Oriskany & Freedom On The Range

 

The American Revolution’s bloodiest hour came in the Battle of Savannah. The bloodiest per capita battle of the Revolution took place on the New York frontier, in the Battle of Oriskany. Mohawk, Seneca and Loyalist troops ambushed an American militia force headed west to relieve the siege of
Fort Stanwix in the summer of 1777 during the British offensive that would end with a resounding American victory at Saratoga in October.

The August 6 battle at Oriskany was intense and terrible, with much of it devolving into melee combat among the trees. While the Loyalist and Indian force won a clear tactical victory, it was a dihearteneing one for the Iroquois, because Seneca and Mohawk found themselves fighting Oneida who had chosen to ally themselves with the American rebels. The civil war that was engulfing the Mohawk Valley was also a civil war among the Haudenosaunne people. The League of the Iroquois was broken.

Just stumbled across a worthy episode of Battlefield Detectives covering the battle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sHI4Pt_QGs

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The folks at INSP are serving up another documentary series of note, titled Freedom on the Range. From Cowboys and Indians Magazine:

Five legendary Black cowboys who helped tame the Old West —  Nat Love, Bose Ikard, Bass Reeves, Bill Pickett, and George McJunkin — are celebrated by historians, commentators and modern-day African-American cowpunchers in Freedom on the Range, the hour-long docudrama produced by Al Roker Entertainment and scheduled to premiere at 7 pm ET Saturday on INSP.

“The significant contributions of African American cowboys in the shaping of America have largely gone unnoticed,” says Craig Miller, Vice-President of Original Programming & Development for INSP.  “In Freedom on the Range, we pay tribute to these unsung groundbreakers by telling the true stories of some of the most courageous trailblazers that helped tame the American West. While these are not household names to most of us, their stories are fascinating and need to be told as part of our nation’s history. This is a show that audiences don’t want to miss.”

Hats off to the programmers at INSP for giving us frontier stories that have been overshadowed by the over-told tried-and-true yarns. It’s about time.