Battle of Oriskany

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The Battle of Oriskany ( or ) was a major engagement of the Saratoga campaign during the American Revolutionary War. On August 6, 1777, an American column of Tryon County militia and Oneidas marching to relieve the siege of Fort Stanwix was ambushed by a contingent of Britain's Indigenous allies and Loyalists. It was one of the few battles of the war in which most non-Indigenous participants were settlers born in the Thirteen Colonies. The Americans suffered heavy casualties during the battle. Under the command of Brigadier General Nicholas Herkimer, the American relief column came up the Mohawk Valley and initially consisted of about 800 militiamen and between 60 and 100 Oneida warriors. In response to news of the column's advance, Brigadier General Barry St. Leger dispatched a force of roughly 500 men under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Sir John Johnson to intercept them. Most of Johnson's force were Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, and Mississauga warriors led by Sayenqueraghta...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Frederick Coffay Yohn, Public domain