Show I 1 r e A A Z v 0 ft x ION A biffl 41 N 40 ct by ELMO SCOTT WATSON NE NB hundred and fifty any years ago this summer there was ought fought on the frontier of new york one of the most hotly contested battles of the american revolution this was waa the battle attle of oriskany Oris kany on august 6 where a force of new york militia led by gen nicholas herkimer marchl marching ng to the relief of ft ler won a victory over a force of tories and indians commanded by sir john johnson and the great mohawk chief joseph brant five years later out in the wilderness of kentucky a similar battle was fought between an army of Ken kentucky tucki frontiersmen led by cots cols john todd stephen trigg trig and daniel Ift bone and a force of canadians and indians commanded by maj william caldwell who had with him the renegades rene gades alexander mckee buckee mathew elliott and simon girty this was the battle of blue licks often referred to s the last battle of the revolution fought on august 10 1782 although there ts no direct connection between the two engagements they exhibit a striking parallel of the circumstances which brought them abo about ut that Is worthy of more than passing notice in both cases the headstrong tolly folly of subordinates overruled the tha cooler judgment of the commanders thereby bringing upon them selves elves the disaster which could have been averted the battle of Oris oriskany kany was a part of the campaign which centered around ft schuyler on the present site of rome N Y in 1777 the tin ing events of that year are to be recalled athla summer flummer in a series of sesquicentennial celebrations which will be held at various places in the mohawk valley chief among these will be the Oris oriskany kany celebration where the memory of the men who fought in this dramatic and bloody engagement will be honored by their descendants and hundreds of visitors from oil all parts of the country the events leading up to the battle of 0 were these As a part of the british plan to score a decisive success during the summer of 1777 and to crush the revolution cot col barry st bt leger had bad been sent to sweep through the mohawk valley to albany where ha h was to join the army of general burgoyne who was ans coming down from the north bill bat there was waa one obstacle to st legers success this thin was ft 11 schuyler held by a force of continentals Continent als under the command of col peter gansevoort and col marinas willett Wll lett on august 2 st bt leger appeared before ft schuyler with a force of some 1700 british regulars hessians and led by bysar sir john johnson john butler and his son the notor notorious lous walter coalter butler and iroquois indians indiana colonel gansevoort bad appealed to the committee of safety in tryon county for help and the chairman of this committee nicholas her almer old herkimer was the affectionate nickname for him bim who had been appointed a brigadier general we the previous loua year immediately raised the militia of tryon county and set get out for the relief of ft schuyler ner her almers army a force of about eight hundred men was divided into four regiments the first was led by col ebenezer cox and was waa from the district of the second from palatine was commanded by col jacob mock the third from mohawk was under col frederick VI sAcher and the fourth from german flats and kingsland was commanded by col peter bell lager inger this force assembled at ft dayton near the mouth of west canada creek and on august 4 started out crossed the mohawk pear the present site of the city of utica and reached whit e j on august ii 6 it at this point herkimer sent kent an express to colonel gansevoort to arrange for operation cooperation co pe ration in moving against the enemy Gause gansevoort voort was to groe three cannon shots as a signal that a force from the fort was ready to make a sortie whereupon herkimer WIN was to advance with his army amy be was then about eight miles from ft schuyler and it would be I 1 easy to hear bear the report of the tig guns at that distance but his messengers were delayed in a getting through the enemy to the tort fort and men waited impatiently for the sound odthe of the cannon plo finally ally chafing chafin glat at the delay they de demanded minded to be led against the enemy Herk herkomer imir steadfastly refused then I 1 some some of his officers notably colonels cox an and d paris begun began to reproach him and even ten went so go as far aa is to accuse tim of being a 11 coward and a tory but the wise old commander restated resisted their urgings until iber i became unbearable atik le finally stung to madness by their unjust accusations he be gave the command tb advance it IN was as more 0 of f a disorderly mob than ah army that streamed out of the encamps encampment tot at oris liany creek the road irid led across tt a narrow ca causa usa way vay ot oi lop logs OT over at a marsh w with ith thick woods on VP r e either side bide st leger had sent bent a large body ot of tories many of them neighbors of men in tryon county the noted johnsons greens under major watts wafts ts accompanied by a body of mohawk indiana led by the famous joseph joeph brant who prepared the ambush for her bar almers men just as the head bead of the column marched onto the causeway the indians indiana impetuously opened fire rear guard retreated almost immediately but the rest stood their ground and returned the fire they at once sought shelter behind trees arid and immell immediately there took place one of the fiercest battles in american history for the most ost part it was waa a hand to hand band fight colonels cox and paris whose rashness had bad precipitated the fight were among the first to be killed herkimer was disabled early in the fight by a bullet which shattered his knee his officers urged balul to retire to safety but his reply has become a historic byword in the mohawk valley valler 01 1 I will face the enemy during the battle messengers reached gansevoort hassevoort who had bad been wondering what the distant firing meant and who fired the three signal cannon men heard beard them but they could not advance now they were fighting for their lives so great was the slaughter in both armies that the indians finally raised the cry of retreat oonah oonah I 1 and left the field the seeing this and being alarmed at the sound of the firing doing made during the sortie from the fort