Siege+of+Fort+Stanwix

__//**Siege of Fort Stanwix**//__

[[image:http://www.heritage-history.com/books/drake/indians/zpage296a.gif]]

 * BACKGROUND INFORMATION:**
 * TIME AND LOCATION:** August 2, 1777, and ended August 22, battle occurred on **Fort Stanwix**, in the Mohawk River Valley
 * COMMANDERS: Great Britain, Hesse Hanua**: Barry St. Leger, Sir John Johnson, John Butler, Joseph Brant
 * United States**: Peter Gansevoort, [|Nicholas Herkimer],Benedict Arnold

750 British, Hessian, Loyalists, and Canadians 800 Iroquois 750 regulars (Gansevoort)media type="youtube" key="Inv-FhxwWi4" width="291" height="244" align="right" 800 militia (Herkimer) 700 regulars, 100–300 militia and Indians (Arnold) from both [|New York]and [|Massachusetts], who at the time were under the command of [|Peter Gansevoort]. Before the siege went underway, the British had allied themselves with Loyalists, [|Canadians], Indians and the Hessian. This large group was led by British brigadier general Barry St. Leger. This was in fact, a diversion for another assault being done at the exact same time. The goal of this operation was to seize control of the [|Hudson Valley]. The diversion as a whole failed since Barry St. Leger could not advance in [|Albany], because the siege was ended when back-up troops led by [|Benedict Arnold]. Arnold's tactic was to make them seem like a much larger force, so the enemy retreated after that. The British and other enemies to the colonies had a variety of different soldiers, artillery, and mortars. The [|Colonists] had soldiers and a strong fort. In this video, a demonstration of the artillery they had is shown after a long introduction. Though in the end, the day was won through a bluff placed by the Colonists.
 * UNITS USED:** **Great Britain:**
 * United States**:
 * CAUSALITIES: Great Birtain:**
 * British, Hessian, Loyalist**: 5 killed, 47 wounded or sick, 41 captured or missing.
 * Indians:** 32 killed, captured, or missing, 34 wounded or sick.
 * United States:** 7 killed, 18 wounded, 9 missing.
 * BATTLE IN DETAIL:**The battle took place on August 2, 1777, at[| Fort Stanwix]. The fort contained the [|Continental Army]

of the sides. Benedict started out as an American general, but then betrayed them in order to get into the [|British army], where he got the title of Brigadier General. Although, his betrayal will not occur into later into the [|American Revolution] after he believed another
 * IMPORTANT PEOPLE:**
 * Benedict Arnold:** Benedict Arnold was born on January 14, 1741, and was a [|general] during the American Revolution, for both

general stole his credit for what he actually did. During the Siege of Fort Stanwix, Arnold was one of the most notable commanders

during the siege, leading the [|Americans] to victory. Benedict lead the coming force for the Americans. They made them believe they were an extremely large group that would easily crush the British. The bluff caused the defeat of the [|British] and the safety of Fort Stanwix. For this victory, Arnold received much credit as a general in the Colonialists Army.

nothing more then a solider, then proceeded to work up from all the conflict to become a Lieutenant-Colonel by the time the American Revolution began. He was selected to lead the western charge thaformed part of the 1777 [|Saratoga Campaign]. During the siege, the British generals underestimated the size of the of the number of people in the fort. Leger eventually learned that an enemy force was coming with a much larger force, so he sent a group of [|Native Americans] and [|Loyalists]. After this, the colonists raided the camps of their enemy. When word reached Leger that his Indian supporters abandoned him, he retreated from the battle to protect the last bit of dignity he had left after this battle. When he tried to go back to the battle, the rest of the army had already surrendered.
 * Barry St. Leger:** [|Barry St. Leger] was a British general who led a siege during the [|American Revolutionary War].Barry started out as