The history of 18th century conflicts in and near the Mohawk Valley is of special interest to me as our family's home is on the northern reaches of the Mohawk River in upstate New York; one can wade across it from behind our home. The house in which we live was built in 1795 by early settlers with a major expansion in the Federal style in 1812. Our town, established in 1798, is eight miles north along the river from Fort Stanwix in Rome, N.Y. The river flows southward from Northern New York and shifts eastward in Rome where it becomes a major arterial toward the Hudson Valley.

The Oneida Indians are our neighbors on a small reservation twenty miles to the west. The Oneidas were one of the tribes of the Iroquois confederation that played a highly significant role in the war in the valley. (The Oneidas in the past few decades successfully litigated land claims stemming from the violation of the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua; they parlayed their claims into a massive casino and resort complex, the first in New York State.)

The names of the pioneers noted in the book are still heard today among descendants or place names: Helmer, Bellinger, Herkimer, Gansevoort and Willet.

The prewar settlers in the Mohawk Valley were markedly different from the Dutch who populated the Hudson Valley to Albany and Schenectady in the 17th and 18th centuries. These newer arrivals were English, Irish and Scotch-Irish and German Palatines. Three of the most influential Europeans from mid-century through the war years were Sir William Johnson, Philip Schuyler and Nicholas Herkimer. Johnson as a young Irishman came to the valley to manage an estate owned by his uncle. Schuyler was from Dutch lineage who clustered in the Hudson Valley, Albany and surrounding environs. Herkimer was one of the Palatine Germans who, fleeing religious persecution, ended up settling in the rich farm lands of the Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys. A fourth person who figured large in the conflict was Thayendanegea, also known as Joseph Brandt, a leader of the Mohawks.

Johnson was a veteran of the French & Indian War whose renown for his defense at Lake George, resulted in a baronetcy granted by King George III. Johnson parlayed land deals into a large fortune. He was adroit in establishing relationships with the Iroquois, especially benefiting from trade with them, mainly in furs. Johnson was appointed superintendent of Indian affairs for the northern region of the New York colony. Johnson was unquestionably the most influential representative of the crown in the western reaches of the colonies. (His estate located in Johnstown is well-maintained by New York State.) Although Johnson died in 1774 his children, relatives and allies were leaders of the Tory resistance in the Revolutionary War in the valley.

Schuyler had a mansion in Albany and maintained a second home in Schuylerville near Saratoga. General Schuyler would lead the organized efforts of patriots against the crown's forces in northern and western New York.

Herkimer was likewise a wealthy man, making his fortune in land and trading at the westernmost settlement along the river. His home near the Little Falls carry provided a lucrative trade with those bringing goods to and from the more westerly settlements along the river. He was the acknowledged leader of the Palatines and commanded the Tryon County militia in its defense of the region, most notably at the Battle of Oriskany.

Brandt was a remarkable leader. He was close to Johnson who provided him with an education at a Massachusetts school. Brandt had been to England and had an audience with the King. Brandt will cause considerable havoc to rebels across the Valley throughout the war. Brandt's sister, Molly, was Johnson's common law wife and, as we will see, played a critical role in the Battle of Oriskany. Brandt was influential in decisions made by the Iroquois tribes in their alignment with the opposing powers. The Mohawks, Senecas and Cayugas supported the English and Tories. The Onondagas sought to remain neutral and the Oneidas and Tuscaroras sided with the Americans. As we will describe later, the war brought about the end of the confederation and the downward slide of the once-great Six Nations.

The inhabitants of the Mohawk Valley were deeply split over the break from England. General lines of division can be seen -- the Palatines, Dutch and Oneidas/Tuscaroras for the rebels and the English, Mohawks (and Cayugas and Senecas further west) supporting the crown. The Onondagas at the heart of the Iroquois nation sought to remain neutral. The Iroquois tribes allied with the British out of loyalty to John Johnson, the late William's son and from the belief that English control would stem the continual westward encroachment on their lands. Notwithstanding these broad categories, personal affiliations of individuals were highly mixed, i.e. neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother. (General Herkimer's brother was a Tory supporter.) When one thinks of the Revolutionary War as an international struggle between nations one loses sight of this conflict as a civil war on American soil. The fractures between the region's residents produced viscous fighting and long-lasting bitterness.

Much of the conflict in the valley was in the form of raids, sometimes large in scale like the Stone Arabia raid of 1780 and the foray against the village of Cherry Valley. The Sullivan-Clinton campaign against the Cayugas and Senecas wrought significant destruction to their villages in the Finger Lakes region. To denote these as raids not battles understates how bloody they were; the action against Cherry Valley is rightly called a massacre. Beyond the organized raids were numerous attacks against individual homesteads across the valley. What made the Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys so critical to the American war effort was its productive farm land. Washington once said that the loss of Mohawk Valley crops would cripple his army.

