New visitors are strongly urged to visit the visitor’s hall and view a movie about the fort. Even though we are very familiar with Fort Ticonderoga history and importance in battles, we sat and enjoyed the video. I was especially intrigued with the history of its restoration. You can read about that in my previous post, A Visit to Fort Ticonderoga, Part 2.

There is SO much to see inside the buildings that I cannot possibly do it justice here. I only highlight what I found interesting, and even then I must condense it. I highly recommend that you visit the Fort, there’s something for everyone there.

Both stories of the buildings are loaded with fort memorabilia and quite a number of breathtaking archaeological finds. I was awed by this: one of the old metal armor breastplates presumably made by the first French soldiers here in the 1750s. The plaque card says the armor was discovered in 1941, built into the wall. Because of its unusual position in the wall construction, archaeologists believe the armor is a votive offering by the French masons, for “good luck.”

There were many such artifacts to be seen:

This blew me away. A piece of her wedding dress?!

A watch key was a small metal device. With it, the watch owner could wind the watch. Amazing!

George Washington had good ol’ snuff. Well, at least the snuff BOX.

I loved this.

There were many, many such engraved powder horns like this. Even Ethan Allen and Philip Schuyler had scrawled on theirs! This is one of Schuyler’s horns given to him from Paul Revere. The engraving is a verse from Proverbs.

Here is Ethan Allen’s powder horn. Ethan Allen is the famed hero of Fort Ticonderoga. He easily took the fort from the British in 1775, confiscating the stores of ammunition for the needy American army.

This is Ethan Allen’s sword. Click the image to go to the Flickr site. From there, you can view larger images.

Ethan Allen’s gun, engraved with his name.

There were quite a few personal artifacts from the Schuyler family. Alexander Hamilton married Eliza Schuyler, daughter of the great general Philip Schuyler from nearby Albany, NY. This is a four-leafed clover in a locket that had belonged to Angelica Schuyler Church, Eliza’s sister and Alexander Hamilton’s good friend.

Angelica’s wax seal. The town “Angelica, NY” in western New York State is named for Angelica Schuyler Church.

Alexander Hamilton’s sword is here!

Rosary beads, probably dating before the British and American ownership of the fort. The Brits and Americans were definitely and overwhelmingly Protestant, so the beads probably belonged to a French occupant.

This is an imposing display. Looks to be a Mohawk Indian. Mohawks were the fiercest of the Iroquois Indian tribes, probably as fierce as the Canadian Hurons.

Interesting chair. Looks to me to be something from the 1890s, perhaps.

Cool bull’s eye glass.

All in all, it was a terrific visit. I really recommend this place, just go see it!

A Visit to Fort Ticonderoga, Part 3

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We’d visited the Fort Ti grounds once before, sneaking in after the place had closed for the season. We walked the leaf-strewn trails and peeked over the stone walls. We didn’t see any of the interiors of the fort or the buildings, as the places were locked and we didn’t dare intrude that far. We had gotten a healthy taste of the incredible landscape, however, to taunt us for a return visit. Which, I am happy to report, we did this autumn.

After walking through the admission area and gift shop (which is loaded with stuff and I spent a bundle of money in it), you walk down a small hill that faces the south side of the fort, toward the bottom of Lake Champlain and the top of Lake George. The views are simply staggering.

Brigades of cannons line the perimeter of the fort’s stone walls. It’s like strolling through a castle. Actually, in the United States, stone forts are as close as we can get to a castle!

Fort Ticonderoga has the largest collection of cannons in the country. The older ones are very ornate, with inscribed dates, decorations, and sometimes a motto or phrase or the name of the king under whose reign the cannon was built.

The American flag flies here, but the site has seen the French fleur-de-lis and the British Union Jack fly overhead, as well.

A few plaques hint at the history of the fort as we meandered the perimeter of its walls.

Our wonderment was interrupted by a crowd gathering in the green. Two finely dressed soldiers marched to the center and called for attention. A musket drill!

The gentlemen talked about the typical life of the soldier of the fort (for most, musket drills were about as exciting as it got) and a little of the history of the fort. When we got home, the husband did a little more digging into the history of the fort:

During our most recent trip to Fort Ticonderoga, I was struck to learn these facts of it’s history:

This fort was originally built and occupied by the French in 1755, during the French and Indian War*. They called it Fort Carillon. In 1759, it was successfully captured by the British, after their previously failed attempt in 1758. They re-named it Fort Ticonderoga. Being occupied by the British, it was then captured by American revolutionaries in 1775. Then, just over 2 years later in 1777, it was successfully re-captured by the British.

