[SAMWolf]

The Battle of Oriskany:
"Blood Shed a Stream Running Down"

That the late Incursions of the Enemy & their Savages into the said county [Tryon], & upon a part of the County of Albany have reduced the Inhabitants to the utmost distress. The Harvests not yet gathered in are rotting upon the ground. The Grass uncut. The fallow Grounds not yet ploughed. The Cattle in a great measure destroyed."

For hundreds of years, central and western New York had been inhabited by the six member nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. During the colonial period the French, the Dutch, and the British coveted its strategic location along an important fur trade route. The Mohawk Valley's rich farmland also yielded great quantities of food, and the land attracted European settlers. By the time of the Revolutionary War, Dutch, German, Irish, Scotch, and British settlers prospered from lucrative trade and productive farms.

Yet the whole area suffered from long-established prejudices and hatred between groups and individuals. When war broke out, European Americans and American Indians fought each other for control of New York's political power, land, and commerce. The sentiments quoted above would be repeated time and time again as personal vendettas and reprisals escalated to bloody massacres and battles. No episode better captures the brutal civil war in the Mohawk Valley than the Battle of Oriskany on August 6, 1777, where neighbor fighting neighbor transformed a quiet ravine into a bloody slaughterhouse.

William Harper and Fredrick Fisher to Gov. George Clinton, August 28, 1777 from Public Papers of George Clinton, Vol. 2 (Albany: State of New York, 1900)

[SAMWolf]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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Tribute to a Generation - The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004.

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Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

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Iraq Homecoming Tips

~ Thanks to our Veterans still serving, at home and abroad. ~ Freepmail to Ragtime Cowgirl | 2/09/04 | FRiend in the USAF

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The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

Click on Hagar for
"The FReeper Foxhole Compiled List of Daily Threads"

[snippy_about_it]

Good story Sam. I hadn't known of it until now. Thanks for bringing it to the Foxhole.

[PhilDragoo]

I'm Benedict F. Arnold and I approved this message.

"I actually voted FOR the American Revolution--
BEFORE I voted AGAINST it."

My opponents, the right-wing Minutemen, Sons of Liberty, and the Patrick Henry wingnuts, will distort my record, but let me make it perfectly clear.

I've voted for some of the biggest defense budgets--that they were for the British Army is not relevant. Did you know I was awarded three Violet Hearts in Vermont?

I did not realize when I voted for this current operation just how badly George W. was going to fugue it up.

We've offended our allies and are fighting a unilateral campaign costing the lives of our sons--well, not my sons, as I'm just a gigolo--but that's my business, not yours.

So, it is time for a regime change in New York and Philadelphia, higher taxes, reaching out to our friends across the Atlantic.

I've just returned from the Palace of Versailles where I helped draft the Tories Peace Treaty which begins with American forces withdrawing from . . . America.