S8 Ep226: CRESAP'S RIFLEMEN, DEATH IN NEW YORK, AND A HERO'S FUNERAL Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. Michael Cresap leads his riflemen to Boston, fueled by press coverage depicting them as America's invincible "secret weapons" against the British. However, upon arri

CRESAP'S RIFLEMEN, DEATH IN NEW YORK, AND A HERO'S FUNERAL Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. Michael Cresap leads his riflemen to Boston, fueled by press coverage depicting them as America's invincible "secret weapons" against the British. However, upon arrival, the troops prove undisciplined, leading George Washington to regret their presence. Suffering from illness, likely malaria, Cresap attempts to return home but dies in New York City in October 1775. To bolster the Patriot cause, New York provides Cresap with a massive hero's funeral, transforming the controversial frontiersman into a martyr and effectively erasing his complex, violent history in favor of a patriotic narrative. NUMBER 5