and, on the same night (June 9, 1772) sixty-four armed men went down in boats, attacked and captured the Gaspee, and burned the vessel. Abraham Whipple, afterward a commodore in the Continental Navy, and one of the founders of the State of Ohio, led the expedition. The royal authorities were greatly exasperated on hearing of the daring achievement, and Joseph Wanton, Governor of Rhode Island, afterward deposed from office for his loyalty to King George, issued a proclamation ordering diligent search for the perpetrators of the act. The British government offered a reward of $5000 for the leader, but although the people of Providence well knew who had taken part in the exploit, neither Whipple nor his a.s.sociates were betrayed. In North Carolina insurgents calling themselves "Regulators" fought a sanguinary battle with Governor Tryon's troops, and were defeated, and six of them hanged for treason. In South Carolina the people also divided on the issue between England and the colonists, but for the time stopped short of violence.

The famous "Boston Tea Party" occurred in December, 1773. This was not a riotous, or, from the colonial standpoint, a lawless act, for the colonists were already administering their own affairs to a certain extent independently of royal authority, with the view to the preservation and defence of their liberties. The English East India Company had been anxious to regain the American trade and offered to pay an export duty more than equivalent to the import duty imposed in America, if the government would permit tea to be delivered at colonial ports free of duty. To this the British government would not consent, on the ground that it would be a surrender of the principle which the import duty represented. The government permitted the East India Company, however, to export tea to America free from export duty, thus allowing the Americans to buy tea as cheaply as if no import duty had been levied.

The British authorities a.s.sumed that Americans would be satisfied to sell the principle for which they were contending for threepence on a pound of tea. They learned the American character better when two s.h.i.+ps laden with tea arrived in Boston. The citizens gathered in the old South Meeting-house, and in the evening about sixty men, disguised as Indians, boarded the s.h.i.+ps and cast the tea into the harbor. Upon news of this event reaching England, King George and his ministers decided to make an example of Boston. A bill was introduced by Lord North and pa.s.sed almost unanimously closing the port of Boston and making Salem the seat of government. Another act annulled the charter of Ma.s.sachusetts, and a military governor, General Thomas Gage, was appointed, with absolute authority over the province.

With the enactment of the Boston Port Bill, King George and his Parliament crossed the Rubicon. America was aflame. The other colonies joined in expressing their sympathy with Ma.s.sachusetts, and their resolve to stand by her people and share their fate. A Continental Congress convened in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, on the fourth of September, 1774. The most eminent men in the colonies were now brought together for the first time to decide upon action which would affect the liberties of three millions of people. Patrick Henry was the first to speak, and he delivered an address worthy of his fame and worthy of the occasion.

Colonel, afterward General Was.h.i.+ngton, then made the impression which earned for him the command of the American armies. The Congress drew up a Declaration of Rights, and sent it to the king. The people of Ma.s.sachusetts formed a Provincial Congress with John Hanc.o.c.k for President, and began organizing provincial troops, and collecting military stores. Virginia continued to keep pace with Ma.s.sachusetts. At a convention of delegates from the several counties and corporations of Virginia, held in Richmond, March, 1775, Patrick Henry stood resolutely forth for armed resistance. "Three millions of people," he said, "armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us.

Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just G.o.d who presides over the destinies of nations; and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat, but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come!! I repeat it, sir, let it come!!!

"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north, will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty G.o.d!--I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"

CHAPTER XVII.

The Battle of Lexington--The War of the Revolution Begun--Fort Ticonderoga Taken--Second Continental Congress--George Was.h.i.+ngton Appointed Commander-in-chief--Battle of Bunker Hill--Last Appeal to King George--The King Hires Hessian Mercenaries--The Americans Invade Canada--General Montgomery Killed--General Howe Evacuates Boston--North Carolina Tories Routed at Moore's Creek Bridge--The Declaration of Independence--The British Move on New York--Battle at Brooklyn--Howe Occupies New York City--General Charles Lee Fails to Support Was.h.i.+ngton --Lee Captured--Was.h.i.+ngton's Victory at Trenton--The Marquis De Lafayette Arrives.

