Page:History of the United States of America, Spencer, v1.djvu/528

496 rising ground, near the source of the Mohawk River, and garrisoned by about six hundred continentals, under the command of Colonel Gansevoort. Next day, he invested the place with an army of sixteen or seventeen hundred men, nearly one half of whom were Indians, and the rest British, Germans, Canadians, and tories. On being summoned to surrender, Gansevoort answered that he would defend the place to the last.

On the approach of St. Leger to Fort Schuyler, General Herkimer, who commanded the militia of Tryon County, assembled about seven hundred of them, and marched to the assistance of the garrison. On the forenoon of the 6th of August, a messenger from Herkimer found means to enter the fort, and gave notice that he was only eight miles distant, and intended that day to force a passage into the fort, and join the garrison. Gansevoort resolved to aid the attempt by a vigorous sally, and appointed Colonel Willet with upwards of two hundred men to that service.

St. Leger received information of the approach of Herkimer, and placed a large body, consisting of the "Johnson Greens," and Brant's Indians, in ambush, near Oriskany, on the road by which he was to advance. Herkimer fell into the snare. The first notice which he received of the presence of an enemy, was from a heavy discharge of musketry on his troops, which was instantly followed by the war-whoop of the Indians, who attacked the militia with their tomahawks. Though disconcerted by the suddenness of the attack, many of the militia behaved with spirit, and a scene of unutterable confusion and carnage ensued. The royal troops and the militia became so closely crowded together, that they had not room to use fire-arms, but pushed and pulled each other, and, using their daggers, fell pierced by mutual wounds. Some of the militia fled at the first onset; others made their escape afterwards; about a hundred of them retreated to a rising ground, where they bravely defended themselves, till a successful sortie from the fort, compelled the British to look to the defence of their own camp. Colonel Willet, in this sally, killed a number of the enemy, destroyed their provisions, carried off some spoil, and returned to the fort, without the loss of a man. Beside the loss of the brave General Herkimer, who was slain, the number of the killed was computed at four hundred. St. Leger, imitating the grandiloquent style of Burgoyne, again' summoned the fort to surrender, but Colonel Gansevoort peremptorily refused.

Colonel Willet, accompanied by Lieutenant Stockwell, having passed through the British camp, eluded the patrols and the savages, and made their way for fifty miles through pathless woods and dangerous morasses, informed General Schuyler of the position of the fort, and the need of help in the emergency. He determined to afford it to the extent of his power, and Arnold, who was always ready for such expeditions, agreed to take command of the troops for the purpose of relieving the fort. Arnold put in practice an acute stratagem, which materially