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General Peter Gansevoort, Hero of Fort Stanwix
Note: This story was excerpted from our book “One Hundred Years in Review 1897 - 1997.” Contact the chapter for more details.
Peter Gansevoort was born into a prominent family in Albany, New York, on July 17, 1749, the eldest son of Harme Gansevoort and Magdalena Douw. His ancestor, Harmen
Gansevoort, had arrived in the Dutch colony of Fort Orange by 1660, and had become a prosperous brewer and farmer, a substantial member of the community enough for his children to
marry well. By the time of Peter’s birth the Gansevoorts were counted among Albany’s patrician families.
As the Revolutionary War clouds gathered, most of the sons of these families showed characteristic Dutch caution in choosing sides. However, Peter and his brother, Leonard,
had no such hesitation. Peter joined the militia and became a lieutenant in the third ward in 1775. Peter was only 26, too young to have military experience the other officers had
from the French and Indian War, but he was a natural leader, well-built at over 6 feet tall, and was tactful and persuasive.
When Major General Phillip Schuyler, Commander of the Northern Department, asked for suitable candidates from the area who were willing to serve, he was appointed by
Congress on 30 June 1775 with the commission of Major in the Continental Army in charge of the 2nd New York Regiment.
By the time Schuyler’s army reached Albany in July, on its way north, Peter was already in the field with General Richard Montgomery, Schuyler’s second in command.
While stationed at Chambly in the Adirondacks, Peter became ill from a disease that swept the unsanitary camp, and it plagued him off and on for the rest of his life. But he
recovered enough to participate in the successful assault on St. Johns and its surrender on 5 Nov 1775.
Peter’s illness returned and he was unable to assist Montgomery at the battle of Quebec. This time, the British were prepared for the Americans. On the last day of 1775, in a
blinding snow storm, Montgomery was killed and Arnold was wounded. By the time Peter was well enough to join the army, he could only gather together what remained of the
troops to prepare them for their retreat from Canada.
On 19 Mar 1776, Peter was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and placed in command of Ft. George (Ft. William Henry) at Lake George. In July 1776, he was still contending with
the problem of undisciplined troops who would desert without qualms, and he handled their homesickness by granting generous furloughs and their boredom by staging military
ceremonies. This provoked sharp criticism from General Gates.
Peter was not intimidated by Gates’ faultfinding, but he looked on it as a slur on his military honor. When General Schuyler received the report, he was pleased not only by Peter’s
policies in controlling his men but also by his spirit in standing up to Gates, and soon moved him to Ft. Saratoga away from Gates’ jurisdiction. Peter was promoted to Colonel
and given command of the 3rd New York Regiment.
In March of 1777, the Americans learned that the British had their own plan, authored by General Burgoyne. He would invade from Canada south through the Champlain and
Hudson Valleys, St. Leger would launch a diversionary attack east through the Mohawk Valley, while Howe would move north up the Hudson, all to rendezvous in Albany. This
would cut off New England and trap the Northern army, fragmenting the American forces.
Although only 28 at the time, Peter was ordered to take the 3rd New York Regiment west to Fort Stanwix to hold it against any threatened attack, for it held the key to the Mohawk Valley.
Fort Stanwix was located at the head of navigation of the Mohawk, the only portage to Wood Creek, the Oswego River, and Lake Ontario, and squarely astride the main approach from Canada
into the Mohawk Valley. Its important strategic position had been marked by an early French fort, and then by Fort Stanwix built by the British in the French and Indian War.
When Peter and his men reached the fort in the spring of 1777, it was in serious disrepair and they worked feverishly repairing the turf and timber walls, the
deep ditch, the four bastions, and the sharply-pointed palisades, to make it even barely defensible. The barracks were far from complete on 26 June 1777 when two
soldiers outside the fort were shot and scalped by Indians. It was grisly notice to the patriots that the Iroquois were on the warpath and indeed allied with the enemy.
The Colonials had to march through what was almost impassible wilderness, especially for their baggage train. On the fifth day, they camped near Oriskany and General Herkimer
sent scouts to Colonel Gansevoort at Fort Stanwix. He was to acknowledge their arrival with three cannon shots, whereupon the Americans would advance upon the besiegers
while Col. Gansevoort made a sortie against St. Leger’s camp.