General Gage, military governor of Ma.s.sachusetts, received orders in April, 1775, to arrest John Hanc.o.c.k and Samuel Adams and send them to England to be tried for treason. The two patriots were at the house of a friend in Lexington when Gage, on the evening of April 18, sent eight hundred British soldiers from Boston to seize military stores at Concord, and to arrest Adams and Hanc.o.c.k at Lexington. Paul Revere, a patriotic engraver, rode far in advance of the troops to warn the people of their coming. When the soldiers reached Lexington at sunrise they were confronted by armed yeomanry drawn up in battle array. The British fired, killing seven men. The War of the Revolution was begun. From near and far the farmers hastened to attack the troops. Every wall concealed an enemy of the British; from behind trees and fences a deadly fire was poured into their ranks. Their track was blazed with dead and wounded, as they hurried back from Concord, disappointed in the objects of their mission.

Gage heard of the rising, and hurried reinforcements to the a.s.sistance of his decimated and almost fugitive soldiery, and with a loss of nearly three hundred men they re-entered Boston. From all parts of Ma.s.sachusetts, from Connecticut, New Hamps.h.i.+re and Rhode Island, the provincials hastened to face the invaders, and an army of sixteen thousand men of all sorts, conditions and colors, but most of them hardy New Englander farmers, besieged Governor Gage in Boston. Joseph Warren, John Stark, Israel Putnam and Benedict Arnold were among the leaders of the patriot forces. Ethan Allen, chief of the "Green Mountain Boys,"

demanded and obtained the surrender of Fort Ticonderoga "by the authority of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress" (May 10) and Seth Warner captured Crown Point two days later.

The second Continental Congress met at Philadelphia the same day that Fort Ticonderoga was taken. The Congress chose for its president John Hanc.o.c.k, whom the British government wanted to try for treason, a.s.sumed direction of the troops encamped at Cambridge, and called upon Virginia and the middle colonies for recruits. George Was.h.i.+ngton was appointed to command the American forces.

The battle of Bunker Hill proved to the British that the skill and courage which had been displayed with signal success against the French could be used with equal effect against British troops. General Gage had determined to seize and fortify points in the neighborhood of Boston in order to strengthen his hold upon the city, and to enable him to resist a siege. This purpose of the British commander becoming known to the Ma.s.sachusetts Committee of Safety, the Committee ordered Colonel William Prescott, with one thousand men, including a company of artillery with two field-pieces, to occupy and fortify Bunker Hill. The force ascended Breed's Hill, much nearer Boston, on the evening of June 16. They worked all night under the direction of an engineer named Gridley, and in the morning the British on their vessels in the Charles River were surprised to see on a hill which had been bare the previous day a redoubt about eight rods square, flanked on the right by a breastwork which extended in a northerly direction to some marshy land, and which commanded both the city and the s.h.i.+pping. The guns of the fleet were quickly turned on the bold provincials, and the roar of cannon awoke the citizens of Boston to behold a conflict in which they had the deepest interest. The Americans continued to work under the shower of shot and sh.e.l.l, strengthening their fortifications for the desperate struggle they felt was at hand. General Artemas Ward, who commanded the colonial army, was not as prompt as he ought to have been in sending reinforcements to Breed's Hill, but at length Stark's New Hamps.h.i.+re regiment and Colonel Reed's regiment were permitted to join the men in the redoubt. The British sent 3000 of their best troops to carry the works by a.s.sault. Thousands of the people of Boston and neighborhood, many of whom had fathers, sons, brothers and husbands in the patriot lines, looked from hill and housetop and balcony as the regulars marched steadily to the attack. At the redoubt all was silent, although the British s.h.i.+ps and a battery on Copp's Hill hurled shots at the Americans. Nearer and nearer marched the British. They were almost close enough for the final charge, when suddenly at the word "Fire!"--up sprang 1500 Americans and poured a storm of bullets into the advancing enemy. Down went the British platoons as before the scythe of death. Whole companies were swept away. The survivors could not stand before the deadly hail, and back they fell to the sh.o.r.e. Some shots had been fired at the British from houses in Charlestown, and General Gage gave orders to fire that place. The British advanced again, the flames from the burning town adding to the terror of the scene. Again the hurricane of bullets drove them back to the sh.o.r.e. Strengthened by fresh troops the British marched up a third time to the hillside now scattered with their dying and their dead. British artillery planted as near as possible to the Americans swept the redoubt and the patriots, their ammunition failing at this critical time, were obliged to give way before the overwhelming charge of the grenadiers. The Americans escaped in good order across Charlestown Neck, losing General Joseph Warren, who fell when leaving the redoubt. Colonel Prescott was in command throughout the engagement, although both General Warren and General Israel Putnam had taken a gallant part in the battle, but without any command. The fight lasted about two hours, and the British lost 1054 killed and wounded out of about 3000 troops engaged, and the provincials lost 450 killed and wounded. The British ministry looked on the result as virtually a defeat for their troops.

