Part of a series of articles titled The Military History of Fort Schuyler.
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The siege of the fort began officially on August 3, 1777 when the British sent their first surrender demands to the fort, and would continue through the next 21 days. An advanced party of the British force had arrived on August 2, in an attempt to intercept supplies heading for the fort. This advance party was unsuccessful, and the supplies got safely into the fort. The British force was made up of approximately 800 British, German, loyalist, and Canadian troops and around 700-1,000 British allied Indians. They were under the command of Lt. Col. Barry St. Leger, who had been made a Brevet (temporary) Brigadier General for this campaign. Inside the fort were the Third New York Regiment and two detachments of Massachusetts troops. Together, they totaled around 750-800 men, all under the command of Col. Peter Gansevoort of the 3rd NY. The British eventually established their camps about a mile to the northeast of the fort. The loyalists and Indians established their main camps to the south and east of the fort, between the two landings on the Mohawk River.
On the morning of August 3, the garrison raised a hand-made flag up the flagpole and fired a saluting round towards the British camp. In the afternoon a summons to surrender was delivered to the garrison. In the words of Ensign Colbrath of the 3rd NY, the summons "was rejected with disdain." For the first few days of the siege, St. Leger could only bring musket and rifle fire against the fort, because his artillery was stuck on his boats on Wood Creek. The Tryon County Militia had blocked the creek by felling trees into its entire length. Both sides also sent parties out to gather hay from the fields around the fort, and to burn buildings that blocked lines of fire or could provide cover to an enemy.
On the morning of August 6, three militiamen made their way through the British siege lines to let Col. Gansevoort know that Gen. Nicholas Herkimer was coming to aid the fort with 800 of the local Tryon County Militia. In order to create a diversion that would help Herkimer get through to the fort, Lt. Col. Marinus Willett (second in command of the 3rd NY) was ordered to make a sortie against the enemy's camp. With 250 men (half NY, half MA) and a 3-pound gun, Willett charged out of the main gate and struck the Indian and loyalist camps by the Mohawk River. The camp guards were completely routed and fled towards the main British camp, leaving Willett's force in control of the two camps, which were immediately plundered and destroyed. Meanwhile, St. Leger had thrown together what troops he could, and moved to intercept Willett on his return to the fort. Before St. Leger's troops were fully formed to attack however, they came under fire from Willett's three pound gun. This, coupled with the cannon fire from the fort, broke up the British formations and allowed Willett's force to get back inside the fort "without the loss of a single man." Willett's force captured a large amount of equipment, papers, and personal belongings from the enemy's camp. From prisoners taken during the sortie, the garrison learned Herkimer' force had been ambushed by St. Leger's Indians near the Indian village of Oriska and had been forced to retreat.
Part of a series of articles titled The Military History of Fort Schuyler.
Previous: Here’s to the Red, White, & Blue!!!
Next: The Battle at Oriska
Last updated: October 10, 2024