The Grave of Duncan Campbell & Jane McCrea Marker

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Fort Edward in Washington County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

The Grave of Duncan Campbell & Jane McCrea

By Bill Coughlin, July 13, 2008

1. The Grave of Duncan Campbell & Jane McCrea Marker

Inscription.
The Grave of
Duncan Campbell
& Jane McCrea
are just within and
to the left
of this gateway.

Erected 1932 by New York State Education Department.

Location. 43° 17.229′ N, 73° 35.196′ W. Marker is in Fort Edward, New York, in Washington County. Marker is on Broadway (U.S. 4), on the left when traveling south. Click for map. Marker is in front of Union Cemetery. Marker is in this post office area: Fort Edward NY 12828, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, as the crow flies. Hon. Silas Wright (approx. 0.9 miles away); Memorial to Jane McCrea (approx. 0.9 miles away); Jane McCrea (approx. 0.9 miles away); Gen. Henry Knox Trail (approx. one mile away); Washington County Civil War Monument (approx. one mile away); World War II Memorial (approx. one mile away); Sixteen Soldiers (approx. one mile away); Gen. Washington (approx. one mile away). Click for a list of all markers in Fort Edward.

Also see . . . Jane McCrea, Revolutionary War Heroine. Biography Jane McCrea of from the American Revolution website. (Submitted on July 20, 2008, by Bill Coughlin of North Arlington, New Jersey.)

Additional comments.

The Grave of Duncan Campbell & Jane McCrea Marker, Fort Edward, NY Photo, Click for full size

By Howard C. Ohlhous, August 27, 2007

2. The Grave of Duncan Campbell & Jane McCrea Marker, Fort Edward, NY

1. Jane McCrea
During the American Revolutionary War, in 1777, Jane McCrea was a 17 year old Loyalist living at the farm of her older brother, Colonel John McCrea at Fort Edward, New York in order to be close to her fiancé, Lt. David Jones, a Loyalist serving with British General Burgoyne's army. On July 27th of that year, while she was visiting the home of Mrs. McNeil, the two women were captured by Indians allied to the British.

Since both women were under the protection of General Burgoyne, they were reasonably sure nothing would happen to them. Their captors separated into two bands, each with one of the women. When Mrs. McNeil, a cousin of General Simon Fraser's, arrived with her captors at the British camp, she wondered where Jane was, since she had departed ahead of Mrs. McNeil. Shortly thereafter, the first party of Indians returned to the camp with a freshly scalped lock. It seems an argument had ensued over Jane McCrea, and to settle the argument, she had been killed. Other reports however state she was accidentally killed by freindly fire as the Indians made off with her.

Jane McCrea was buried three miles south of Fort Edward. Her death, and those of others in similar raids, inspired some of the resistance to Burgoyne's invasion leading to his defeat at the Battle of Saratoga. The effect expanded as reports of the

Marker in Fort Edward Photo, Click for full size

By Bill Coughlin, July 13, 2008

3. Marker in Fort Edward

incident were used, almost as propaganda, to excite rebel sympathies during the war, especially before the Sullivan Expedition in 1779.

The story became part of American folklore when James Fenimore Cooper described some similar events in his novel "The Last of the Mohicans." Later on, in 1852, McCrea's remains were removed and reintured at the Union Cemetery in the Town of Fort Edward. McCrea's remains were again exhumed in 2003 and researchers were surprised to find that McCrea's skull was missing, and her bones were commingled with those of another Revolutionary-era woman, Sara McNeil, a landowner and a cousin of British Gen. Simon Fraser. The bodies were exhumed again in 2005 in order to provide separate graves for both women.

— Submitted October 24, 2009, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York.

Graves of Campbell and McCrea Photo, Click for full size

By Bill Coughlin, July 13, 2008

4. Graves of Campbell and McCrea

Duncan Campbell and Jane McCrea are buried in Union Cemetery in Fort Edward.

Grave of Jane McCrea Photo, Click for full size

By Bill Coughlin, July 13, 2008

5. Grave of Jane McCrea

Jane McCrea was killed on July 27th, 1777 by Indians allied to the British, and under the control of General John Burgoyne while on her way to meet with her fiancée, a soldier in Burgoyne's army.

Grave of Duncan Campbell Photo, Click for full size

By Bill Coughlin, July 13, 2008

6. Grave of Duncan Campbell

Major Duncan Cambell, of the old Highland Regiment, died from wounds received during the July 8, 1758 attack on French Fort Carillon, now Fort Ticonderoga.

Credits. This page originally submitted on July 20, 2008, by Bill Coughlin of North Arlington, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 2,404 times since then. Photos: 1. submitted on July 20, 2008, by Bill Coughlin of North Arlington, New Jersey. 2. submitted on October 24, 2009, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York. 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on July 20, 2008, by Bill Coughlin of North Arlington, New Jersey.