Show W I 1 c N M M CA 9 W WP k tf ic t by ELMO SCOTT WATSON OST americans americana know that the th e assassination assa s of 0 f the austrian austria archduke at sara j bevo v 0 serbia in 1914 was t the he spark which set oft the gr greatest eanest conflagration in the history of mankind the world war but how bow many of them knew that the i murder n of an american girl by indians in 1777 pi placed a part in determining ter mining the destiny of their own nation yet there are historians who will agree that her ier death the one hundred bundred rind fifty third anniversary of which comes on july 27 of this year ear was a factor in the so bo called turn turning ng point in our struggle for independence in these years so many celebrations of important battles of the revolution are being I 1 held eld it Is fitting that americans americana should hear bear again the story of lovel lovely 7 jaue jane mccrea and her tragic fate fulp in ill june 1777 gen john burgoyne Dur goyne with It tian an army of british and DeR hessians and a large force of canadian an and indian allies swept down irom from canada tor for the invasion of new arh hy by the way of lake after tie lie had captured ticonderoga crown point and fort edwardine edward Edwar dihe he expected sir william ilowe howe to conie come up tile the hudson river from new york and join him at albany thus thug they would drive a wedge between new england and the other colonies and put an end to the rebellion fort bort hdward was in a dilapidated condition a and 1 I held by only a small rear guard of oen philip lers ers army which had been forced to retreat before fore Bur goynes greater numbers near fort ailward Il nard stood three cabins one of which was occupied by a mrs mcnell Alc Nell who Is described as a fat ait and talkative old woman who had been twice widowed 11 she was a B cousin of brig gen simon F eraser of Bur goynes army arnay and for that reason felt no apprehension at the approach of the invaders even though bur goynes goyne indian allies had been killing and scalping settlers as they advanced on july 27 she welcomed a guest into her home jane mccrea ble Crea a twenty three year old girl who lived with tier her brother john Alc mccrea Crea a lawyer and colonel of the local militia near the mouth of moses kill south bouth of F fort ort edward jane mccrea was noted throughout the countryside both for her beauty and tor for her long anti and lustrous which would reach to the floor when she stood andlee and let it down because bebau ot of the near neak approach of the enemy john mccrea was preparing to move inove to Af finny but his sister refused to go with him or even to stay at their home on moses kill the reason was that she had a lover over david jones a neighbor who being a tory had fled to canada soon after the outbreak of the war and was now returning na as an officer to in one of Bur goynes loyalist reg regiments tinen ts ile he had written to her proposing that thai she should ostensibly pay mrs airs blanell a farewell visit then slip away to the british lines and he would have th chaplain marry them there are sevel J contradictions in the various stories of the june jane mccrea tragedy one of them Is in regard to bow she happened to fall into the hands bands of the indians according to ell one e story jones jonea sent a party of indians under the leadership of a halfbreed to escort tier lier to the british camp and Bur goynes account of the alie affair gives ghea color to this version some historians however do not mention this fact according to their version about nine on the of july 27 a party of indians attacked arid and drove into the fort a picket guard ot of the americans americana killing the commander and capturing one man nin incidentally Inc 1 dentally this mans narn name aus stai standish ash sh and he was a descended descend p M X ant of the valorous wiles allies standish sh or pilgrim fame the indians then discovered the two women lz lc the cabin entered it and dragged them out standish saw then them rushing their prisoners along the trail up tile the hill to a place where they had two horses they tried to place the women on thebe mounts and eastly cailly seated jane mccrea on one but tat fat old mrs airs ianell was a different proposition and try as s they could the savages could not lift tier her into the saddle Slean meanwhile while the others led jane mccrea away and as she and her captors passed near the spot where stan dah was held captive he saw two of thern them engaged in an angry dispute suddenly one of them turned and shot her from the saddle scalping her as aa she fell then according to their savage custom they stripped tier her oi of the wedding finery in which she was going to meet tier her loveland lov lover erand and mutilated tier her body horribly they then continued on to Bur burgos goynes nes camp where they told what had happened and exhibited her scalp while this was taking place