Was.h.i.+ngton reached Cambridge on the second of July. He found the spirit of the troops admirable, but their discipline wretched, and the leaders divided by dissension in regard to the commands. He labored a.s.siduously and successfully to bring order out of comparative chaos. The Congress made another effort to prevent a conflict with Great Britain by sending a respectful statement of America's case in a pet.i.tion to the King. He refused to receive it, and issued a proclamation calling for troops to put down the rebellion in America. King George showed how little he regarded humanity in dealing with his revolted subjects by appealing to semi-barbarous Russia for troops to use against the colonists. The Empress Catharine refused to sell her people for such a purpose, and the British monarch then turned to the petty princes of Germany, where he bought 20,000 soldiers like so many cattle for the American war. As many of these were from Hesse Ca.s.sel, they were known as Hessians. It being now evident that a peaceable arrangement, short of abject surrender, could not be hoped for, the Continental Congress prepared to push the war with vigor, and if possible to secure a union of all British America against the enemy of American liberty.

The invasion of Canada in the latter part of 1775 by American expeditions under command of General Richard Montgomery and Colonel Benedict Arnold, was prompted by expectation that the French inhabitants of that region would gladly espouse the cause of the colonists, for whom they had shown sympathy when the people Of Boston were in distress on account of the closing of their port. Only a few Canadians rallied to the American standard; the majority remained indifferent. Montgomery captured Montreal, but in the attack on Quebec he was slain, and Arnold wounded in the leg, and the Americans were defeated with a loss of about four hundred killed, wounded and prisoners. The death of Montgomery was a severe blow to the American cause. He was one of the ablest commanders in the service at a time when the colonists were much in need of practiced military men, and even in England he was held in high regard. "Curse on his virtues," said Lord North; "they've undone his country."

In March, 1776, General William Howe evacuated Boston and sailed to Halifax, taking with him a number of refugees. Howe busied himself in Halifax in fitting out a powerful expedition for the capture of New York, where the people had taken up with enthusiasm the cause of the colonies.

Late in April General Was.h.i.+ngton moved to New York and prepared to defend that city. Meantime Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, after endeavoring to excite an insurrection of the slaves, had been conducting a predatory and incendiary warfare against the colony, until driven away by the militia, when he sailed off in a fleet loaded with plunder. In North Carolina, where an a.s.sociation of patriots had declared for independence at Mecklenburg as early as May, 1775, a severe battle occurred at Moore's Creek Bridge, February 26, 1776, between the patriots, led by Colonel James Moore, and the loyalists or Tories, many of whom had fought for the Young Pretender in Scotland, but were now equally devoted to the House of Hanover. The Tories were completely routed, and the plans of the British to make North Carolina a centre of royalist operations were disconcerted.

