d being made a lieutenant in Frazer's division. The brother
of Jenny M'Crea was a whig, and, as the British army advanced, they
prepared to set out for Albany. Mrs. M'Niel was a loyalist, and, as she
remained, Jenny remained with her, perhaps with the hope of seeing David
Jones.
"At length Jenny's brother sent her a peremptory order to join him, and
she promised to comply the next day after receiving it. On the morning
of that day, (I believe it was the 27th of July,) a black servant boy
belonging to Mrs. M'Niel discovered some Indians approaching the house,
and, giving the alarm, he ran to the fort, which was but a short
distance off. Mrs. M'Niel, Jenny, a black woman, and two children, were
in the house when the alarm was given. Mrs. M'Niel's eldest daughter was
at Argyle. The black woman seized the two children, fled through the
back door into the kitchen, and down into the cellar. Jenny and Mrs.
M'Niel followed; but the old woman was corpulent, and before they could
descend, a powerful Indian seized Mrs. M'Niel by the hair and dragged
her up. Another brought Jenny out of the cellar. But the black woman and
the children remained undiscovered. The Indians started off with the two
women on the road towards Burgoyne's camp. Having caught two horses that
were grazing, they attempted to place their prisoners upon them. Mrs.
M'Niel being too heavy to ride, two stout Indians took her by the arms,
and hurried her along, while the others, with Jenny on horseback,
proceeded by another path through the woods. The negro boy having
alarmed the garrison at the fort, a detachment was sent out to effect
a rescue. They fired several volleys at the party of Indians; and the
Indians said that a bullet intended for them mortally wounded Jenny, and
she fell from her horse; and that they then stripped her of her clothing
and scalped her, that they might obtain the reward offered for those
things by Burgoyne.
"Mrs. M'Niel said that the Indians who were hurrying her along seemed to
watch the flash of the guns, and fell down upon their faces, dragging
her down with them. When they got beyond the reach of the firing, the
Indians stript the old lady of everything except her chemise, and
in that plight carried her into the British camp. There she met her
kinsman, General Frazer, who endeavored to make her due reparation
for what she had endured. Soon after, the Indians who had been left
to bring Jenny arrived with some scalps, and Mrs. M'Nie
|