“Wow, this was a busy place,” I thought. It intrigued me as to why this place would warrant such attention, so that it would change hands 3 times it in the first 22 years of it’s existence. Doing a little research, it gradually sunk in that the reason for it’s popularity owed to the 3 major selling points of all real estate: Location, location, location.

The fort is situated at the southern end of Lake Champlain, on it’s western shore. Lake Champlain, a long, narrow, north-south oriented lake, together with Lake George and the Hudson River, forms an important travel route which runs from New York Harbor (under British control at the onset of the French and Indian War) to the St. Lawrence River (then controlled by the French). This route was familiar to, and used by, Native American Indians even before European explorers discovered it during the early-to-mid 1600′s. It is relatively free from obstacles and includes only a few portages**, of which Ticonderoga is one.

The name, “Ticonderoga,” itself gives us some local geographical information. The word is derived from what the Iroquois called this area, and which means, “(the) land between two waters.” The two waters are Lake Champlain and Lake George, and the land between was the portage. Despite there being a river connecting the two lakes, the winding 3.5 mile long La Chute, knowledgeable travelers chose to make a portage here because the La Chute was full of dangerous white-water rapids. It was safer and more practical to cross on foot at a point where about 1.25 miles of dry land lay between the lakes instead. The French therefore, chose to build the fort here to control the southern end of Lake Champlain, up which any British invasion would have to come.

It would seem the ability to control travel along this major inland water route from New York Harbor to the St. Lawrence River depended heavily upon being able to control this small area here at “the land between two waters.”

* the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763.
** a portage is a point in a water route where boats and/or cargo need to be carried across land to avoid obstacles, or to get from one body of water to another.

So Fort Ti was obviously a very strategic geographic point, as it controlled the waterway.

I’ll continue more about our adventure here with Fort Ticonderoga, Part 2 in the near future. This time, we got to go INSIDE the buildings and see some very amazing artifacts!

A Visit to Fort Ticonderoga, Part 1

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You can see all the photos I took here at my Flickr site. I’ll showcase only the basic photos for the blog posts. I think our visit, which incorporated seeing and learning so many different things, may take up a few posts. First, some history about the Village. It’s a huge, outdoor living museum where time stopped almost 200 years ago. Really, if it wasn’t for the sounds of traffic on the main road, or the power lines visible behind the fields, you’d think you were really in the early 19th century.

On July 4, 1817, the New York State governor was in this booming town of Rome, NY. This area was the location of the official beginning of the famous Erie Canal, said to be the most incredible engineering marvel of all time. It had been the brainchild of various New Yorkers shortly after the Revolutionary War, who wanted to open up the NY wilderness. Transportation in NY in those days was over rugged country and thickly-forested hills. A man-made waterway connecting the Hudson River/Atlantic Ocean to Lake Ontario and Lake Erie was the dream. Very few leaders were willing to sponsor this “insane” idea. Thomas Jefferson, when hearing about the plan, refused to give any federal aid to the project, saying, “You talk of making a canal 350 miles through the wilderness… it is little short of madness to think of it at this day!” Long before the Erie Canal was bringing in millions of dollars into New York’s coffers, it was called “Clinton’s Folly,” or “Clinton’s Ditch.”

The Erie Canal was completed in 1827, and brought instant wealth to the state. It also proved to be the springboard for Western Expansion, as this area of New York was the only passable way west from the eastern seaboard of the United States. Not long after the completion of the Erie Canal, the railroad system surpassed the Erie Canal as the main method of east to west transport. With the development of the automobile and the interstate highway system after World War II (and accompanying perks such as Liverpool Victoria car insurance!), the canal and railroad system became less used.

The Erie Canal Village, opened in 1978 when Rome, NY, was going through an historical awakening of it’s roots, takes us back to that “boom” time of prosperity in New York. There are numerous museums you can explore– a few settler’s houses decorated as if the families would be back at any moment; a blacksmith shop and horse corral; a schoolhouse and Methodist church; the Harden Museum filled with various horse carriages and sleighs depicting transportation of that era; an ice house, general store, railroad station, and tavern (where you can actually buy food and drink); a museum inside an old cheese factory showing the cheese industry of New York; and more! Best of all– a 30-minute ride on the old Erie Canal packet boat, horse-drawn. What a great day!

