| What makes it historical? |
This abandoned British fort, named for General John Stanwix, was reoccupied by American troops in 1776 at the request of the Oneida Nation, who had used the area for generations as a trade route. It was renamed for General Philip Schuyler, who gave the official order to reclaim and garrison the fort in order to block off a British invasion route from Canada. A year later, on August 2, the British forces attacked!
This fort of 800 called for help against the force of 2,000, but General Nicholas Herkimer was held back at the Battle of Oriskany. Left on their own, the fort held their ground for 21 days of bombardment, even as the British worked to divert the river, their main water source, away from the fort! Finally, when rumor arrived that Benedict Arnold was leading a major force north to the Mohawk Valley, many of the British Native American allies deserted, because they had already lost more warriors than they’d been promised. Ultimately, the British retreated to Canada, and the invasion from the north had been botched!
After this siege, Fort Stanwix/Schuyler became a staging site for raids on villages belonging to the Six Nations Confederacy, who were allied with Britain. In the end, though, it was also home to the treaty that ended hostilities between the USA and the Six Nations, opening up western New York State to settlement. |
