As you may remember, we visited the Oriskany Battlefield a few weeks ago, site of the bloodiest battle of the Revolution, and also a major turning point, contributing to the eventual victory at Saratoga. In the battle of Oriskany, General Herkimer was shot in the leg (his horse died under him) and, refusing to leave the battlefield, directed his troops from his position under a tree. He was then carried the roughly 40 miles back to his home, where he later died as a result of a poorly executed amputation of the wounded leg.
He died reading Psalm 38 from his huge German bible and feeling that he had failed in his mission. Tragically sad.
But we needn't dwell on that. We visited his home yesterday and focused on what life was like before that.
His house was beautiful and has been meticulously restored by the good state of New York.
Apparently, he was quite enterprising and made a nice living running a portage business, taking boats, their contents and passengers around the (small) waterfalls.
We toured the house, admired the grounds and the views and even went on a scavenger hunt for information in the family cemetery.
We learned about trading, making fire with steel and a flint and hunting.
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