The Declaration of Independence was now inevitable. Many of the colonists, including a large proportion of the well-to-do, were unwilling to throw off allegiance to the crown, and these were known as Tories and punished as traitors whenever they gave active expression to their sentiments. The majority of the people, however, were for complete separation from England, and were ready to support that determination with their lives. Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, made a motion in the Continental Congress, June 7, 1776, "that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved." John Adams, of Ma.s.sachusetts, seconded the motion, and a committee was appointed to prepare a Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, was the author of the Declaration, which, after warm debate, was adopted by the unanimous vote of the thirteen colonies July 4, 1776. On the same day the news arrived that the British commander, Sir Henry Clinton, had been repulsed in an attempt to enter Charleston harbor. North and south the United States were free from the enemy, and although it was but the lull before the storm, the Americans had thus a precious opportunity to put down malcontents and to gather strength for the coming struggle.

The British formed a plan to cut the Union in two by capturing New York, and establis.h.i.+ng a chain of British posts from Manhattan to Canada. While General Carleton operated against the Americans from the Canadian frontier a large British fleet, commanded by Admiral Richard Howe, arrived in the harbor of New York, carrying an army of 25,000 men, led by his brother, General William Howe. The Americans had but 9000 men to defend Brooklyn Heights against the overwhelming force with which Howe attacked their position. The patriot troops, especially the Marylanders, fought gallantly, but were driven back by superior numbers. Great credit is due to Was.h.i.+ngton for his skill and success in saving the greater part of the army by timely withdrawal across the East River to New York. Howe occupied the city of New York a few days later, Was.h.i.+ngton retreating slowly, and fighting the British at every favorable opportunity.

It was at the time of Was.h.i.+ngton's retirement from New York that Nathan Hale, a young American captain, was put to death as a spy by the British.

Hale volunteered to seek some information desired by the American commander-in-chief, and was betrayed, within the British lines, by a Tory who recognized him. He was treated most brutally by the British Provost-Marshal Cunningham, being denied the attendance of a clergyman and the use of a Bible. Letters which Hale wrote to his mother and other dear ones were torn up by the provost-marshal in the victim's presence.

Hale was hanged September 22, 1776. His last words were "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." These words appear on the base of the statue erected to his memory in the City Hall Park, New York.

General Howe concluded to move on Philadelphia, and his object becoming known to Was.h.i.+ngton, the latter directed General Charles Lee, who was in command of about 7000 men at Northcastle, on the east side of the Hudson, to join him at Hackensack on the west side, so that the whole force of the Americans could be used to oppose Howe. Lee disregarded these orders, thereby making it necessary for Was.h.i.+ngton to retreat into Pennsylvania.

Lee then led his own troops to Norristown, where he was captured by the British outside of his own lines while taking his ease at a tavern. Lee was an English adventurer of loud pretensions, probably not lacking in courage, but wholly mercenary and unprincipled. That so worthless and dangerous a person should have been trusted with high command in the American army is explained by the dearth of military leaders at the opening of the war. The capture of Lee was fortunate for the Americans, as he was succeeded by General John Sullivan, an excellent officer, who at once led his troops to the a.s.sistance of Was.h.i.+ngton. Thus reinforced the commander-in-chief was enabled to strike a blow at the British which revived the drooping spirits of the patriots.

The battle of Trenton would not have been so memorable but for the dejected condition of the patriot cause at the time it was fought, and the evidence which it gave to England and the world at large of General Was.h.i.+ngton's prudent daring and military genius. At twilight on Christmas night, 1776, General Was.h.i.+ngton prepared to pa.s.s the Delaware with 2000 men to attack 1500 of the enemy, chiefly Hessians, who were stationed under the Hessian Colonel Rall at Trenton. It was a dark and bitter night, and the Delaware was covered with floating ice. Boats had been hastily procured, and with much difficulty against the swift current the troops were borne across. A storm of sleet and snow added to the hards.h.i.+p of crossing, and not until four o'clock in the morning did the little army stand on the opposite bank. The Americans advanced in two columns, one led by General Was.h.i.+ngton, the other by General Sullivan. The Germans had spent Christmas in carousing, and although it was full daylight when the Americans reached Trenton, they were not discovered until they were already on the Hessian pickets. Colonel Rall, aroused from slumber, quickly put his men in fighting order. The battle was quick and sharp.

