Rome Free Academy - De O Wain Sta Yearbook (Rome, NY)

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Tue SENIOR ANNUAL 17 erected and named Fort Schuyler in honor of General Philip Schuyler. In 1777 General Peter put in command of Fort Schuyler, and when he found the work in an unfinished condition. But about a month later Colonel Marinus Willett and his regi- ment were assigned to the fort, and with Gansevoort was reached there he the assistance of General Gansevoort had the fort existing conditions would permit, being totally the strength of the besieging forces. in as defensible a state as the character and The garrison consisted of 950 men who had plenty of ammunition for their rifles but an insufficient amount for the cannon. In June, Thomas Spencer, a friendly Oneida half-breed, son that a body of troops comprising seven hundred Indians, under Joseph Brant, hundred and six hundred Tories, under Sir John Johnson ignorant of informed the garri- four regulars and Colonel St. Leger, were assembled at Oswego, and thence march to the Mo- hawk valley with Fort Schuyler as their objective point. This news did not arouse the slow Ger- mans of the upper valley, but seemed to paralyze them with fear. To counteract their timidity, Herkimer in- formed the inhabitants of the assembling of the asked all between the ages of 16 and 60 to be in readiness to go into battle at a moment’s notice, while preparations were made for the care of the women, children and invalids. His appeal had its intended effect and soon the militia and people who had be- of the nearness of the enemy moved with a degree of alacrity, which contrasted strongly with former fear. On the 3d of August Colonel St. Leger reached the fort with his forces of Tories and savages and demanded immediate surrender. No notice was taken of this General enemy’s forces at Oswego and come conscious their - command, and on the following morning St. rather confident, for he assured that Fort Schuyler would soon be in his possession and they hostilities commenced. Leger ap- peared General Burgoyne would meet as victors at Albany. St. Leger’s Fort Schuyler soon became known throughout the Mo- hawk valley and the inhabitants nobly with General August 4 Fort arrival at responded in accordance Herkimer’s appeal, eight hundred Dayton, now the town of Herkimer. When the Fort Schuyler and tried to scare the gar- their yells, General Herkimer and on had assembled at Indians gained access to rison by at Whitestown, the fort with was only eight miles from men. During the party’s stay at Whitestown General Herkimer sent Adam Hilmer and two scouts to inform General Gansevoort nearly a thousand of his approach and arrange matters for ry The ar- messengers was to be the co-operation of both armies. rival of the nounced by of cannon, but the couriers experienced an- three successive discharges considerable trouble in reaching the fort and did not arrive until 10 o’clock the following morning. The signal guns then fired, and General Herkimer made immediate plans for advancing, by which he hoped to divert the enemy’s at- tention. But on the morning of the 6th mutiny broke out in Herkimer’s camp. The junior officers and men became impetuous and denounced the slow movement of the General who would not march until he had some evidence that an advance would be made from the fort; but, finally, the taunts of his soldiers were incensed him so that he jumped upon a log and cried, “‘If you will have it so, the blood be upon your heads.” his sword he shouted in a voice all could hear, ‘“Vor- warts.” Waving For a few moments everything

