For Immediate Release
1777: The Oneidas and the Birth of the American Nation (The following was
compiled from the research of Tony Wonderley, Oneida Nation historian)
ONEIDA NATION TERRITORY, via Oneida, NY -- Fighting for the cause
of American liberty and independence, Oneida Nation warriors fought and
died on battlegrounds ranging from Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to the
Canadian border of New York during the Revolutionary War. The alliance
forged with the fledgling United States was of the Oneidas' choosing. It
was one they honored throughout the war and still honor today. The price
paid by the Oneida Nation for this stand is almost beyond comprehension.
They lost their homes and property; they endured starvation, disease, and
the sometimes violent bigotry of their allies; and they lost the lives of
at least a third of their people.
The Oneida Nation helped the American cause in several ways
throughout the war. However, at the most crucial moment of the conflict,
in the decisive year of the war, the Oneidas played a strategically
significant role in the American Revolution and changed the course of
history.
For generations, Oneida Members have kept alive the tradition of
the timely help they offered to the United States and the terrible
suffering they endured in the American cause.
William Rockwell, an Oneida leader early in this century, recorded
a remark made by an elderly Oneida in 1909: "If all the skulls of the
Oneida Indians killed by British forces in fighting to help the colonials
get their freedom were piled together, the pile would be larger than the
capital building in Albany." (Rockwell Papers) 1777: Decisive Year of the
War Great Britain's war strategy was to isolate New England from the
other colonies. New England, considered the hotbed of the colonist
rebellion, was to be treated as a localized cancer which could be
separated from the American provinces. The British believed that without
New England, anti-British sentiment would die down in the colonies.
The physical separation of New England was to be accomplished by
two British armies invading south from Canada. The larger, under Gen.
Burgoyne, would proceed down the natural corridor formed by the Richelieu
River, Lake George, and Lake Champlain to the Hudson River. Around
Albany, this army would link up with the second army which would have
followed the Mohawk Valley east to the Hudson. This smaller force under
St. Leger would first secure the Oneida Carrying Place -- a tremendously
vital node for communication and transportation throughout the entire
Northeast -- guarded by Fort Stanwix (called Schuyler by the Americans) at
Rome. St. Leger's army also would take the Mohawk Valley, important to
both sides as a key agricultural district and a pesky region of patriot
sentiment in its own right. These movements would be supported by a third
army in New York City commanded by Gen. Howe.
Both invasions were defeated (St. Leger at Fort Stanwix and
Burgoyne at Saratoga). Largely as a result of these battles, France
declared war on Great Britain and rendered invaluable aid to the American
cause. Spain also joined the war and Great Britain was suddenly faced
with a world war. After 1777, British resources were committed to the
most strategically important theaters of this global conflict. To the
British government, the American colonies became a sideshow, a backwater
in a larger war (Piers Mackesy, The War for America, 1775-1783; 1964,
Cambridge: Harvard University Press). Taking Sides
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) tradition holds that the council fire at
Onondaga, the central meeting place for the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, was
covered during the Revolution. Each nation was free to follow its own
course in the war (Morgan:113-14; Tehanetorens). Most Haudenosaunee were
drawn into the struggle; most ended up fighting on the British side.
The Oneidas say they chose to fight with the Americans because
they believed in the cause of American liberty. They were well informed
on these issues. On several occasions, groups of Oneida leaders toured
eastern cities to determine, as they put it, the merits of the case
(Penrose 1981:55; Graymount: 92, 100; Simms 1883:13-15; Fort Stanwix
typescript 784). Their discussion on the merits of the case was ongoing.
In 1779, for example the American commander of Fort Stanwix reported how
the Oneidas: "sat in council and every individual desired to declare his
final resolution as to the part to be taken in the present seeming crisis
of their affairs."