Colonel Rall fell mortally wounded; and the main body of his troops, attempting to retreat, were captured. Some British light horse and infantry escaped, but all the Hessians, their standards, cannon and small-arms, fell into the hands of the Americans. The victory gave new vigor to the friends of independence, depressed the Tories, and astonished the British, who had looked upon the war as virtually over.

General Howe was afraid to march upon Philadelphia, lest Was.h.i.+ngton should cut off his supplies, and for five months longer the invaders remained in the vicinity of New York. The patriots were further encouraged by the arrival in April, 1777, of the Marquis de Lafayette, of General Kalb, known as Baron de Kalb, and other foreign military officers of real merit and sincere devotion to the American cause. These offered their services to the Congress, and received commissions in the Continental army.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Sir John Burgoyne's Campaign--His Bombastic Proclamation--The Tragic Story of Jane McCrea--Her Name a Rallying Cry--Was.h.i.+ngton Prevents Rowe from Aiding Burgoyne--The Battle of Brandywine--Burgoyne Routed at Saratoga--He Surrenders with All His Army--Articles of Confederation Submitted to the Several States--Effect of the Surrender of Burgoyne --Franklin the Was.h.i.+ngton of Diplomacy--Att.i.tude of France--France Concludes to a.s.sist the United States--Treaties of Commerce and Alliance --King George Prepares for War with France--The Winter at Valley Forge --Conspiracy to Depose Was.h.i.+ngton Defeated--General Howe Superseded by Sir Henry Clinton--The Battle of Monmouth--General Charles Lee's Treachery--Awful Ma.s.sacre of Settlers in the Wyoming Valley--General Sullivan Defeats the Six Nations--Brilliant Campaign of George Rogers Clark--Failure of the Attempt to Drive the British from Rhode Island.

The disastrous campaign of General Sir John Burgoyne in the summer of 1777, against northern New York, was the turning point of the war. The object of the invasion was to seize the Hudson River, and divide the colonies by a continuous British line from Canada to the city of New York. Had the plan succeeded it would have been an almost fatal blow to the cause of independence. Its failure was not due to the courage or skill of any one American commander, but to the indomitable resolution with which every step of the invading army was resisted by Americans of every rank. The whole country rose as one man to oppose and hara.s.s the enemy, and it seemed as if every militiaman understood that the fate of his country depended on the repulse or destruction of the foe.

Burgoyne's plan of campaign, as concerted with the British ministry, was to march to Albany with a large force by way of Lakes Champlain and George, while another force under Sir Henry Clinton advanced up the Hudson. At the same time Colonel Barry St. Leger was to make a diversion by way of Oswego, on the Mohawk River. Burgoyne began his advance in June, with about eight thousand men. Proceeding up Lake Champlain he compelled the Americans to evacuate Crown Point, Ticonderoga and Fort Anne. His first blunder was in failing to avail himself of the water carriage of Lake George, at the head of which there was a direct road to Fort Edward. Instead of taking this course he spent three weeks in cutting a road through the woods, and building bridges over swamps. This gave time for General Schuyler to gather the yeomanry in arms, and for Was.h.i.+ngton to send troops from the southern department to reinforce Schuyler. Burgoyne also lost valuable time in a disastrous attack on Bennington.

Burgoyne issued a proclamation in most bombastic style. In the preamble he stated, besides his military and other distinctions, that he was "author of a celebrated tragic comedy called the 'Blockade of Boston.'"