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16 Tar SENIOR ANNUAL Orchestra furnished us with music, and dancing was continued until 2 o'clock, except for a slight intermission. Since it was ungenerous to reserve all the pleas- owing to the class is ures for ourselves, and select number with blessed, we shared our good time with some of the under classmen. After the old chestnut waltz, “Home, Sweet Home,” all departed, tired but happy, feeling that they had spent a most de- which our lightful evening. Senior Annual Banquet N ONE rainy night in Marchif a pass- er-by had been standing near Stan- wix Hall he would have said: “Ah! just landed from Salt Lake City. a Mormon accompanied by four wives, There goes and it is a pity, too, for he looks so young and unsophisticated to be bur- the cares of matrimony.” quite with Nevertheless, he dened scemed to be happy and gave each one the most care- ful attention. 3ut, forsooth, this was only our editor, Gilbert R. Hughes, accompanied by his assistants, to whom he gave a banquet heartily enjoyed by all present. ‘This done in the his- from has never before been tory of the R. F. A., and, aside being novel and original, it was one of the pleasantest functions of the school year. A carefully prepared menu was served in a private dining-room, decorated for the occasion, and a souvenir was pre- sented to each in the form of menu card. Mr. Hughes proved himself equal to the occasion as toastmaster, and the follow- “How the Miss ing toasts were responded to: Annual Should be Conducted,” MacFarland; T’he Future of the Board of Editors,’ Miss Marriott; ““The Stu- dent’s Duty in School,” Miss Graves; ‘“How the Faculty Should Conduct the School,” Miss Waldo. After the ban. quet each assistant editor was carefully escorted to her home by our worthy edis that he could not be phased by four girls, and each one pro. tor, who proved nounced the evening a most enjoyable one. D. A. R. ORATION The Battle of Oriskany p THE month of August, curred one of the most important bat- 1777, oc- tles of the American Revolution—one that was the most decisive and bloodiest it was the battle of Oriskany. The con- flict which makes Rome so rich as an his- torical site and the results of which were later seen in the battle of Saratoga. had arranged an General elaborate plan of campaign in London, He proposed to sever the connection be- Burgoyne tween the New England and Middle States, because it was in their union that the colonists gained their power. To provide for this undertaking, Burgoyne secured a force of four thousand British and three thousand Germans, assisted by some Canadians and a body of Indians. Another force, under St. Leger, was to leave Montreal for Oswego at the same time Burgoyne marched through the Champlain valley, and there body of Tories commanded by Sir John Johnson and Indians under Brant. These were to clear the Mohawk valley and meet Generals Burgoyne and Howe at Albany. In 1758, at the head of boat naviga- tion, where our city of Rome is now built, a fort was erected for the protection of the settlers against the French and Indi- ans during the last French war. This was Fort Stanwix. It was built well but was found to be undesirable for living quarters, and in 1776 a new fort was joined a

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1s THE SENIOR ANNUAL was in confusion by their eagerness to reach the enemy, but Herkimer soon had some degree of order with Colonel Vis- scher and the Caughnawaga Company in the the wagons. rear as guard of ammunition Colonel St. Leger had been apprised of General Herkimer’s approach on the evening of the 5th, and decided to mee t in the field rather than at hiscamp, and, accordingly, he dispatched Major Watts with eighty men of Sir John Johnson's Royal Greens, Sir John’s brother-in-law, the Brant, whose purpose was to seduce the mn lo carry and entire body of Indians under Americans into an ambuscade. out this scheme, a spot was selected two The the place was ideal for such miles west from Oriskany. topo- graphy of an enterprise. Here south, both opening to the north, were two ravines running north and and divided by a plateau of a few acres. About fifty feet above the ravine to the west the British troops were stationed, being sheltered by trees and bushes. The the eastern ravine. Indians were ambushed on east, north and south of the Meanwhile, General Herkimer had left Oriskany Creek, entirely ignorant of the ambuscade the enemy had prepared for him, only two miles distant. Herkimer’s troop entered the eastern end of the ravine, crossing the plank the the When they neared the western road which was used to transport heavy cannon and -wagons across swamp. slope a stray crack of a rifle was heard, fell This seemed to be a signal for action, and General Cox from his horse. for now rifle shot and war-whoop rang out from both sides. At the Herkimer drove his horse down the hill, and rally- first shot General ing his surprised men succeeded in draw- ing them up the slope. Colonel Visscher and a part of the Caughnawaga company had become sep- arated in the confusion and fled, followed by many of the Indians. General Herkimer had scarcely got his troops into a semblance of order when he was hit in the leg by a bullet, which at He did not retire from the field but seated him- self having lighted his pipe, continued to di- the same time killed his horse. upon his saddle under a tree, and, rect the manoceuvers of his army in his cool and collective manner. The The their bayonets. struggle lasted nearly an hour. discarded the fire and used But this action made no the enemy impression upon Americans who fought stubbornly. storm now burst upon the armies and them The rain lasted nearly an hour and the A severe forced to seek shelter. Americans took advantage of this occa- sion by binding up their wounds and carefully reloading their muskets. The storm finally passed over, and the battle sultry was resumed in the middle of a The the Americans, who were now formed on the the day. new position of south, being con- the Indians to plateau towards cealed by bushes caused become uneasy, to such an extent, that Major Watts advanced Royal Greens which had been As they with a detach- ment of sent out by Colonel S t. Leger. drew nearer, the Americans fired upon them, but they kept on advancing until the became a hand-to-hand en- counter. fight The signal guns were now heard from the voort’s advance. fort, announcing General Ganse- This signal was taken Butler, changed the dress of a company of Royal advantage of by General who Greens so they resembled the Americans, the hats coats of the dead for the occasion. ‘These the direction of using and met the patriots approached from