The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow

by Mark Latham

  The Hessian’s activities were recorded again in the bitter skirmish at Harlem Heights (September 16, 1776). During the early stages of the battle, Lieutenant Colonel Knowlton and his famous Rangers almost outflanked the British forces, but for a last-minute mistake which signaled their presence to the Hessian vanguard. The British and German alliance quickly responded to the maneuver and attacked Knowlton’s Rangers. The Hessian was foremost amongst the counterattacking force, and legend has it that he tore into Knowlton’s riflemen with unbridled aggression. Knowlton himself was killed that day, and rumors persist that his throat was torn out, though whether the injuries were sustained before or after death – and whether they were inflicted by man or beast – have never been confirmed.

  The American forces continued the fight until they ran out of ammunition, at which point they were forced to leave the field. Upon their retreat, the Hessian and a small group of mercenaries defied orders and pursued the American forces, hacking apart any they caught. Again, the Hessian’s superiors turned a blind eye, choosing to focus on the sapper’s formidable skill in battle rather than his violent excesses. Yet very soon they would have no choice but to address their soldier’s behavior.

  Later that night, the English soldiery descended upon local farmsteads and settlements, razing homes to the ground, defiling and pillaging where they could. The Hessians had rarely partaken in such activity, looking upon it with disdain, especially as many of the people on the East Coast were of German origin too. However, the Hessian snuck out of camp that night and joined the drunken English. His mission was not to drink hard liquor and make free with local girls. No, his mission was one of wanton murder and bloodshed, and this time he was discovered.

  The Hessian was found in a farmhouse some three miles from the British camp, surrounded by death. The provosts apprehended him, and one was wounded in the attempt, but there was no denying his crimes. The Hessian had killed an entire family – women, children, youths, and patriarch – butchering them and gnawing at their flesh. The provosts described the man as a “rabid animal,” and recommended that he be hanged. The Hessian command staff, however, embarrassed that one of their celebrated “heroes” could have stooped so low, showed leniency. Placing the Hessian in charge of a battery of horse artillery where he would be away from the thick of the fighting, they thought they could harness his skill at arms while curbing his penchant for blood. Little did they know that they had merely consigned their man to an untimely death after all.

  That death, at the Battle of White Plains, was not the end of the Hessian’s story. Irving presented his theories about the lost heads of the defeated British and Hessian soldiers to the old widow, who cackled with laughter at the suggestion. The head of the Hessian, she maintained, had not been “lost,” but stolen, for some dark purpose!

  THE BATTLE OF WHITE PLAINS

  This battle of the American Revolutionary War took place on October 28, 1776. Following the retreat of George Washington’s army northward from New York City, British general William Howe landed troops in Westchester County, intending to cut off Washington’s escape route. Wise to this move, Washington retreated farther, establishing a position in the village of White Plains.

  The Battle of White Plains is often viewed as a pause in a long retreat. Positioning his army on the hills around White Plains, Washington decided to make a stand against General Howe, whose regiments were advancing from New Rochelle and Scarsdale. The southern anchor of Washington’s defensive line was at Chatterton Hill, and the line failed to hold. Enemy forces in British red and Hessian blue charged up the hill from the Bronx River, and though the first few waves were repulsed, the superior enemy force finally drove the Continental troops from the hilltop. With the loss of the hill, Washington was forced to retreat, abandoning his defensive lines.

  At the time, the defeat seemed to be another dismal episode in the collapse of Washington’s army, but in retrospect, the most important aspect of the Battle of White Plains was seen to be not the American defeat, but Washington’s ability to prevent envelopment by General Howe’s forces, withdraw his troops in good order, and preserve the army for a more propitious day – notably at the battles of Princeton and Trenton.

  Though both armies numbered more than 13,000 men, the reality was that only about 4,000 soldiers participated in the battle itself. By the time the dust had cleared, the British counted an official casualty list of 313 against less than 300 for the Americans.