As time went by, the officers grew impatient, and reasoned that the messengers had probably been killed or captured, and therefore there would be no cannon shots. The
officers were unconvinced and accused Peter of being a coward and a Tory. In the end, against his better judgment, he gave the order to march.
Unfortunately, the General’s expectations were realized. St. Leger was ready for them. He had Joseph Brant and 400 Indians, Jon Butler’s Tory Rangers, and part of Sir John
Johnson’s Royal Greens so deployed that when the militia column led by Herkimer entered a ravine it was ambushed and completely encircled by a blaze of firing. Officers “went
down like clay birds in a rifle range,” General Herkimer’s horse was killed, and he was wounded.
As the casualties mounted on both sides, the Indians began to withdraw from the field. Deserted by their Indian allies, the Tories were forced to withdraw also, leaving the field to
the Americans. But American losses were severe also. Fewer than 400 of the main body of 600 left Oriskany on their feet, and they carried home about 50 wounded, including
General Herkimer. He died shortly afterward when an inexperienced young doctor amputated his leg.
And so ended the Battle of Oriskany after six hours of heavy conflict, the bloodiest encounter in proportion to the numbers engaged in the American Revolution.
Who won the Battle of Oriskany? St. Leger promptly claimed the victory and sent officers to Peter Gansevoort to demand the fort’s surrender. Peter and his officers heard them out, and then
Peter replied with cold dignity: “I am determined to hold the fort at every hazard to the last extremity, in behalf of the United American States who have placed me here to defend it against all their enemies.”
Peter took advantage of a three-day cease-fire by having two officers slip out in the night and travel down the valley, searching for help, if any could be
found. Meanwhile, the British broke the truce by assaulting the fort with cannon fire and whatever other means was at hand, and Peter settled in for the seige.
General Schuyler, informed of Peter’s plight, and convinced of the importance of defending the Mohawk Valley and of keeping the Patriot cause alive there, decided to
send General Benedict Arnold with 1300 Continentals to relieve Fort Stanwix, despite the fact that Burgoyne was proceeding down the northern Hudson Valley and Schuyler could
ill-spare any unit of those assembling for the coming battle.
The Arnold force arrived just in the nick of time. The British had been not only bombarding the fort, but were also digging regular seige works to move their guns closer
to bear on one point in the fortifications, to breach the turf and timber walls. They could then rush through and overwhelm the garrison in hand-to-hand fighting. American
sharp-shooters had been forcing them to work only at night, but they were still no more than a day away from completing their preparations when Arnold arrived on the evening of 23 Aug 1777.
Thus was the seige of Fort Stanwix lifted, and Col. Peter Gansevoort, who had held it for 21 days, was accorded the status of hero. He received the thanks of Congress, and John
Adams wrote that “Gansevoort has proven that it is possible to hold a fort.”
Peter Gansevoort continued his military career and was active in other theaters of operation, including the Clinton-Sullivan Campaign and West Point with General
Washington. He was named Indian Commissioner, later U.S. Military Agent for the Northern District, and in 1809, appointed Brigadier General of the United States Army,
and finally Commander of the Northern Department of the Army.
He was called to preside at the court-martial of General James Wilkinson at Frederick, Maryland, an accomplice of Aaron Burr’s, but evidence at the time was considered
inadequate, and he was voted “not guilty,” and the court adjourned on Christmas Day, 1811. Peter was a family man, anxious to get back to Albany for the holidays. But hurrying
home through the winter weather he caught a cold from which he never recovered. One illness piled on another until on July 2, 1812, he died at the age of 62.
“His funeral was a public and patriotic event celebrated with all the military pomp that Peter loved, and the whole community turned out to
watch the solemn parade which accompanied him from his mansion to the family’s new burial vault on the crest of Capitol Hill. It was the Hero of Fort Stanwix’ last and perhaps his most conspicuous moment of Glory.”*
*Alice P. Kenney, The Gansevoorts of Albany, p. 144, Syracuse University Press, Syracuse. N.Y., 1979.
The above story was excerpted from our book “One Hundred Years in Review 1897 - 1997.” Contact the chapter for more details.
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