We started off by exploring an interesting little museum filled with vintage signs and farming implements. We explored the old barn and marveled at the craftsmanship of some of the tools.

Then, we saw THIS!!!

Wowee! For those of you who don’t know, I have been on a little investigation of the Oneida Indian Stone and how it relates to New York history. This must have been the sign marker that stood at Forest Hill, where the Stone was kept from 1849 to 1974. The Stone has been returned to the Oneida Indian Nation. I hope to see it someday, and take a photo. You can read more about my investigations into this mysterious Stone and its history here and here and here.

The entire village opened up to us from there. We didn’t know where to turn first. We could see a 18th century farmer with long whiskers and straw hat plowing a field with two draft horses; we saw a beautifully arched bridge slung over the Canal with a packet boat (all decked out in Fourth of July colors) below it; we saw a beautiful meadow with whispering yellow grasses and swallows spinning under the yellow sunshine; we saw a crowd of people with cameras and strollers sipping lemonade on the cool porch of the Tavern. What to do?

We decided to see the historic houses. They were from different periods (1801, 1840, and 1890s). It was fascinating to see how our lives and homes have changed in 200 years.

This house, called the Crosby house and modeled after a typical 1840 home, looks a lot like the style of our own home. Ours was built in 1855, and very little has been done to it. It is NO FUN living in a home like this!

This is the Victorian house. It is the Italianate style, judging by its boxy shape and elaborate “icing.”

Over the course of the house styles and contents, you can really see how Americans became more prosperous.

From there, we wended our way to the sunny-looking General Store. You could really buy candy and various little gifts inside. We chatted with the storekeeper, a friendly lady from the area, who explained to us that this store was “today’s WalMart” to the townspeople of yesterday. She showed us the old coffee-grinder. The coffee beans in it smelled w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l.

After seeing the houses, we wandered near the meadow. A farmer was mowing the field with a fascinating mower contraption. Watching the beauty of the draft horses, whose menial labor only heightened the grace in their motions, was mesmerizing. We stopped and were quiet. The smell of the freshly-cut grasses steaming under the warm sunshine was heavenly. Swallows twittered across the grass, undaunted by the strangers watching them as they gobbled up leaping grasshoppers.

The farmer noticed our idyllic state, and paused his mowing to chat with us. As he explained the methods of old-time farming and horse-care, the horses munched noisily on the meadow plants. I could have stayed there forever. It was like something out of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, but so much better, because we could feel the hot sunshine and smell the sliced grasses for ourselves.

I felt a twinge of deep regret that our modern lifestyles now shielded us from these experiences. I like my computer and my minivan like any lady, but I long for the slower pace and sweet communion of country-living sometimes.

We wandered to other places, wherever our noses led us. We had to be at the boat by 1 o’clock, so we popped in the smaller displays in a hurry. We saw the old icehouse…

a chicken coop, and the kids saw real chickens for the first time…

the train station…

and an old abandoned train caboose…

When I was here at the Village last, oh…. 26 years ago now (!) the Village had hosted a train ride with a little “train robbery.” I remember the robber trying to take my someone’s watch, lol. I thought it a shame that they don’t have train rides anymore. I loved it.

I’ll have more about our visit on another post. The best part– the packet boat ride– is soon to come!

The Erie Canal Village, Rome, NY, Part 1

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PETERBORO, N.Y. – 1861 marked the beginning of the American Civil War. The 19th Annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend Committee plans to include programs that reflect the 150th anniversary of that conflict.

Among the plans in the works: President Lincoln will share his thoughts and feelings upon his March 4 inauguration, a relative of Edmund Ruffin (the man who fired the first shot at Fort Sumter) will share that history, and the Saturday evening concert will include references to 1861.

The annual event will be held in Peterboro Saturday and Sunday, June 11 and 12, 2011.

We are definitely making it to this celebration!

