Oriskany, Battle of
ORISKANY, BATTLE OF
ORISKANY, BATTLE OF (6 August 1777). The British threefold battle plan of 1777 included the advance of Lt. Col. Barry St. Leger across New York from Fort Oswego to meet generals John Burgoyne and William Howe in Albany. On 3 August, St. Leger, with an army of approximately 1,200 Tories and Mohawks approached Fort Stanwix on the Mohawk River. Gen. Nicholas Herkimer and his 800 militiamen hoped to surprise the British force with a rear attack, but scouts discovered the ambush and the advancing Americans were themselves set upon by a British detachment under Sir John Johnson about two miles west of Oriskany Creek. When the main force from Fort Stanwix finally arrived, the Tories retreated. St. Leger, unable to force the surrender of the fort, on 22 August retreated to Oswego.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Peckham, Howard H. The Toll of Independence. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974.
Scott, John A. Fort Stanwix and Oriskany. Rome, N.Y.: Rome Sentinel Company, 1927.
A. C.Flick/a. r.
See alsoIndians in the Revolution ; Revolution, American: Military History .