Sir John Johnson and Joseph Brant prepared an ambush along the military road to Fort Stanwix where it passed through this ravine. When most of the militia had entered their trap, the hidden Mohawk and Seneca warriors attacked. Johnson's Royal Greens blocked the road to the fort, while Mohawk and Seneca fired a sudden volley, killing hundreds in an instant, and then charged with tomahawks and knives. The fighting was close, savage, and personal.
Survivors of the initial strike regrouped on higher ground west of the ravine and waged a more organized defense by fighting in pairs, one man reloading his musket while the other fired. The battle at Oriskany lasted over four hours. As the afternoon wore on, the Mohawk and Seneca grew discouraged and eventually left. Johnson's Royal Greens ultimately retired as well, leaving the militia badly damaged, but not destroyed.
After the battle, the few devastated militiamen and the Oneida left standing could only care for a few wounded. According to oral tradition, the Oneida saved many of the wounded militiamen by hiding them until they could be removed under the cover of darkness. Most of the dead were left on the battlefield - Loyalist, rebel colonist, Native American warrior - tangled together. Early historians suggest that some of the bodies were buried in a series of mass graves, some as early as 1795. Today, the entire battlefield is recognized as hallowed ground.
Who Won?That depends on your point of view. Although the Tryon County militia held the battlefield at day's end, they failed to relieve Fort Stanwix, suffered 500+ casualties, and lost most of their commanders, including General Nicholas Herkimer. The British failed to regain the valley or move on to support General Burgoyne's army at Saratoga. Sir John Johnson and the other Loyalists became refugees, never recovering their homes in New York. The Mohawk, Seneca, and Oneida not only lost lives and property, but also suffered from a lasting rift in the Iroquois Confederacy of the Six Nations.
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