  This revelation plunged Washington Irving into a new line of inquiry. The idea that the Headless Horseman was not some aimless wraith attacking at random, but was instead being controlled – directed against living targets – was discomfiting indeed. Irving at once returned to the history and folklore of Sleepy Hollow, unearthing evidence of witchcraft and demonology stretching back to the earliest days of the colony and even farther still, to the time of the Oneida Indian Nation. Before the Dutch had arrived with their superstitions, the land was already replete with native burial grounds and steeped in “medicine” from the long-held enmity between the Oneida and the Mohawk tribes. Irving learned of a long, dark history, which he felt sure made Sleepy Hollow a place of deep magical resonance – a fact that would work in the favor of anyone determined to employ black magic to further their own ends.

  The Headless Horseman was reported to use any weapon that came to hand, though he always favored the long artillery officer’s sword that he carried in life.

  Over the course of his investigations, Irving had made a cordial acquaintanceship with the Van Tassel family, and one or two of the lesser families in Sleepy Hollow. Though many of the townsfolk still mistrusted him as a stranger and potential “spy” in their midst – not lessened when they discovered his English heritage – Irving now exploited the few friendships he had made to investigate the recorded history of the area. Campfire tales and yarns spun by isolated old widows were one thing, but if Irving was to pit himself against a great evil, he knew he must be armed with facts. Irving resolved first to look for a pattern in the prior hauntings of the Horseman, and thence to compare that pattern to what he knew of the intertwined fortunes of the great households of Sleepy Hollow. Once he had established motive and opportunity, he could perhaps identify the culprit and lay the restless spirit once and for all.

  Sleepy Hollow Horseman

  “On mounting a rising ground, which brought the figure of his fellow-traveller in relief against the sky, gigantic in height, and muffled in a cloak, Ichabod was horror-struck on perceiving that he was headless!--but his horror was still more increased on observing that the head, which should have rested on his shoulders, was carried before him on the pommel of his saddle!”

  – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

  Victims of the Horseman

  Indeed, certain of the most authentic historians of those parts, who have been careful in collecting and collating the floating facts concerning this spectre, allege that the body of the trooper having been buried in the church-yard, the ghost rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head; and that the rushing speed with which he sometimes passes along the Hollow, like a midnight blast, is owing to his being belated, and in a hurry to get back to the church-yard before daybreak.

  Between 1779 and 1799, there had been 13 recorded sightings of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow. One of those sightings was found in a magistrate’s court transcript of 1781, and was disregarded at the time due to the alleged drunkenness of the witness. Of the remaining 12, Irving noted that the majority – eight, in fact – were not specifically tied to murder or disappearance, nor to any other suggestion of foul play. The Horseman, in each instance, had merely been seen abroad, riding across the glen on his “demonic black steed.” Sometimes, he had in hand a jack o’lantern, as he supposedly had when pursuing the unfortunate Ichabod Crane. However, closer inspection of records from the Old Dutch Church showed that, just a day or two after each sighting of the Horseman, some calamity befell the town.

&n
bsp; In one instance, a young boy drowned in the creek; in another, a family was killed in a terrible fire; the worst of all came when the yellow fever came to Sleepy Hollow in 1793, killing 21 people. The first symptoms were noted just days after the Hessian’s ghost was seen galloping by Raven Rock.

  The remaining encounters with the Horseman – and the most recent – were more sinister still. Beginning with the wealthiest local landowner, Peter Van Garrett, the Horseman had seemingly ceased foreshadowing tragedy and become instead an angel of death – a phantasmal killer. Van Garrett was found out on the Tarrytown trail, his carriage shattered, and the coachman dead at the reins. Van Garrett’s head had been struck from his shoulders. Although some tried to claim it was a dreadful accident, there were few in Sleepy Hollow who doubted that the Horseman had struck. Sure enough, less than one week later, a village watchman reported that he had seen the Hessian riding furiously in the direction of the Van Garrett manor, “as though the very hounds o’ hell were with him.” That night, during a violent storm, Peter Van Garrett’s son and heir was killed. The huge double doors of the family home were battered down, with great hoof-marks impressed within the lacquered wood. A maid, traumatized by the experience, recalled how the Headless Horseman used a wood-axe from the yard, and cleaved the younger Van Garrett’s head from his shoulders like so much firewood.