I have written about Gerrit Smith, famed philathropist and abolitionist several times. Smith was THE man most responsible for the abolition movement in Upstate New York, inspired by the preachings of Charles Grandison Finney to “love one another” regardless of skin color and financial situation. It was a remarkable movement for it’s time. You can read about our stop by the estate in Peterboro here. You can read more about his passion here, and Smith’s mysterious admittance to the Lunatic Asylum in Utica here. We also visited the old home of the Higinbotham home in Oneida, NY, close friends of his. Of course, the Civil War was not about slavery exactly (it was about state’s rights, a very relevant issue to this day); slavery was the impetus for the struggle between the states.

According to WKTV, hours for the Saturday, June 11 are 10am to 5pm, and Sunday, and 10am to 4pm for June 11. Admission is $7 for adults, $3 for ages 6-12, and free for children under 6 years of age. Admission to the to the special Civil War concert at 8 p.m. may be paid at the door. Parking is free!

Peterboro Prepping For Civil War Weekend

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The high point was seeing the Fort Herkimer Church. My children are descendants of the Palatine Germans that settled this area, who built this church, among others. Revolutionary General Nicolas Herkimer’s parents also assisted in the building of the church, and they are buried in the graveyard.

The Fort Herkimer Church is one of the oldest churches in New York State, begun in 1753. Made of stone, it served as an important fortification for area residents during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. There are over thirty gunports in the walls, and thick buttresses project from the building’s four corners.

Because of the rain, the scheduled church tour was cancelled, but a very gracious lady allowed us to look in the church when she heard I research genealogy and local history. Inside the church, it looks like any typical Colonial American church: wooden floors, wooden pews with small swinging doors, and a wooden pulpit raised up several feet. It is a plain church, not as fancy as the Dutch Reformed Church we visited in Albany. It is similar in format if not in scale and style.

After seeing the church, we wandered into the reenactment Civil War camps for a bit. There was not a lot of activity and hardly any other visitors, because of the rain. We puttered around and took this cute shot.

The kids also bought some Civil War hats (Union, of course) and a few toy rifles.

The man who plays Abraham Lincoln, a local celebrity now, was not coming, due to a previous commitment. The events schedule stated that a parade drill and cannon firing was due now, but everyone was huddled in their tents. When the rain finally receded, we asked one of the Confederate soldiers if they were going to fire off any weaponry. A bugler was called to rouse the troops out of their warm tents and onto the soggy training ground.

The captain gave us a nice speech and some background on Civil War cannons, and soldiers were ordered to fired off a shot.

Some Confederate soldiers bravely geared up and did an army drill for us, complete with firing of guns.

It was all very low-key, however, and certainly not the big hullabaloo we read about in the paper. I’d say there were only four or five other families around. When I asked about the scheduled fiddler’s jamboree, we were informed that was canceled, too. This was very disappointing, and ruined the visit for me.

We meandered the site for a while. We stood at the banks of the mighty Mohawk River. How desperately beautiful it is–how I longed to hop in a canoe and paddle away (it’s the Indian in me).

The area saw tremendous damage during the June 2006 floods. The photos below show some of the debris field. The river gushed off course and surged through the area next to the camp- I’d say it surged a good 1/4 mile from its banks here. The gashed land was filled with tree roots, limbs, old roofing shingles, plastic tarps, etc. It was a disaster.

One highlight was talking to a genuine blacksmith. He made a beautiful iron hook as he chatted about iron works, historical ore mining in the Adirondacks, and the history of smithing. The Adirondacks used to supply great quantities of iron for the country. There are large areas filled with titanium there (used for airplane sheathing and such things as mineral makeup). However, the Adirondacks mines have been closed, due to over-regulation from New York State. Mining is now predominantly in areas of the South, such as North Carolina because the ore is easily accessible. The mining businesses down there also aren’t taxed arms and legs like they are in New York.

We didn’t stay for the scheduled reenactment of the “large-scale” battle. The kids wanted to, but everything on the schedule had so far been canceled, and I really didn’t want to hang around for three more hours in the intermittent rain, waiting for an event that might not even happen. Perhaps we’d visit again, when there might be more sunshine and more activity.

The Living History Weekend, German Flatts, NY

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I especially liked this one; it’s the Fife and Drums of Yorktown, performing at Fort Ticonderoga. They did an exceptional job! Enjoy!

We hope to see Fort Ticonderoga. We traveled out there one autumn; the park was closed for the season. That did not stop us from exploring the grounds, which are very enchanting. Still, we’d like to get into the fort sometime. I’ll let you know when we do!

