Great-grandfather John Peter Wagner, Jr. was also a Lieutenant Colonel and a member of the Tryon County (NY) Militia. This Mohawk Valley Militia played no small part during the Revolutionary War and was possibly the reason Washington won at Saratoga. It was at the battle of Oriskany Creek, against the British and their Indian allies, that the major battle of the Mohawk Valley was fought.

The Battle of Oriskany took place during the summer of 1777. One can imagine a hot summer period that even though there was the drought, there was a good harvest. Food for Washington's army floated down the gentle Mohawk River. The British generals had gone to London to talk with King George's ministers about a strategy for ending the war in America quickly. There they devised a plan that would bring about the defeat of the Colonial forces and a quick end to the war. Washington's army depended upon the Mohawk Valley and its Palatine farmers for food. Colonial troops from New England were regularly dispatched to the New York frontier for assistance, protection, and provisions. If the British could drive a wedge between New York and New England, all chance of mutual assistance would be lost and the war could be won.

So the plan was set. Lord Howe, with one army, would ascend the Hudson River from New York. General Burgoyne with another army would descend from Canada by way of Lake Champlain, Lake George and the Hudson, while a third army, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Barry St. Leger, acting as a brigadier general for the campaign, would ascend the St. Lawrence, cross to Oswego and proceed down the Mohawk Valley. Here they planned to attract a supposedly large number of Loyalists still living in the valley. All three armies would meet in Albany, New York. If St. Leger captured Fort Stanwix, then the whole Mohawk Valley would be opened to the British forces.

Fort Stanwix was built at the Oneida Carrying Place, now Rome, New York, in 1759, as a defense against the French. After the fall of Canada to the British, during the French and Indian War, sometimes called King George's War, the fort was of no military importance but was still a center for the Indian fur trade. In 1776, General Washington ordered its rehabilitation. It was later garrisoned by Colonel Peter Gransvoort's Third New York Regiment in April 1777. In May, Colonel Marimus Willett arrived with another regiment. All total, there were probably 250 men at the fort along with various carpenters and artisans.

By August 1, sentinels saw enemy campfires in the woods about the fort. This enemy activity caused the word to go out to all men from 16 to 60 to march to the relief of Fort Stanwix. The men who answered the call were militia, part-time soldiers who left their farms and families to meet the British army. At their head was General Nicholas Herkimer, himself 60 years old and the husband of a second wife of 17. They gathered at Fort Dayton and the march began. This rag-tag army marched west with little sense of discipline. Colonel Ebenezer Cox, at his own insistence, came first with his Canajoharie regiment, followed in line by the Palatines under Colonel Jacob Klock and Lieutenant Colonel John Peter Wagner, Jr. and third in line, the Mohawk Division under Colonel Frederick Visscher and Lieutenant Colonel Volkert Veeder. With them were the baggage wagons and supplies.

Oriskany Creek lay in a small ravine. At the bottom, a log bridge had been constructed. General Cox was in the first echelon to cross and may never have known what hit him. As he and Herkimer crossed the Bridge and started up the west slope, the air was filled with shots and the war whoops of the Indians hidden in the trees. They had marched into an ambush! The first volley of shots killed Colonel Cox and a musket ball struck General Herkimer just below his knee, shattering his leg and killing his old white horse. The Palatines behind him were caught in the worst of the ambush as they tried to cross the bridge.

During the ensuing battle many things happened that made the ambush at first a success. Confusion caused by the war whoops of the Indians, gunfire by the Indians and the British hidden in the trees and the long, hard to control formation of the Colonials added to the initial success of the ambush. Someone found General Herkimer's saddle and propped him up against it. He lit his old clay pipe and roared, "Two men behind each tree, one to load while the other fires." By this tactic, individual hand to hand fighting was partially eliminated. The general had seen too many men killed and scalped during the first few minutes of the battle as they hid behind a tree, fired, and tried to reload.

The battle raged on and on. Once the men thought they heard cannon from the fort, which was a signal that the fort's defenders would come to their rescue, and gave a ragged cheer, but it was only thunder from the hills. Great sheets of rain blown by a violent wind put an end to all fighting as the men on both sides took what shelter they could find in an effort to keep their powder dry. General Herkimer taking advantage of the lull, called his officers together and had them organize the men into compact groups, still two men behind each tree. After about an hour, the storm blew down the valley, and the men from Fort Stanwix fired their cannons, and began marching out into attack. The battle continued for about two more hours. This was the worst part of the battle as men engaged in bloody, hand-to-hand combat. The men from the fort never reached Oriskany Creek, but did plunder St. Leger's camp, taking ammunition, food supplies and clothing from the British and Indian tents. The Indians called it quits first; then the British withdrew.

General Herkimer's wound was mortal, and he was taken by boat to his home. A very inexperienced French surgeon amputated his leg, but it was too late to save his life. He called for his Bible and read to his family and domestics. He died in his home on the banks of the Mohawk. His house still stands and is owned by the State of New York and is open to the public.

When the men left Oriskany Creek on August 6, 1777, they thought they had been defeated. Fort Stanwix was still encircled. What they did not know was that St. Leger would never advance any further. Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne would be defeated at Saratoga and the plans of the British would fail. Oriskany Creek led to Saratoga and the victory at Saratoga led to aid from the French. Although the Tryon County Militia probably never knew the importance of the battle of Oriskany Creek, they achieved one of the greatest victories of the Revolution.

The several Forts that dot the Mohawk Valley are really stone-reinforced farm houses. There is Fort Frey built in 1739, Fort Klock built in 1750, and great-grandfather John Peter Wagner's Fort Wagner built in 1750. These structures are still standing.

Submitted by: LTC Franklin Nelson Horton, USA (Ret)

Great (5) Grand Son