ABSTRACT
Fort Stanwix stood on the right bank of the Mohawk River and had been built, during the previous war, to dominate the portage from Wood Creek. Learning of the threat to Fort Stanwix, Nicholas Herkimer called out the militia of Tyron County, summoning all men capable of bearing arms between the ages of sixteen and sixty to join him at Fort Drayton, about thirty miles down the Mohawk River from the fort. Leaving the lake, St Leger advanced by way of Lake Oneida and Wood Creek, and approached Fort Stanwix on August 3rd. Accompanied by 950 Continentals from Brigadier-General Learned’s brigade, General Arnold marched to Fort Drayton, which he reached on August 21st. On August 23rd, Arnold, who had advanced to within twenty miles of the fort, received a message from Gansevoort that St Leger had fled. Leaving 700 soldiers at Fort Stanwix, Arnold returned to rejoin the main army at Albany.
