Battle of Oriskany

The Battle of Oriskany (/ɔːrˈɪskəniː/ or /əˈrɪskəniː/) was a significant engagement of the Saratoga campaign of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the bloodiest battles in the conflict between Patriot forces and those loyal to Great Britain. On August 6, 1777, several hundred of Britain's Indigenous allies, accompanied by Loyalists of the King's Royal Regiment of New York (Royal Yorkers) and the British Indian Department, ambushed a Patriot militia column which was marching to relieve the siege of Fort Stanwix. This was one of the few battles in which the majority of the participants were American colonists. Patriots and allied Oneidas fought against Loyalists and allied Iroquois and Mississaugas. No British regulars were involved; however, a detachment of Hessians was present.

The Patriot relief column came up the Mohawk Valley under the command of Brigadier General Nicholas Herkimer and initially numbered about 800 men of the Tryon County militia, plus a party of 60 to 100 Oneida warriors. British commander Brigadier General Barry St. Leger authorized an intercepting force of about 500 men under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Sir John Johnson. Most of Johnson's force were Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga and Mississauga warriors led by Sayenqueraghta, Cornplanter, and Joseph Brant.

The Indigenous and Loyalist force ambushed Herkimer's column in a small valley about six miles (10 km) east of Fort Stanwix, near the Oneida village of Oriska (present-day Oriskany, New York). The Loyalist victory cost the Patriots approximately 465 dead, wounded or captured, versus just over 90 killed and wounded. Herkimer was mortally wounded. Iroquois morale was seriously damaged when they discovered a sortie from Fort Stanwix had ransacked their camp during the battle.

The battle also marked the beginning of a war among the Iroquois, as Oneida warriors under Akiatonharónkwen (Joseph Lewis Cook) and Han Yerry allied with the Patriot cause, as did the Tuscarora. The Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga and Onondaga allied with the British. Each tribe was highly decentralized, and there were internal divisions among bands of the Oneida, some of whom became allies of the British. The battle's location is known in Iroquois oral histories as "A Place of Great Sadness." The site has been designated a National Historic Landmark and is marked by a monument at the Oriskany Battlefield State Historic Site.