He accused the patriots of enormities "unprecedented in the inquisitions of the Romish Church," and offered to give encouragement, employment and a.s.sistance to all who would aid the side of the king. "I have but to give stretch," he concluded, "to the Indian forces under my direction--and they amount to thousands--to overtake the hardened enemies of Great Britain and America. I consider them the same wherever they lurk. If notwithstanding these endeavors and sincere inclination to a.s.sist them the frenzy of hostility should remain, I trust I shall stand acquitted in the eyes of G.o.d and of men in denouncing and executing the vengeance of the State against the willful outcasts. The messengers of justice and of wrath await them in the field, and devastation, famine, and every concomitant horror that a reluctant but indispensable prosecution of military duty must occasion will bar the way to their return."

While Burgoyne's array was lying near Fort Edward occurred the tragic death of Jane McCrea, celebrated in song and story. Jane was the second daughter of the Reverend James McCrea, a Presbyterian clergyman of Scottish descent, and she made her home with her brother, John, at Fort Edward, New York. John McCrea was a patriot, but Jane had for her lover an officer in Burgoyne's army named David Jones, to whom she was betrothed. Between John McCrea and David Jones an estrangement had arisen on account of their opposite political sympathies, but Jane clung to her affianced. "My dear Jenny," wrote Jones, under date of July 11, 1777, "these are sad times, but I think the war will end this year, as the rebels cannot hold out, and will see their error. By the blessing of Providence I trust we shall yet pa.s.s many years together in peace. * * *

No more at present, but believe me yours affectionately till death." How faithfully he kept that promise!

Jane McCrea well deserved her lover's devotion. She is described as a young woman of rare accomplishments, great personal attractions, and of a remarkable sweetness of disposition.[1] She was of medium stature, finely formed, of a delicate blonde complexion. Her hair was of a golden brown and silken l.u.s.tre, and when unbound trailed upon the ground. Her father was devoted to literary pursuits, and she thus had acquired a taste for reading, unusual in one of her age--about twenty-four years--in those early times.

[1] See "The Burgoyne Ballads," by William L. Stone, from whose narrative this sketch is taken.

When Burgoyne's army was about four miles from Fort Edward, David Jones sent a party of Indians, under Duluth, a half-breed, to escort his betrothed to the British camp, where they were to be married at once by Chaplain Brudenell, Lady Harriet Acland and Madame Riedesel, wife of General Riedesel, in command of the Brunswick contingent, having consented to be present at the wedding. It had been arranged that Duluth should halt in the woods about a quarter of a mile from the house of a Mrs. McNeil where Jane was waiting to join him at the appointed time.

Meanwhile it happened that a fierce Wyandotte chief named Le Loup, with a band of marauding Indians from the British camp, drove in a scouting party of Americans, and stopping on their return from the pursuit at Mrs.

McNeil's house, took her and Jane captive, with the intention of taking them to the British camp. On their way back Le Loup and his followers encountered Duluth and his party. The half-breed stated his errand, and demanded that Jane be given up to him. Le Loup insisted on escorting her.

Angry words followed and Le Loup, in violent pa.s.sion, shot Jane through the heart. Then the savage tore the scalp from his victim and carried it to the British camp. Mrs. McNeil had arrived at the camp a little in advance, having been separated from Jane before the tragedy. She at once recognized the beautiful tresses. David Jones never recovered from the shock. It is said that he was so crushed by the terrible blow, and disgusted with the apathy of Burgoyne in refusing to punish the miscreant who brought the scalp of Jane McCrea to the camp as a trophy, claiming the bounty offered for such prizes by the British, that he asked for a discharge and upon this being refused deserted, having first rescued the precious relic of his beloved from the savages. Jones retired to the Canadian wilderness, and spent the remainder of his life unmarried, a silent and melancholy man.

The murder of Jane McCrea fired New York. From every farm, from every village, from every cabin in the woods the men of America thronged to avenge her death. Her name was a rallying cry along the banks of the Hudson and in the mountains of Vermont, and "her death contributed in no slight degree to Burgoyne's defeat, which became a precursor and princ.i.p.al cause of American independence."[2]

[2] Stone, "The Burgoyne Ballads."