The Bennington daily banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1877-1877, 1877-08-13

I'd es of the limits Of the battle. They mark I'll
d, center here. Here gathered the brave mil
he tla without uniforms, in the garb of farmer
n Tor their tiresides and their homes, and til
n republic just born which was to be- AeaiDs
a them here, in the ravine, pursuing and car
" turing the rear guard on the east of the IA
Ie vine or down in it, and thence towards tb
IT river, rushed from the forests, uniforme,
It and well equipped, Johnson's Greens, in thei
d gay cOlors, the German chasseurs, Europe'
3, best soldiers, with picked men of British
z and Canadian regiments, and the IndiaI
!. warriors, decked in the equipments will
Y which they make war brilliant Some of tbi
9 science Herkimer saw; some of itIextent o.
i space aud thickness Of forest hid from hi,
/ eye. But here he faced the enemy, and her,
he ordered the battle.
4 During the carnage storm of wind and
3 rain aud lightning brought respite. Old
I men preserve the tradition that in the path
r by which the enemy came broad windfall
Q was cnt, and was seen for long years after
r wards The elements caused only q short
lull In came at the thick of the strife, a
! detachment of JOhnsons Greens; and they
l sought to appear reinforcements for the pa
: triots' They paid dearly for the fraud,
] Tor thirty were very quickly killed.
Capt. Gardiner slew three with his spear,
one after the other. Capt. Dilleubeck, as
sailed by three, Drained one, shot the second,
aud bayOneted the the third. Henry Thomp-
son grew faint with hunger, sat down ON the
body of dead soldier, ate his lunch, and,
refreshed, resumed the fight, VIM. Merck
10y, mortally wounded. to friend offering
him assistance said '"Take care of yourself
leave me to my fate" Such men could not
be whipped The Indians, finding they were
losing many, became suspicious that their
allies wished to destroy them, and fired on
them, giving unexpected aid to the patriot
band. Tradition relates that an Oneida
maid, only fifteen years old, daughter of a
chief, fought on the side of the patriots, fir
ing her life, and Shouting her battle.cry.
The Indians raised the cry Of retreat. 90
nah y "0Onahp johnson heard the firing
of sortie from the fort. The British fell
back after five hours of desperate fighting,
Herkimer and his gallant men held the
ground
FHB LOSSES,
The losses at 0riskany were terrible. st,
Leger claims that 400 of Herkimers men were
killed and 200 captured, leaving only 200 to
escape. No such number of prisoners was
ever accounted for The Americans admit
ted 200 killed. one-fourth of the whole army.
ST. Leger places the number Of Indians killed
at W, and the like number wounded, includ-
ing favOItte chiefs and confidential warriors.
1t was doubtless greater, for the Seneeas
alone lost 30 killed, and in all the tribes
twice as many must have been killed. st.
Leger makes no account of any of his
whites killed or wounded. Butler, however.
mentions Of New Workers (Johnson's Greens)
killed: Capt. Mcdonald Capt, Watts dan
gerously wounded, and one suhaltem. Of
the Tory Rangers Oapts, Wilson and Hare,
their chiefs after Butler) were killed, With
such loss of officers. the death list of pri-
Yates must have been considerable. The
Green's alone lost 30. In Britain it was he
lieved as many Of the British were killed bv
the Indians as by the militia. The loss of
British and indians must hnve approacbed
lSO KILLED Eye-witnessas were found who
estimpted u rs great rs those OF the 4lnori-
eaps' The patriot dead included Col. Cox,
and Lieut.-Col. Hunt, Majors Eisenfords.
Van Slyck, Klapsattle and Bleven; and
Capts. Diefendorf, Grouse, Bowman, Dillen-
back, Davis, Pettelgill Helmer, Graves and
BoNi with No less than four members of the
ITyon county committee of safety. who were
present as volunteers. They were Isaac
Paris, Jacob Snell Samuel Rillington, John
Dygertr Spencer, the Oneida, who gave the
warning 10 the patriots. was also among the
killed. The leads Of the patriot organiza
tion in the valley were swept of Herlrimers
glory is that \out of such slaughter he |
snatched the substance of victory. In no
other battle of the revolution did the ratio
OF deaths rise 30 high. AT the battle of Wa
terloo, the French loss was not IN so large a
ratio to the number engaged, as was Herki- |
mer's at 0riskany, nor did the allies suffer
as much on that bloody field, ~.
FTightfUl harbarities we're wreaked on the
eodles OF the dead, and ON the prisoners who
fell into the hands of the Indians. The pa-
triots held the field at the close of the fight
and we're able TO carry off their wounded |
Among these was the brave and sturdy Her 1
kimer, who was taken on litter Of houghs 4
to his bone, and after suffering the anputa-
tlon OF hls leg, died August 10th, like
Christian hero. OF the dead, some at least
lay unburied until IS days later. Arnllds
column rendered to them that last service.
st. LegeTs advance was checked. HIS
Junction with Burgoyne was prevented E
The rising of the lOyalists in the valley did /
not occur. He claimed, indeed, the ''eom-
pletest victory" at Oriskany. He notified
the garrison that Burgoyne was victorious
at Albany, aud demanded peremptorily the
surrender of the fort, threatening that pro-
longed resistance would result in general
massacre at ,the hands of the enraged In-
dians. johnson, Claus and Butler issued an /
address to the inhabitants of Tryon country.
urging them to submit because Surrounded
by victorious armies" Col, Ganseyoorl
treated the summons as an insult, and held
his post With o sturdy steadiness. The peo-
pie OF the valley sided with Congress AGAINST
the King, For sixteen days after Oriskany
st. Leger lay before 1T. Stanwix, and heard
more and more clearly the rumbles of fresh
resistance from the valley, ~
THE RELIEF UNDER ARNoLDs LEAD.
Col, Willet, who led the gallant sortie, ac-
eompanied by Maj. Stockwell, risked no less
danger on a mission through thickets and
hidden foes, to inform Gen. Schuyler at Al
bany Of the situation. In council of Off
GERS, bitter opposition arose to Sohuyler's
proposal to send relief to Fort Stanwix, on
the plea that II would weaken the army at
Albany, the more important position. schuy-
Ter was equal to the occasion, acting prompt
ly, and with great energy. Gentlemen"
said he Il take the responsibility upon my
self. Where sthe Bngadler who will com
mand the relief ! shall beat up for volun.
teers tomorrow" Benedict Arnold, then
unstaiued by treason, promptly offered to
lead the army On the next day, August
eth, 800 volunteers were enrolled, chiefly Of
Gen. Lamed's Massachusetts, brigade. Gen.
Israel Putnam ordered the regiments of Col.
Cortland and Livingston from Peekskill to
join the relief against those worse than in
fernals," Arnold was to take supplies wher-
ever he pouId not fhnfn aud iaII,- mt 90