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In July, 1777, Colonel Barry St. Leger left Canada and arrived at Oswego, NY. On July 26, Colonel St. Leger left Oswego with a force of 700 to 800 British, Hanau (German Mercenaries), Canadian, and American Tory troops, and between 800 to 1,000 Indian Torys, moved east with orders to join General Burgoyne in Albany. The Tory Indian troops consisted mostly of Mohawks and Senecas. Fort Stanwix, which was renamed by the American Rebels as Fort Schuyler, blocked his path. Colonel St. Leger's advance troops arrived at the fort on August 2nd and prepared to lay siege to it. General Nicholas Herkimer, hearing about the siege, assembled approximately 800 Rebel militia troops and 60 to 100 Oneida scouts, and set out from Fort Dayton (30 miles east of Fort Schuyler) to relieve the siege on August 4th.

On August 5th Col. St. Leger received news from Molly Brant, the sister of Joseph Brant, that Herkimer's militia was only 10 to 12 miles away from Fort Schuyler. He dispatched a party of Indians and Tories under the command of Sir John Johnson, John Butler and Joseph Brant to ambush the Rebel militia. At a spot 6 miles east of Fort Schuyler near Oriska Creek it was decided to set the trap because the dense virgin forest provided excellent concealment. There the old military road dropped into a ravine to cross a small creek. On the high ground along the road the Tory Native-Americans took up their positions. The Tory European-Americans positioned themselves across the road in the ravine. This create a U-shaped pocket for the rebel militiamen to enter. The openned end of the trap would be closed by Seneca Indians once all of the rebel militia passed their positions.

On the morning of August 6, 1777, General Nicholas Herkimer waited for a signal that a party was leaving Fort Stanwix to meet him. Pushed by his junior officers to move his troops to Fort Schuyler immediately and accused of being a Tory for delaying, Herkimer decided to march his troops to the fort without waiting for the signal. The Battle of Oriskany pitted the Tory troops commanded by Sir John Johnson, John Butler, and Joseph Brant against the Rebel militia troops in an ambush and battle that would last for about six hours and be a foretaste of the civil war to be fought throughout New York.

General Herkimer's column consisted of Oneida scouts out front and to the sides, himself at the front of the 600 man vanguard, followed by 15 wagons loaded with supplies, and then 200 additional militia troops behind. At approximately 10:00 a.m., on August 6th, before the remaining 200 militia troops entered the trap, the Seneca Warriors attacked. The first volley was devastating to the Rebel militia, which was being fired upon from all sides. General Herkimer was shot through the right leg, his horse was killed. The militia defended themselves in a desperate unorganized manner. Tory Native-Americans without guns used knives, hatchets, clubs and spears to attack the Rebels as they were reloading their muskets. The battlefield was littered with dead, dying, and wounded soldiers. Eventually the Rebels fought their way up a hill to high ground where they could better defend themselves. General Herkimer was carried up the hill and sat on his saddle under a tree and directed his troops. About 3/4 of an hour into the battle, a violent thunder storm interrupted the fighting. During this reprieve, the Rebel militia reorganized in a grove of trees. General Herkimer directed pairs of soldiers to stand behind trees, so that one man could defend the other while he was reloading his musket. After the storm, the fighting resumed and lasted until approximately 4 p.m. in the afternoon.

The 200 Rebel militia troops not caught in the trap fled the field of battle. They were followed by Joseph Brant and other Mohawks who attacked them during their unorganized retreat.

In an attempt to infiltrate the rebel lines, Sir John Johnson had fresh reinforcements from his Royal Greens division turn their coats inside out and try to fool the Rebel troops by posing as troops from Fort Schuyler. The ruse failed when the Rebels recognized the individuals as Torys and the fighting was renewed.

The Oneida scouts in front of the column did not detect the ambush, but, fought side by side with the rebel militia troops. During the battle an Oneida Chief and his wife fought side by side.

"Hon Yerry was shot through the right wrist so as to disable him from loading his gun (he on horseback), when his wife repeatedly loaded it for him, & he managed to aim its contents at the enemy. He had a sword hanging by his side, indicative of his rank as a captain or war leader. His wife had a gun also and used it in the fight. So she related, & added that there was a good deal of close intermixing between Americans and British, and American and British Indians, & she could see the British all around."¹

Colonel Willett eventually did lead a sortie out of Fort Schuyler between 2 and 4 p.m.. After driving off the guards, Willett and his men raided the Tory Native-American camp, taking several wagonloads of booty and some prisoners back to the fort (Fort Stanwix: Construction and Military History, 1758 to 1777, John F. Luzafer, Office of Park Historic Preservation, NPS, USDI, 1976). Hearing of the raid, the Native-Americans started to leave the battle and return to the fort. Without Indian support the Tory European-Americans also withdrew from the battlefield. The Rebel militia troops then collected their wounded, leaving the dead to rot in the field, and returned to Fort Dayton.

Seneca War chief Blacksnake described the battle years later:

"We met the enemy at the place near a small creek. They had 3 cannons and we none. We had tomahawks and a few guns, but agreed to fight with tomahawks and scalping knives. During the fight, we waited for them to fire their guns and then we attacked them. It felt like no more than killing a Beast. We killed most of the men in the American's army. Only a few escaped from us. We fought so close against one another that we could kill or another with a musket bayonet. I had to defend myself many times during the afternoon, but we used tomahawks and knives and swords to cut down the enemy. It was here that I saw the most dead bodies than I have ever seen. The blood shed made a stream running down on the sloping ground. During the afternoon the wounded cried out for help, but we had no mercy to spare on them."²

Of the 800 Rebel militia who went into battle, approximately 150 survived without any serious injuries. Many men were taken prisoner by the Tory Native-Americans. In reprisal for the raid on the camp and the Indian losses at Oriskany, these prisoners were reportedly clubbed to death while running a gauntlet and their bodies were left unburied. The Tory losses were much smaller and the majority of those were suffered by the Indians, particularly the Senecas.

Both sides claimed the battle to be a victory for them. The attempt to relieve the siege at Fort Schuyler was unsuccessful, but the Rebel militia held the field.

Since the dead Rebel militia were not buried, bodies were strewn over a large area in and around the battlefield for a long period of time.

After a few days, Frederick Sammons, returned to the battlefield and stated:

"I beheld the most shocking sight I had ever witnessed. The Indians and white men were mingled with one another, just as they had been left when death first completed his work. Many bodies had also been torn by wild beasts."³

It was hoped by some that Benedict Arnold's relief column would bury the bodies, but after two weeks of summer weather the smell was "intolerable" and the soldiers avoided the field.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Oriskany, the Oneida Village of Oriska and its crops were destroyed, and as well as many of its people killed. Molly Brant who notified Col. St. Leger about the approach of Herkimer's column, was forced to flee her home. Her house was looted and given to the Oneida Chief and his wife who had fought for the Rebel militia at Oriskany. These same forms of reprisals would be played out for years to come.

Several days after the Battle of Oriskany, General Nicholas Herkimer died from complications from having his right leg amputated by General Benedict Arnold's surgeon.

Questions for Reading 2

Study Reading 2 and find the Oriskany Battlefield on Map 3. Compare the various accounts of the battle, and then discuss the following questions:

1. Why do you believe the casualties at the battle were so great?

2. Who do you believe won the battle? Why?

3. Who do you believe lost the battle? Why?

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