  The third victim was, of course, Ichabod Crane, whose body was never found at all, though some whispered that he had been the victim of his rival for the hand of Katrina Van Tassel, Brom Bones. Irving naturally believed Brom to be controlling the Horseman, or else embroiled somehow in a pernicious scheme, but a doubt crept into his mind when the fourth victim was claimed during Irving’s stay in the settlement. This time, the victim was none other than the wife of Baltus Van Tassel – Brom’s own mother-in-law – Maria. With a recent death in the family, the Van Tassels could not be easily accused of dabbling in dark magic, and so Irving knew he would have to tread carefully if he was to expose those responsible for unleashing the Horseman.

  THE GHOSTS OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

  Several of the Sleepy Hollow people were present at Van Tassel’s, and, as usual, were doling out their wild and wonderful legends. Many dismal tales were told about funeral trains, and mourning cries and wailings heard and seen about the great tree where the unfortunate Major André was taken, and which stood in the neighborhood. Some mention was made also of the woman in white, that haunted the dark glen at Raven Rock, and was often heard to shriek on winter nights before a storm, having perished there in the snow.

  As alluded to in the fictionalized account of Crane’s exploits, there is more spectral activity in the sinister glen of Sleepy Hollow than just the Hessian. Though the Horseman is the most notorious – and deadly – apparition to have haunted the environs of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving realized that the frequent appearance of other specters must surely indicate the region’s singular supernatural properties.

  Raven Rock in particular is a remote, shadow-haunted place, so remote that it is known only to a few locals. The rock is in a dark and foreboding glen on the east side of Buttermilk Hill, southeast of Ferguson Lake. Legend tells us that three ghosts, not just Irving’s lady in white, roam the area. The lady in white was a girl, who got lost in a snowstorm and sought shelter from the fierce wind by the rock, but the snow drifted in and she perished during the night. It is believed that the spirit of the lady meets the wanderer with cries that resemble the howling of the wind, and gestures that remind one of drifting snow, warning all to stay away from the fatal spot.

  A more ancient legend tells of an Indian maid who was driven to her death by a jealous lover. Her spirit is believed to roam the area, lamenting her fate. The third spirit is that of a colonial girl, who fled from the attentions of an amorous raider during the Revolution, and leapt from the rock to her death.

  Perhaps more famously, the area known as Wiley’s Swamp – on the border between Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown – is known for harboring the ghost of Major John André, a British spy captured by three local militiamen. André was part of American general Benedict Arnold’s treasonous plan to hand the defenses at West Point – and George Washington himself – over to the British, which would have resulted in a very different outcome of the Revolution! The ill-fated André was later hanged, but his spirit lingers around the spot where he was captured. Wiley’s Swamp is a thickly wooded grove, with a stream running through it, crossed by a simple log bridge. It is here that the Horseman was first encountered by Ichabod Crane, and where Irving felt the unmistakable redolence of esoteric power coursing through the very earth.

  Dismounted during his running battle with Washington Irving, the Horseman still proved a sinister and implacable foe.

  Chapter 2 – Hunting the Horseman

  Washington Irving began his investigation with the recently appointed magistrate, Samuel Philipse. Belonging to an old family (indeed, his grandfather built the Old Dutch Church), Philipse had replaced Peter Van Garrett as local magistrate upon his death. Irving noted with interest that the Philipse family had once been the wealthiest in the area, having owned the manor house until it was recently occupied by the Van Garretts. Though Samuel Philipse professed no bitterness towards the loss of his family’s status, Irving queried whether a man with such vested interests in the assets of Sleepy Hollow should be placed in charge of executing the Van Garrett estate.