Fife and Drums of Yorktown at Fort Ticonderoga, NY

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The event looks big– people are dressed to the hilt, sporting realistic artillery. I think they will even have a few battles in bateaux boats in the Mohawk River! We love things like this! The battle takes place today, from 2pm to 3pm.

Revolutionary War Re-Enactment in Mohawk, NY

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Peterboro invites everyone to visit and experience what life was like 150 years ago. After visiting the soldier’s camps, enjoy the music, drama, storytelling, and period craft demonstrations. Come for a day, wander through Confederate and Union camps and listen to the stories of the men and women. Watch them drill for the battle. Each afternoon, hear the sound of cannons booming and muskets cracking. The smoke of gun powder will rise as the north and south face off for a very realistic battle reenactment.

There’s a concert on Saturday, too.

This special concert program features the highly acclaimed 77th New York Regimental Balladeers and the Irish Volunteers. It will evoke the memory of those Irishmen who fought in the ranks of the Union and Confederate armies. The 77th is a nationally recognized Civil War string band, and have performed at Gettysburg, the U.S. Grant National Memorial and other historic sites around the country.

Admission is $7 for adults; $3 for ages 6-12, and free for children under 6. Parking is free, too. There’s a separate $5 admission charge for the Saturday 8 p.m. concert at the Community Center. This sounds like a blast! For more information: 315-684-9022.

Civil War Re-enactment Coming Up!

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Oriskany, NY, has the sad distinction of the location of the bloodiest battle of the American Revolution.

The Oriskany Battlefield State Historic Site is located on Route 69, north of the small village of Oriskany, NY. The site used to hold reenactments of the battle, although in the past we have always missed them, and I am not sure they are held anymore. I’ve seen photos and they were incredible events, with hundreds of actors posing as British, Mohawk and Oneida Indians, Loyalists, and American Patriots.

There is an Oriskany Museum approximately 4 miles south of this battlefield, also on Route 69. The Battlefield is a memorial to those who fought in the War, and the Museum is more about the U.S.S. Oriskany aircraft carrier, with some information about the American Revolution. The Museum is worth seeing. We spent a delightful hour there, and I found out some really neat things about the U.S.S. Oriskany. You can read about it here.

When you drive in to the Battlefield Memorial Site, these signs greet you.

The Battlefield site is plain and somber. The state has tried to keep it looking a lot like what it must have appeared as in 1777. When we last went in 2004, the fields were mown; today, swaths of wild grasses and weeds surround the trails that take you to key points of the battle. I don’t know if this au natural look is intentional, or due to neglect. I think it looked better when the place was trimmed. It looks too unkempt now. There’s another good site about the Battlefield here.

The site has “play-by-play” markers posted along the trail.

The now-infamous ravine is where Mohawk Indian Joseph Brant (his birth name was Thayendanegea) led the raid of British soldiers and Tories against the Patriots. Brant and his crew were a vicious bunch, leading all sorts of horrendous massacres against settlers (especially the Cherry Valley Massacre). British General John Burgoyne (hiss hiss) found great use for the Iroquois Indians. He wrote a lovely poem for us Patriots, letting us know his intentions in his “Burgoyne’s Orderly Book”:

“I will let loose the dogs of hell,
Ten thousand Indians, who shall yell
And foam and tear, and grin and roar,
And drench their moccasins in gore:
To these I’ll give full scope and play
From Ticonderog to Florida…”

…. Nice.

Anyway, the ravine is very overgrown now. We had to jump over the weeds that wanted the trail back.

The events of the battlefield unfolded the first few days of August 1777. Those summer days were typical Upstate New York days– so hot and humid that the forest literally steamed with heavy gasps of respiration. The American Patriots–led by General Nicolas Herkimer– and their noble allies, the Oneida Indians, were hurrying from Tryon County (Little Falls, NY, area) to Fort Stanwix (in what is now Rome, NY). They were coming to the aid of the fort, which was under siege by the British armies. Their march was a three-day, 40-mile slog through dense woods and swamps. By the time they reached this point in Oriskany, they were only six miles from Fort Stanwix. We could only imagine how laborious this trudge through the depths of the Mohawk Valley had been.

The tiny trail we followed led us about 50 feet down and across a small footbridge. This was the site where the Patriots stooped down to sip the cool water and wash their sweaty heads. It was at this moment, while the Americans’ backs were turned, that Brant’s crew attacked them. The Indians and Loyalists had been waiting in the woods for them.

