Battle of Oriskany

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This Day in History

May 26

American Revolution

Colonel William Crawford proceeds toward the Ohio, 1782

On this day in 1782, American Colonel William Crawford marches his army towards the Ohio River, where General George Washington has charged him with…

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(August 6, 1777), in the American Revolution, battle between British troops and American defenders of the Mohawk Valley, which contributed to the failure of the British campaign in the North. British troops under Lieutenant Colonel Barry St. Leger were marching eastward across central New York to join with British forces at Albany. En route, they arrived at Fort Stanwix (also called Fort Schuyler; now Rome, New York) and demanded its surrender. Attempting to come to the fort's rescue, 800 colonial militiamen under General Nicholas Herkimer were ambushed two miles west of Oriskany Creek by a force of about 1,200 British and their Iroquois allies. The battle that followed resulted in heavy casualties for both sides. St. Leger was unable to capture the fort and retreated to Oswego on August 22.

Copyright © 1994-2011 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. For more information visit Britannica.com.

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