Revolutionary War heroes, Kate and Jack Heard, are enigmas. While slaves in Georgia, they chose to save their white owner from a British hangman’s noose during the American Revolution. For me, the puzzle is why would these slaves save their owner’s life? 1) Stephen Heard was captured. Why didn’t Kate and Jack walk away from him and seek their own personal freedom? 2) The British promised freedom to any slave who helped them to crush the rebels. Why didn’t Kate and Jack help the British? 3) Kate and Jack risked their lives to save Stephen Heard's life. Why would they do that?
The brainteaser for some, however, is not why Kate and Jack saved Stephen Heard, but rather, how they were able to bamboozle the British and carry out one of the greatest escapes of all times. The local legend is that Kate concealed Stephen Heard in a clothes basket and then simply walked out of the prison camp with him hidden in the basket, while Jack waited nearby in the forest with horses to continue their escape.
Of course, for others, the most pressing question is not why or how, but whether Kate really had the strength to lift Stephen Heard and then carry him to safety in a clothes basket.
Truth or legend?
You decide.
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