Siege of Fort Stanwix
- When
- 1777
- Where
- Fort Stanwix (Fort Schuyler), Mohawk River Valley; Approach to Fort Stanwix
- Episodes
- 2
The siege of Fort Stanwix ended on August 22, 1777, when British and Indigenous besiegers withdrew after American reinforcements under Major General Benedict Arnold approached and used a ruse to convince them a much larger force was arriving.
Episodes
- Withdrawal of the Besieging Forces
British and Indigenous besiegers abandoned the siege on August 22, 1777, deceived by Arnold's ruse into expecting a much larger American force.
- Arnold's Ruse
Benedict Arnold approached with reinforcements and used a deception to persuade the besiegers that a much larger American force was arriving.
Background and detail
Background. Fort Stanwix, at the western end of the Mohawk River Valley, was a primary defense point for the Continental Army against British and Indigenous forces during the American Revolutionary War. In April 1777, Major General Philip Schuyler ordered the 3rd New York Regiment under Colonel Peter Gansevoort to occupy and rehabilitate the fort as a defense against incursions from Quebec.
Siege Context. The siege began on August 2, 1777, with the fort held by Continental Army forces from New York and Massachusetts under Colonel Peter Gansevoort. Siege operations began in earnest following the arrival of British artillery. During the siege, Lieutenant Colonel Marinus Willett led 250 men on a sortie, looting the nearly empty Indigenous and Royal Yorkers camps of several wagon-loads of spoils.
Aftermath. Leger's failure to advance on Albany contributed to Burgoyne's surrender following the Battles of Saratoga in October 1777. On August 23, Arnold, whose force was augmented by friendly Oneida, advanced about 10 miles toward Fort Stanwix when a messenger from Gansevoort notified him of St. Leger's withdrawal.
People involved
- Benedict Arnold · Major General commanding American reinforcements
- Peter Gansevoort · Colonel commanding the fort's Continental garrison
- Marinus Willett · Lieutenant Colonel, Gansevoort's second-in-command
Sources
- Siege of Fort Stanwix Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-22
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.