Arnold Leads Continentals to Relieve Fort Stanwix

American Revolution
Written By Tom Hand

The Tryon County militia sent to relieve Fort Stanwix was repulsed at Oriskany, but General Phillip Schuyler was determined to send a second relief column. When none of Schuyler’s subordinates volunteered to lead the expedition, Major General Benedict Arnold agreed to do so.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses how the ever-resourceful Arnold found a way to disperse the British forces surrounding the fort, and why it still matters today.

Images courtesy of The New York Public Library, Library of Congress, Mount Vernon, New York Historical Society Museum and Library, Brown University Library, Boston Public Library, Wikipedia. 

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Arnold Leads Continentals to Relieve Fort Stanwix
Arnold Leads Continentals to Relieve Fort Stanwix

The Tryon County militia sent to relieve the siege of Fort Stanwix had been badly mauled at the Battle of Oriskany on August 6, 1777. The combined Loyalist and Indian contingent under British Lieutenant Colonel Barry St. Leger, settled back into its work of reducing the fort or forcing the American garrison to surrender.

Death and Destruction at the Battle of Oriskany
Death and Destruction at the Battle of Oriskany

The Battle of Oriskany on August 6, 1777, ended as suddenly and unexpectedly as it began. Shortly after 3 p.m., the Mohawks, Senecas, and Loyalists ceased fire on the Tryon County militiamen and headed back to their camp outside Fort Stanwix, about six miles away. The death and destruction left in their wake was frightening to behold.

The Battle of Oriskany
The Battle of Oriskany

The morning of August 6, 1777 found 700 Tryon County New York militiamen encamped at an Oneida Indian village about seven miles from Fort Stanwix, itching for a fight. They planned to make a surprise attack on the British force besieging the fort, but things did not go as expected and most would not survive the day.

The Siege of Fort Stanwix
The Siege of Fort Stanwix

The American Revolution battle with the greatest loss of American lives was not one of the better-known engagements such as Bunker Hill, Brooklyn Heights, or Camden. It was a somewhat forgotten fight in western New York at a place called Oriskany. Although not well-remembered, it had a significant impact on our fight for independence.

Tom Hand
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Death and Destruction at the Battle of Oriskany