The Battle of Oriskany was one of the bloodiest battles in the North American theater of the Revolutionary War and a significant engagement of the Saratoga Campaign 1777. An American party trying to relieve the Siege of Fort Stanwix was ambushed by a party of Loyalists and allies of several Native American tribes, primarily Iroquois.
This was one of the few battles in the war in which almost all of the participants were North American: Loyalists and allied Indians fought against Patriots and allied Oneida in the absence of British regular soldiers.
The Loyalist and Indian force ambushed Herkimer’s force in a small valley about six miles east of Fort Stanwix, near the present-day village of Oriskany, New York. During the battle, Herkimer was mortally wounded. The result of the battle remains ambiguous. The apparent Loyalist victory was significantly affected by a sortie from Fort Stanwix in which the Loyalist camps were sacked, spoiling morale among the allied Indians.
For the Iroquois nations, the battle marked the beginning of a civil war, as Oneida warriors under Col. Louis and Han Yerry allied with the American cause. Most of the warriors of other Iroquois nations, especially the Mohawk and Seneca, allied with the British.
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