which had been led by col mariauo willett also retreated herkimer and his men held the field on which they had won their dearly bought vIc victory the losses inflicted indicted upon the enemy and willetts WU letts sortie which had bad fallen upon st legers camp st stampeded amOded a portion of the british force and captured a great store of supplies resulted in st legers lefers giving up the siege of ft schuyler so victory came out of defeat after all for ft schuyler woe wax saved and the threat of st legers invasion of the mohawk valley collapsed herkimer died a few days after the battle five years later occurred the other battle in which the of headstrong men brought about another disaster equal to that of Oris oriskany kany on august 10 1782 a mounted messenger dashed up to boones station a small frontier fort which this famous pioneer had built across the kentucky river a short distance from boones bourough with the news that bryans station an important point further west about five miles from the present eity city of lexington had been attacked by iiii an overwhelming force of indians and canadians the men of of boones station immediately galloped to the aid of their brethren and the next day found boone who happened to be at Boones bourough at the time ou oil the way to bryans station with all ail themen of the vicinity that ho he could collect when they arrived they found that the enemy had already retreated but since by the evening eventful even tul of august 17 the ken tuc klans assembled at qt Bryans station numbered more than and is as many more under udder col benjamin logan were expected hourly they determined to observe the principle of border warfare that no savage foray should go asbed so 1 waiting for logan they decided to auise pursue pe he enemy enemy at once even though they realized that composed of fierce wyan i dottes and accompanied by the renegades rene gades mckee elliott and aid the infamous simon girty greatly outnumbered them gi early aly the next morning the party commanded by cols todd i trigg and BC boone one sk set forth t they found t that hot the enemy had I 1 left a plat plain ll trail trall but lie heedless edless of this indication that the allies blotted pursuit the Kentuck lans dashed on i rapidly on oi the ae morning of august 18 they came to the licking ni river at a place called blue licks alik A few india indians w were seen on the ridges across the river hoone boons was certitil cert certain itin the inala were lying in ambush and advised his men to selects ti strong position posit lonon on their side olde of the river had wait there until logon logan and his men arrived but this wise alae counsel was disregarded by the impatient Kentuck lans lani who were anxious to strike a blow at the enemy who had besieged their stations boons boone then proposed that a party be detached march up the river and fall upon the rear of the enemy at a prearranged signal while the abe main attack was delivered in front while the proposition was being discussed a decision was forced by a major mcgary who had bad supported boone in the proposal to await the arrival of logan and had been taunted with cowardice by some of his fellows tor for doing so mcgary suddenly broke up the council by spurring sparring his horse to the ford and dashing across it shouting let all who are not cowards follow we map I 1 it was just the sort of an appeal which would influence such rashly courageous men as most of these were they streamed across th the artier river in disorderly fashion and there was nothing for dwile boone todd and trigg to do but to follow and aad to try tri to restore some order in the straggling gling mob they crossed the river safely and advanced up a buffalo trall trail to the top of the ridge beyond by this time some semblance of order bad been restored with mccary fading an advance party darty of twenty five As they approached alito abed the top of the ridge a rifle shot rang out as a signal for the crashing volley which then followed twenty three of Me Garys arys twenty five men went down at this thin first fire the headstrong mcgary who had precipitated the fight was one of the two who escaped after this first volley the canadians showed themselves on the ridge and from the ravine on either flank the indians opened a deadly fire the kentuckians Kentuck lans ians stood their ground and returned the fire instantly the wyandotte Wyan dottes s always noted as reckless and desperate fighters came bursting through the smoke with poised tomahawks there was a short hand band to hand conflict until the kentuckians Kentuck lans ians greatly outnumbered almost surrounded and in imminent danger of being slaughtered where they stood broke and fled back toward the river nearly every officer of rank ata wb killed boone escaped across the river the kentuckians Kentuck ians hotly pursued streamed reamed si back across the river there major rallied his mer men and offered resistance ending the pursuit anti and preventing a massacre of a force of approximately one hundred d eckh eighty ty men sixty seven had been killed outright or were murdered as they lay wounded on the field of battle and seven had been captured four of whom died at the torture stake nearly every man who escaped viii was wounded in ill bame way halt half iray way back to bryans bryana station Stat IOD the survivors met colonel logan with men coming to their support how bitter must have been theli their regret when they realized how bow dIffer different Ant the result might have been it if they bad heeded boones Bool leAs advice arid and awaited logans coming and had not been hept into 1116 action by Mc Me Garys rash appeal blue licks was perhaps the greatest defeat ever suffered fe redby by the pioneers of the blue grass state but it was a also IL fc high water mark id her her history ht his story tiry rot the indiana came no DO more th 0 iv to kentucky Rec tucky sid and blue licks marked thi the end of the frontier period oriskany Oris kany and blue licks two to names which afford a striking illustration odthe of the injury which a body of bf undisciplined men may do to them selves and those dependent upon them thein but in th the me memory of the desperate valor of the men men who fought these battles history forgives them their indiscretion and in these yean remembers ibers only a nations gratitude to the met mir who helped hel in the winning of the west J |