Fort SchuylerThe fort that never surrendered

Part 9- Silence

The British and Haudenosaunee allies headed back to their encampment after the ambush and horrific battle at Oriskany, where the Haudenosaunee had many of their warriors and chiefs killed.  When they

arrived at the camp, they found their belongings stolen or destroyed by Colonel Willett's force.  Needless, to say, no one was happy, especially the Haudenosaunee.

St. Leger ordered the constant bombing of the fort to continue. 

Gansevoort needed to get help from the Continental Army located a little to the east, towards Albany.  At night, two brave soldiers snuck out of the fort to try to get

through the enemy lines to get help for the siege at Fort Schuyler. The men had to hide out in a swamp for a while as Butler’s Rangers were very close by. The men

finally made it to get help.

One day, a captured loyalist known to the Haudenosaunee and who was thought to be crazy entered the camp.  He said that an army led by General Benedict Arnold with as many men as leaves on the trees was approaching.

General Benedict Arnold

The Haudenosaunee believed him and decided to head back to their villages instead of having more men killed. They also were getting bored with the siege.

The British, without the help of the Haudenosaunee, knew that winning another battle would be difficult, so without packing their gear, St. Leger's army raced back to Fort Ontario on Lake Ontario.  General Benedict Arnold was approaching with an army, but not that big of an army.  The trick had worked!

Fort Oswego

For 3 weeks, Gansevoort and his men had been listening to constant bombardment from the British cannon.  All of a sudden on August 23, 1777, there was complete silence, no cannon or gunfire anywhere.  A detachment of men was sent out and discovered the abandoned British camp.  The Americans now could  take all the supplies, cannons, and ammunitions left behind by the British. The fort desperately needed these supplies.

During the siege, only 21 men were wounded and 4 died.  St. Leger was not successful capturing the fort.  His army did not make it to Albany like it was supposed to.  Instead, his army retreated. One third of General John Burgoyne's Plan to capture all of New York failed.  This was good news for New York

and the war.Some people call the Battle of Oriskany and the Siege of Fort Schuyler a turning point of the war, for St.

Leger’s army could not help General Burgoyne when his army got in trouble at Saratoga, which then became the most well known turning point of the war when Burgoyne surrendered his whole army.

The fort was garrisoned (manned) until 1781 as fires and heavy rains had destroyed much of the fort.  Fort Schuyler or Fort Stanwix, as it is once again called, is remembered as the fort that never

surrendered.  What you will see when you visit is a rebuilt fort to the specifications of the original fort.

This visual essay is dedicated to my father who visited Fort Stanwix with me just before he passed away.   Mrs. Conners

Image citations

Slide 1- fort- Janet ConnersSlide 2: warrior-

http://www.cmhg.gc.ca/cmh/book_images/high/v2_c4_s18_ss01_04.jpg

Mohawk and butler’s ranger- http://www.grandriveruel.ca/Grand_River_Native_Loyalist.htm&h=303&w=209&sz=18&hl=en&start=8&tbnid=mZoR_DZdk0VtM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=80&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmohawk%2Bwarrior%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den

Soldier- www.phmc.gc.ca/cmh/en/image_264.asp?page_id=313

Slide 3:swamp- http://www.cofc.edu/~welcha/courses/herp_trips/I'on%20Swamp%20Trail%20-%20copyright,%20Ken%20Robison.JPG

Butler’s rangers- http://www.paulkeeslerbooks.com/ButlersRanger.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.paulkeeslerbooks.com/Chap8Revolution.html&h=401&w=250&sz=22&hl=en&start=8&tbnid=OGCByq4xHaQLPM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=77&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbutler%2527s%2Brangers%2Buniforms%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den

Slide 4: Arnold- http://www.ftedward.com/History/OldFort/Images/arnold.jpg

Trees- http://givemetrees.org/weneedtrees.htm

Slide 5: longhouse- http://www.nygeo.org/Longhouse.jpg

Warriors- http://oneida-nation.net/bhill.htmlSlide 6: fort-

http://nysparks.state.ny.us/sites/images/ontario.jpg

Slide 7: cannon- http://www.saratoga.com/Images/canon-sm.jpg

Musket- http://www.a2armory.com/images/RevolutionaryWarRifles/CharlevilleRifle.jpg

Tent- http://bryanandjean.tripod.com/2005_xmas_gram/yorktown_tent.jpg

Slide 8: map-http://www.nps.gov/fost/historyculture/images/SARAmapFOST.gif

Slide 9: fort- Janet ConnersSlide 10: Dad- Janet Conners