Loyalists (also known as Tories) were Americans– they sympathized with the British and refused to join the fight for independence. Families were split apart over these political tensions. My own husband’s ancestors fought here at this battlefield, these Loyalists and Patriots. Many of the battles of Upstate New York were brothers fighting against brothers, and sons against fathers. This made the bloodshed more tragic. The Indians were not immune, either– the Iroquois Six Nations had been wrent when the tribes joined the British except for the faithful and pious Oneida tribe and the Tuscaroras. The Oneidas suffered horribly during the Revolution for their faithful alliance with the Patriots.

Patriot General Herkimer’s militia men fiercely fought the Brant crew. Herkimer was shot –mortally wounded– but continued to direct the battle from under a tree. War is truly hell. It must have been horrible. Losses were very bad– 450 of 800 Patriots and Oneidas died. 150 Loyalists and Mohawks perished. At Fort Stanwix in Rome (where these American Patriots and Oneida Indians were headed), there’s a reenactment video of this historic moment. It’s stunning, and really gives the viewer an idea of how chaotic and vicious this attack was.

A vivid painting of Herkimer at this moment, The Battle of Oriskany, by E. N. Clark, hangs upstairs in the Utica Public Library (a GREAT library; boy, I wish they got more support and funding).

The obelisk at the Battlefield honors the dead. Listed on the monument is a relative of an ancestor of my husband’s, who was the only Patriot in my husband’s old family of Tories. Brother fought against brother. (My husband’s ancestors fled to Canada after the War.) My grandmother would be rolling in her grave if she knew I married a man whose ancestors were Tories! But my husband, a Patriot now, has been redeemed .

It is a sober memorial.

No one actually won this battle. The Americans suffered a horrific loss, but they did prevent Brant’s men from reaching Fort Stanwix. It is a surety that if the Patriots had not staved off Brant, Fort Stanwix would have fallen to the British.

There was a large monument erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution, in honor of the Unknown Soldiers who fought and died.

General Herkimer died several days later. He died from a botched amputation of his wounded leg. At the Herkimer House Museum, his old Bible is displayed, open to Psalm 38 which he wanted to read just before his death.

Psalm 38:1 O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath!
2 For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me.

3 There is no soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head;
like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

5 My wounds stink and fester
because of my foolishness,
6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
all the day I go about mourning.
7 For my sides are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am feeble and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart.

9 O Lord, all my longing is before you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,
and my nearest kin stand far off.

12 Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek my hurt speak of ruin
and meditate treachery all day long.

13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
14 I have become like a man who does not hear,
and in whose mouth are no rebukes.

15 But for you, O Lord, do I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
16 For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,
who boast against me when my foot slips!”

17 For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is ever before me.
18 I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.
19 But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 Those who render me evil for good
accuse me because I follow after good.

21 Do not forsake me, O Lord!
O my God, be not far from me!
22 Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!

Herkimer’s efforts were not in vain. So although the Americans suffered tremendous loss, they did detain Brant’s group from getting to Fort Stanwix in Rome, where British General St. Leger was laying seige. Because of the failure of the British to gain ground in Fort Stanwix and in Oriskany, as well as some other typical British blunders, Burgoyne’s Three-Pronged-Attack on Albany collapsed. Burgoyne was captured in Saratoga. When the French heard of this American victory, they decided to aid our cause, and sent money, ships, and troops our way (most notably, to Yorktown). We can see the importance of this small battle today, but back then in the heat of things, it must have been hard to endure the loss. We are ever grateful that they hung on.

At the Battlefield site, we visited a small visitor’s center. The last time we visited, in 2004, the center was closed, so this was a real treat to finally go in.

This flag perked us up!

Outside the center was the coolest car I’d ever seen. A hybrid!! We quietly snuck in it for a quick photo.

It was fun to explore the area, fun to run down the trails and imagine life back then. But all the while the cloud of sobriety hangs above, reminding us that this little battle was more than just a little battle. These valiant men were fighting not for land or wealth, but for an idea: the right to live free and the right to our inalienable rights endowed by our Creator. These men weren’t blindly struggling, as so many pawns do in war (“the sport of kings”). These guys knew what they were fighting for, and they did it for posterity– for us!

Oriskany Battlefield: Bloodiest Battle of the American Revolution

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The Erie Canal Blacksmith

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