Posted on 05/06/2006 3:25:56 AM PDT by Pharmboy
Native American items found, but little evidence of British uncovered at Victory Woods
VICTORY MILLS -- Native American artifacts used thousands of years ago were found by archaeologists who examined the Victory Woods battlefield where British soldiers suffered their most decisive defeat in the American Revolution. Advertisement
Among the finds was a 6,000-year-old roasting pit used to cook acorns located just a few feet beneath the surface of the forest floor. The dig also turned up darts and spear points that date from 1500 B.C. and 500 A.D.
The National Park Service commissioned an archaeological study of Victory Woods, which lies about one-third of a mile southeast of the Saratoga Monument, in anticipation of opening the land to the public.
The site, which is where British soldiers retreated after they were defeated in what is called the turning point of the Revolution, will feature a trail and interpretive signs similar to those in the Saratoga National Historical Park nearby.
Archaeologists were surprised and disappointed by what they found.
The 22-acre site has never been developed, so earthen fortifications the soldiers built are still visible and one cannon battery is distinct.
"It is truly exceptional that despite some development efforts during the early industrial period that many of the fortification features are intact," said Chris Stephens, who gave a presentation on the study of Victory Woods Thursday to 30 people.
But other battlefield artifacts, including musket balls, cannon balls, belt buckles and buttons, were not found. They were likely picked clean years ago by scavengers with metal detectors.
Most of the researchers' 22 dig sites were concentrated near the monument and around a small pond.
The roasting pit is a collection of scattered stones, probably used to cook acorns by Mohican Indians.
Maps drawn at the time of the American Revolution showed the staff from Hartgen Archaeology Associates where to look for fortifications and war artifacts, explained Stephens.
Trying to soften the blow of not finding much evidence of the British army, Stephens called the fortifications the most valuable aspect of Victory Woods.
Once six to seven feet tall, they sheltered a dwindling army of 4,000 to 5,000 defeated men and their general, John Burgoyne, for seven days in October. He surrendered Oct. 14, 1777. After opening Victory Woods, park rangers look forward to a 2.75 mile trail connecting the Saratoga Monument, the house where American general Philip Schuyler lived and the battlefield.
In this view, you can see the battlefield's relationship to Albany, NY and Bennington, VT (follow Rte. 7 to the east). Follow Rte. 4 north and you will see the green area to the NE of Bemis Heights--that's the Saratoga National Battlefield State Park.
Here's a closer view:
There are a lot of historical sites in my area. These guys are all over the place.
I believe this is just down the road from you.
Anyone have a recipe? Last year, there was a bumper crop of acorns and we were all slip sliding around our yards, trying to rake them away.
Thanks SV, for the ping! This site is not far from me.
Amazes me how Brits could forage from Bemis Hts to Hoosick - but couldn't manage the final miles to Albany.
Stark told his men right before the battle: "TODAY THE BRITISH ARE OURS ...OR ...MOLLY STARK’S A WIDOW!"
We have Confederate battle sites down here (Mobile) that are out-of-bounds for metal detectorists. It's against the law.
Yep--it is now against the law at all federal sites. I do not know when the law was written, The damage was already done...
Perhaps the British or someone else during that period cleaned up the mess and there was nothing left to find by those EVIL metal detectorists.
I have read parts of the Baroness's writings that were contained in some of the books I have read on Saratoga. However, I did not know the Marshall House still stands.
I will visit it someday (perhaps this summer when I travel to Albany to visit the NY Giants summer camp).
there is a drive on to make Newtown Battlefield in Chemung county a National Park. this is a poor summary of what happened.
In 1779, General George Washington ordered General John Sullivan to gather an army and form an offensive against the Iroquois Nations and their allies.
Because of repeated attacks against the white settlers, his orders were to drive the Indians out of the wilderness of New York, to burn their villages and destroy their crops so they could not return. The army was to push its way northward to the shores of Lake Erie and to capture the British Forts Oswego and Niagara.
As the army of about 5,000 soldiers pushed northward from Pennsylvania, they came to this hill and here, on August 27, 1779, near an Indian Village called New Town, they engaged in a battle The Battle of Newtown.
http://www.pouchmusic.com/generalsullivan/newtown.htm
Indeed...familiar with that campaign (it is this Sullivan for whom "Sullivan Street" in Greenwich Village in NYC is named). Washington was responding to the Wyoming Massacre, engineered by the tribal chief, Joseph Brant. This was a particularly bloody campaign--on both sides. There was a massacre near Geneseo, NY among others.
One more thing since you brought up the NY State Indians: Only one of the five nations were on the Patriot's side in the RevWar--the Oneidas. That is a tribe that has always had my support.
if that was the one in PA... i think it was done by Queen Ester(blood thirsty as they come) who was Sister to Queen Catherine deMontour in Montour Falls NY. IIRC Ester was killed, but Catherine and her village escaped while Sullivan was still literally mired in the swamp between Newtown and Montour Falls, the heart of the FingerLakes region.
Thank you
My pleasure, doc.
He was not there--you are right. But it was him--from Wikipedia:
Brant became infamous for the Wyoming Valley "massacre", which it was widely believed he led, although he was not present at the battle. During the war, he was known as the Monster Brant and stories of his massacres and atrocities created a hatred of Indians that soured relations for 50 years. In later years historians have argued that he actually been a force for restraint in the violence that characterized many of the actions in which he was involved.
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