  Peter Van Garrett had left all of his worldly goods and property to his son, Dirk, who was killed soon afterwards by the Horseman. Dirk, being a relatively young man of only 30 years, and a bachelor, had made no will. As such, the deeds of the Van Garrett manor and lands were to be auctioned in Tarrytown. Every man and woman of Sleepy Hollow had some vested interest in this land sale, as half the town was still tenanted on the Van Garrett land, and a change in ownership amounted to uncertain futures for the long-time residents. Philipse, though of modest means, planned to bid at the auction himself, and Irving noted that the man had kept details of the auction as quiet as possible, so as to reduce the opposition to his claim. His primary rival, however, was surely Baltus Van Tassel, now the wealthiest man in Sleepy Hollow, and so it was to the Van Tassel home that Irving ventured next.

  When Washington Irving arrived, he found the patriarch alone – Katrina and Brom had ventured to New York and would not be back until the following evening. When Irving entered the Van Tassel home he found it in a state of mourning for Baltus’ dead wife; but despite the dreadful circumstances Baltus was not one to turn away cordial visitors, and extended Irving every hospitality. Baltus Van Tassel, though a man of considerable wealth, was also modest with it. He was in no way ostentatious, and all the residents of Sleepy Hollow agreed that he was a fine and generous fellow.

  Through a combination of gentle prying and taking heed of the village gossip, Irving had learned that Van Tassel’s late wife, Maria, had once been a commoner – a serving girl in the Van Tassel household. When Baltus had married her, Maria had been raised in status, earning her some jealousy from within the townstead, and some acrimony from Baltus’ daughter, Katrina. Baltus maintained, however, that Maria and Katrina had eventually settled their differences, and had grown to care for one another as mother and daughter. That was, until recently.

  Baltus reluctantly confessed that Maria had opposed the marriage of Katrina and Brom Bones, favoring instead the match between Katrina and the stranger, Ichabod Crane. Though Katrina thought Crane was most ill-aspected, Maria had insisted that he be allowed to court her stepdaughter, maintaining that a fine gentleman from the city would raise the family’s fortunes in society. Baltus went along with his wife’s thinking to please her, and confessed that Katrina had become most anguished as a result.

  Katrina Van Brunt (nee Van Tassel) was a rare beauty, whose charms inadvertently led to the demise of the amorous Ichabod Crane.

  A lightning-stricken tree of unusual size, this twisted, black tree is haunted by the ghost of Major André, and marks the bounds of
the Horseman’s territory.

  Not wishing to cause Baltus further upset – and now suspecting that Katrina or Brom, or both, could be behind the Horseman’s attacks – Irving returned to Sleepy Hollow to find out more about the Van Tassels and their relationship with Ichabod Crane.

  His inquiries led him eventually to the Old Dutch Church, where the Reverend Steenwyck was preparing to close up for the evening. Steenwyck, a staunch man of the cloth of old Dutch heritage, was a judgmental sort, and Irving found that the clergyman had few kind words to say about the Van Tassel women, saying that both Maria and Katrina were superstitious maids who allowed their love of folklore, legends, and heathen charms to come between them and their Sunday worship on more than one occasion. The reverend also extended his scorn to Ichabod Crane, saying that:

  Our man of letters was peculiarly happy in the smiles of all the country damsels. How he would figure among them in the church-yard … or sauntering, with a whole bevy of them, along the banks of the adjacent mill-pond; while the more bashful country bumpkins hung sheepishly back, envying his superior elegance and address.

  It seemed, therefore, that Crane had been something of a ladies’ man, and that his professed love for Katrina might well have been nought but bluster. Although any young man in the village might thus have had cause to dislike Crane – nay, and the girls’ fathers besides! – this again confirmed to Irving’s mind that Katrina and Brom were prime suspects, until the Reverend Steenwyck added one curious afterthought.

  “Of course,” he said, “I informed Katrina’s father of the young man’s behavior at once. It would not do for a girl of fine breeding to be seen fraternizing with such an ungallant ‘gentleman,’ and he agreed. Perhaps it is for the best that he … ahem … left us so suddenly.”