tat fat old mrs mcnell was having her troubles although she had not been injured by her captors they had stripped her to a single undergarment and in this she appeared in camp where the indian turned her over to her cousin general fraser eraser that officer was much embarrassed barr assed tor for he was not bof able to find in camp any clothes clothed large enough for mrs birs Alc mcnell Nell finally out of his own wardrobe he produced a great boat large enough to cover tier her all the white while he be was forced to listen to a torrent of abuse from the irate old lady because of her treatment at ilie hands ot als rascally indians indian but this couitt comlee aspect of the affair soon became a tra tragic gleone one when jane macreas Mc Alc scalp was shown to her she at once as did david jonea Jones who then learned odthe of the fate of tits hla bride to be upon being informed of what had taken place general burgoyne lm immediately mediately held beld an inquiry ordered the indians to hand over the murderer put him under arrest and announced tits his intention of executing him but st luc the french cann cana than dian leader of the indian allies in formed the general if be did that the indians who were already resentful of Bur goynes efforts to restrain them from the which they had been committing against the settlers would desert in a body and go home bonu probably solacing themselves by kill ing any whites they found whether loyalist or patriot so burgoyne yielded to st lue luc and pardoned the slayer it Is doubtful if even the loss of his indian allies would have been as severe a blow to his hopes as were tho results of the murder of june jane Alc mccrea Crea from the beginning of his expedition the excesses of df his savages had brought down upon him criticism in england and furious denunciation by the americans patriot propagandists had bad let loose masts blasts of scorn and bitter unger a at thim him because he be had employed savages of course they were ignoring the tact fact that during the wars with the french the colonists had been beba glad enough to have the ald of indians over whom they had bad little more control than had bad burgoyne over his bis allies they were ignoring too the tha fact that early in the struggle for freedom they themselves had solicited the aid of indians indiana and even then so called christian indians from stockbridge brid ge mass blass were fighting on their side bide kut but propagandists then as ever since that time have not always been concerned with telling the whole truth burgoyne Hur goine had hoped that not only active loyalists Loyall ts but thoss those whose allegiance le legi ance was doubtful would rally to his army us as it advanced advance dL when lie he captured ticonderoga so easily it was such a blow at the patriot cause that it began to look as though the whole rebellion might collapse especially espe dally since there were so BO many colonists who cared little for either king hns or congress anti wanted only to be allowed to continue in their peaceful pur pursuits but the unpunished murder of june jane mccrea made even those who might he be inclined to swear allegiance to tile the crown and receive a certificate of loyalty waver if the bride of an officer in his army was killed by his savages what assurance would they have vint that anyone would be safe from his painted demons they naked asked themselves among these who favored the patriot cause tier her death helped to in I 1 them a stubborn determination to resist the invader to the end und and to quicken them into action remember jane SIc ble Creal became something of a rallying ery cry along the harried frontier of new york for the fame of the victim made the story of her bentli spread like wildfire and greatly stimulated recruiting thus the story of jane was spread broadcast throughout tile the col onies it became a leading item of patriot propaganda no doubt that master propagandist of them all canny uen ben franklin made good use of lt it just as teo he used the famous inventory of scalps story which he had manufactured so ebli clentry tn in stirring up the patriots to a high pitch of fury against the british although it Is impossible ever to lay a finger upon the definite results of propaganda there can be no doubt that this story had an important effect upon patriot morale at a time when it was very low it took the fighting of a willett and a gansevoort at fort schuyler of a stark and a warner at Berin Ington and of a morgan and nn an arnold at saratoga to crush the invader and to make his defeat one of the fifteen decisive battles of 0 the tha world and his surrender the real turning point in the american revolution nut but the beautiful girl wl who W was struck down by an bullet that ti bat july orning morning m years yeara ago deserves a share in that great victory unwittingly she played an important role in a mighty drama so 80 jane did not die in vala vain Q by |