At the same time should any choose to join the enemy, free liberty was
given to withdraw from their tribe...the result of their meeting was a
unanimous resolution to stand by each other in defence of their lives and
liberty against any enemy that might be disposed to attack them...[T]hey
would never violate their alliance with the American States, and though
they would not be the aggressor or wantonly provoke any tribe to war, yet
they should be henceforth on their guard against any enemy whatsoever"
(Clinton Papers 4:492-3). Oriskany, Fort Stanwix, Saratoga
A number of Oneidas were in Fort Stanwix during the 1777 siege and
according to testimony given in 1877, "aided in driving off the British
and Indians trying to undermine and blow up Fort Stanwix." American
volunteers of the Mohawk Valley (Tryon County Militia) rushing to relieve
the siege ran into an ambush just west of the Oriskany village. A
tremendous slaughter of Americans occurred during the opening minutes of
the Battle of Oriskany. Those who remained alive, and had not run,
gathered into a circle around the commander Herkimer where they fought
heroically the rest of the day. That is where Oneidas were. That day
they joined the war, fighting beside Herkimer's band.
Perhaps the most famous was Te-haw-en-ga-rag-wen (Man with Snow
Shoes, called Hanyerry or John Jury by English speakers), a leader of the
Oneida village at Oriskany. A contemporaneous newspaper reference to this
battle describes him as: "a friendly Indian, with his wife and son, who
distinguished themselves remarkably on that occasion. The Indian killed
nine of the enemy, when, having received a ball through his wrists that
disabled him from using his gun, fought with his tomahawk. His son killed
two and his wife, on horseback, fought by his side with pistols during the
whole action" (Scott 1927:224).
That this was Tehawengaragwen and his wife, Tyonajanegen, is
confirmed by an account which originated with that lady: "Hon Yerry was
shot through the right wrist so as to disable him from loading his gun (he
on horseback), when his wife repeatedly loaded it for him, and he managed
to aim its content at the enemy. He had a sword hanging by his side,
indicative of his rank as a captain or war leader. His wife had a gun
also and used it too in the fight. So she related and added that there
was a good deal of close intermixing between Americans and British, and
American and British Indians, and she could see the British all around"
(Draper 11:196-7).
The British drew off from Fort Stanwix on August 21. A month
later, Oneida warriors gathered in Albany to take up the hatchet in the
American cause; that is, to formally declare war. Immediately, they were
asked to join the American army battling Burgoyne around Saratoga. They
did this, according to an American account, "with great alacrity, and
with such dispatch as to reach General Gates before noon next day, and by
night the remainder arrived at the camp, making in all near one hundred
and fifty. They have already taken about 30 prisoners and intercepted
some dispatches from General Burgoyne to Gen. Powel, commander at
Ticonderoga" (NY Hist. Soc. 1880:190-1).
According to the testimony of a local man whose father fought at
Saratoga, the Oneidas were "brave men who fought like bulldogs til
Burgoyne surrendered" (Draper 11:264-5).
After Oriskany and Fort Stanwix, the State of New York expressed
its appreciation of the Oneidas: "Resolved, that the Oneyda Nation are
the allies of this State and that we shall consider any attack upon them
as an attack upon our own People" (Public Papers of Clinton 2:272).
In December, the American Congress gratefully addressed the
Oneidas in these terms: "We have experienced your love, strong as the
oak, and your fidelity, unchangeable as truth. You have kept fast hold of
the ancient covenant chain and preserved it free from rust and decay, and
bright as silver. Like brave men, for glory you despised danger. You
stood forth in the cause of your friends and ventured your lives in our
battles. While the sun and moon continue to give light to the world, we
shall love and respect you. As our trusty friends, we shall protect; and
shall at all times consider your welfare as our own" (Journals of the
Continental Congress 9:996).
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Daniel Umstead The Oneida Indian Nation
Internet Coordinator "A Sovereign Nation
Oneida Indian Nation in
http://one-web.org/oneida/ Cyber-space!"
315-361-6300 http://one-web.org/oneida/
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