Celebrate America250: Siege of Fort Stanwix

August 2-22, 1777. British forces under Gen. St. Leger unsuccessfully besieged the strategic American Fort Stanwix on the Mohawk River in western New York.

While much of Revolutionary War history focuses on the battles between British regulars and Continental forces along the Atlantic Seaboard, there were many important battles on the frontier. The Siege of Fort Stanwix is one of those.

In 1777 the British Colonial Secretary Lord Germain and Gen. William Howe conceived a plan whereby British forces under Gen. Burgoyne would march south from Canada while Howe would send forces north from New York. By seizing the strategic crossings of the Hudson River, they would cut the troublesome New England colonies off from the rest of America. This plan failed in September and October 1777, when Gen. Horatio Gates defeated Burgoyne at the Battles of Saratoga, keeping the colonies physically united. However, an important subsidiary battle was fought in the Siege of Fort Stanwix.

Fort Stanwix was located at a strategic portage on the Mohawk River, known as the Oneida Carry. The Mohawk River runs east-west through central New York, and it was much easier to travel along the Mohawk River than to go through the mountains to the north or south. By occupying this portage, American forces could keep British forces and Indian raiding parties out of central New York. So in 1776 the Continental Army occupied the vacant fort under the command of Col. Peter Gansevoort. In July 1777 Burgoyne sent St. Leger to march east down the Mohawk River with 750 regulars and 800 Indian warriors to support his drive south down the Hudson.

St. Leger besieged the fort on August 2, and on August 6 New York militia attempted to relieve the fort. They were badly defeated at the Battle of Oriskany, but while the British were busy fighting the New York militia, Gansevoort's American soldiers sortied from the fort and looted the British and Indian camp. St. Leger lost many of his Indian warriors after their camp had been looted because he failed to protect them. At the same time, Gansevoort sent messengers to the main American force, and reinforcements under Benedict Arnold were sent to relieve the fort. When St. Leger found out that Arnold was approaching, he abandoned the siege on August 22. St. Leger was not able to use his Indian allies to raid the American settlements along the Mohawk River, and he was not able to join Burgoyne for the Battles of Saratoga. Fort Stanwix remained as a strategic Continental outpost defending central New York against Indian depredations until the end of the war.

By holding Fort Stanwix, Gansevoort protected the New York frontier and reduced the number of soldiers that Burgoyne would have available at Saratoga. This small but crucial American victory on the western frontier played an important role in Burgoyne's defeat and in thwarting the British strategic plan of 1777.

Now for some notes of trivia. Fort Stanwix was located in what is now downtown Rome, N.Y. The original fort was razed, but the National Park Service has reconstructed it.

The American flag was flown for the first time in battle at Fort Stanwix. The soldiers, officers, and their wives sewed the flag from their clothes and uniforms.

Peter Gansevoort was a member of the Dutch aristocracy in New York. After his victory at Fort Stanwix, he participated in the 1779 Sullivan Expedition against the Iroquois Confederacy, but he saw no more action after that. He returned to civilian life and operated the family brewery, adding farms, gristmills, and a lumber mill to his businesses. He served in a variety of local government and militia posts. He was defeated in a run for US Senate in 1800 and returned to the army as a brigadier general in command of the Northern Department. He died in 1812, having amassed a significant fortune. His grandson, one Herman Melville, gained fame as an author of some of the best American novels, including Moby Dick.