The siege of Fort Stanwix and the Battle of Oriskany aimed at relieving the siege were the most significant large scale battles of the region. Fort Stanwix is located at the westward passable end of the Mohawk River. A one-mile portage (the "Great Carry") from there to Wood Creek opened up passage to Lake Ontario and further westward; this made the locale strategically vital. The Americans under Col. Gansevoort reoccupied a fallen-down French & Indian War fort securing this critical spot. The British under St. Leger intended to capture the fort so that St. Leger could move down the valley to hook up at Saratoga with Burgoyne advancing from the north and Howe coming up the Hudson Valley. If successful this could sever New York from New England, a devastating outcome for the rebel cause.

Renovations strengthening the fort were just in time to gird for St. Leger's siege. Hearing of the assault on the fort, Herkimer mustered the Tryon County militia to march from the present day village of Herkimer to attack the British from the rear. Molly Brandt, residing in present day Canajoharie, got wind of the plan and tipped off the British. The British with strong support from Joseph Brandt's Mohawks ambushed Herkimer's force of 800 militiamen and Oneidas in a wooded ravine in Oriskany about six miles from Fort Stanwix. The militia were totally surprised and a bloody, chaotic fight ensured. The battle is thought to have resulted in the greatest number of American casualties by percentage of troops engaged in any Revolutionary War battle. Both sides withdrew from the field and Herkimer later died of wounds sustained there.

While the British soldiers and Indians were away dealing with Herkimer at Oriskany Gansevoort's complement parried from the fort and ravaged the loosely-guarded Indian encampments looting large quantities of their possessions and implements. This greatly discouraged the Indians who on discovering this broke camp and departed. With even fewer in his ranks and the fort handily withstanding the Redcoat artillery barrage, St. Leger realized the futility of his campaign and retreated west to Fort Oswego on Lake Ontario. (An American force under Gen. Benedict Arnold was dispatched from Saratoga to relieve the fort, but arrived after St. Leger's retreat.) How decisive St. Leger's failure to link up with Burgoyne at Saratoga in the American victory there is a matter of speculation, but certainly the American's victory at Fort Stanwix that denied him his aims had some impact.

Throughout 1780 and as far forward as 1783 there were sporadic engagements between raiding Tory forces and America patriots throughout the the Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys. Perhaps underappreciated in comparison with the major campaigns of Washington and Greene in the mid-Atlantic and South, the war in the Mohawk Valley was unquestionably of major significance in the history of the war.

Rancor did not end with the cessation of hostilities. Tories were harassed often through the expropriation of their land; many relocated to Canada. The conflict destroyed the once-mighty Iroquois confederation and lands occupied by the nation's tribes were swallowed up by advancing settlers in just a few decades. ( )

Being a resident of the subject area, I found this book totally fascinating, learning things I did not know and seeing how the region I live in has developed from its earliest roots. The book was totally engaging for a history buff, pro or amature. ( )

I don't often give a book a middling rating, but this is genuinely a mixed bag.

On the one hand, it IS a good general introduction to the topic. The telling of the Battle of Oriskany, for example, is riveting, and is as well told as anywhere.

On the other hand, it fails - and fails badly - as a scholarly treatment of the subject. It's largely dependent upon secondary sources. But the failings are deeper than that.

Some examples:
- it reports the parley between General Herkimer and Joseph Brant; and it reports the actual conversation between them - and then cites Drums Along the Mohawk as the source for this. DAtM is, of course, a historical novel. (Wouldn't that be an instant failing grade in a high school paper?)
- it gives two pages to a map documenting the route of the Sullivan-Clinton campaign - and the map is of only very limited utility, as it fails to actually show Clinton's route (his route up from the Mohawk Valley, that is...), or to give the dates of their progress across central New York.
- it also wanders far off topic. Berleth notes that the story of the Tory/Indian raids in the Valley is repetitious, and so skips over the details of many of them - and yet he gives fully SIX PAGES recounting the Battle of Valcour Island. (Which, while certainly a rousing story, lies completely outside the scope of this book. The British raids up the Hudson Valley - on Kingston, for example - were geographically much closer to the subject of "the War in the Mohawk Valley".) We get a lengthy telling of Valcour Island and then of the fall of Ticonderoga and the battle of Hubbardton (over in VERMONT) - but not even a mention of the "Battle" of Normanskill? We get several pages on the Battle of Bennington in detail, but not a word on Burgoyne's surrender? Clearly, the author loses the thread at some point.

(more to follow) ( )