table actor in various positions, civil and military, in the
great drama of the Revolution during its entire continuance.

In 1777, the darkest and most hopeless period of our revolutionary
contest, he led a reinforcement from Albany to Fort Stanwix, up the
Mohawk Valley, then alive with hostile Indians and Tories, and escaped
them all, and he was in this fort, under Col. Ganzevoort, during its
long and close siege by Col. St. Leger and his infuriated Indian allies.
The whole embodied militia of the Mohawk Valley marched to its relief,
under the bold and patriotic Gen. Herkimer. They were met by the
Mohawks, Onondagas, and Senecas, and British loyalists, lying in ambush
on the banks of the Oriskany, eight miles from the fort. A dreadful
battle ensued. Gen. Herkimer was soon wounded in the thigh, his leg
broken, and his horse shot under him. With the coolness of a Blucher, he
then directed his saddle to be placed on a small knoll, and, drawing out
his tobacco-box, lit his pipe and calmly smoked while his brave and
unconquerable men fought around him.

This was one of the most stoutly contested battles of the Revolution.
Campbell says: "This battle made orphans of half the inhabitants of the
Mohawk Valley." [4] It was a desperate struggle between neighbors, who
were ranged on opposite sides as Whig and Tory, and it was a triumph,
Herkimer remaining master of the field. During the hottest of the
battle, Col. Willett stepped on to the esplanade of the fort, where the
troops were paraded, and requested all who were willing to fight for
liberty and join a party for the relief of Herkimer, to step forward one
pace. Schoolcraft was the first to advance. Two hundred and fifty men
followed him. An immediate sally was made. They carried the camp of Sir
John Johnson; took all his baggage, military-chest, and papers; drove
him through the Mohawk River; and then turned upon the howling Mohawks
and swept and fired their camp. The results of this battle were
brilliant. The plunder was immense. The lines of the besiegers, which
had been thinned by the forces sent to Oriskany, were carried, and the
noise of firing and rumors of a reinforcement, animated the hearts of
the indomitable men of that day.

[Footnote 4: Annals of Teyon County.]

After the victory, Herkimer was carried by his men, in a litter, thirty
or forty miles to his own house, below the present town of Herkimer,
where he died, from an unskillful amputation, having just