Talk:Battle of Klock's Field

Article Rewritten

This article as originally written had no inline citations, lacked background detail, and contained erroneous information. An extensive rewrite was needed.

The Battle of Klock's Field was the culmination of a deep-penetration raid on the Schoharie and Mohawk River Valleys. Details about Johnson's route from Oswego, about the attack on the Schoharie Valley, and about Van Rensellaer's march from Schenecdaty have been added.

The only comprehensive secondary source I have found about the battle is Watt's The Burning of the Valleys. The battle is described in early histories such as Stone's Life of Joseph Brant, and Green's The Story of Old Fort Plain, however, these accounts are highly biased and poorly sourced.

One notable error in the article was the statement that Johnson, Bulter, and Brant "escaped on horseback, leaving the men to fend for themselves." While this claim appears in Stone, it is not supported by any other sources.

The article also stated that the burning of Stone Arabia happened before Brown was defeated when all sources agree that it happened afterwards.

Many historical writers incorrectly assume that Brant "commanded" the indigenous warriors not only at Klock's Field but at Oriskany and other battles. Brant, however, had no official role within the Iroquois Confederacy. In 1777 the Iroquois elected Cornplanter and Sayenqueraghta as their war chiefs, and it was they who led the indigenous warriors at Klock's Field, although it appears that their warriors had a limited role and were the first to withdraw.

Brant did recruit and lead a highly effective force known as Brant's Volunteers. These roughly 200 indigenous and Loyalist volunteers were the men he "commanded" at Klock's Field.

Barbara Graymont's The Iroquois in the American Revolution and Isabel Kelsay's "Joseph Brant: Man of Two Worlds" are excellent sources for information about Iroquois participation in the Revolutionary War. Griffin's Sword (talk) 20:26, 9 April 2023 (UTC)