raged the Native Americans, now forced to
sleep on the bare ground, and they began de-
serting the British. St. Leger then resorted to
bluffing Gansevoort into surrendering, prom-
ising that he could not control his Indians if
the battle were joined. Again, the Americans
haughtily rejected British terms and dared
them to attack. This was clearly something St.
Leger could not do. The end of the siege
began on August 9, when Willett slipped
through the British lines to contact Gen.
Philip J. Schuyler for reinforcements. He re-
sponded by dispatching 1,000 under Gen.
Benedict Arnold, who resorted to a ploy of
his own. Arnold sent a half-deranged man,
Hon Yost, into St. Leger’s camp with exagger-
ated tales about the size of the approaching
American force. Native Americans, who re-
garded mentally handicapped people with su-
perstitious awe, were flummoxed by the tale
and began deserting in droves. Furthermore,
to make up their losses, they began plunder-
ing the British camp, demoralizing them in
turn. Having lost the bulk of his force, St.
Leger had no recourse but to abandon the
siege and hastily retreated to Oswego. The
vengeful Americans pursued, capturing large
quantities of supplies, and arrived at Lake
Oneida just as the last British boats departed.
As St. Leger dejectedly retraced his steps
back to Canada, Burgoyne lost his only poten-
tial source of reinforcements. His absence
was a contributing factor to the British capit-
ulation at Saratoga two months later.
St. Leger had no sooner reached Canada
than he made preparations to march and join
Burgoyne from the north. However, he had
proceeded only as far as Fort Ticonderoga,
New York, when word of the British surrender
at Saratoga arrived, and he retraced his steps.
For the balance of the war, St. Leger com-
manded several ranger regiments based in
Montreal and conducted a drawn-out frontier
war against the Americans. He rose to colonel
in 1780 and the following year mounted an un-
successful attempt to kidnap General Schuy-
ler from his estate. Subsequently, Governor-
General Frederick Haldimandordered him
back to Fort Ticonderoga to clandestinely
meet with dissatisfied Vermonters under
Ethan Allen. There he would discuss the possi-
bility of allowing Vermont to become a royal
province, but news of Gen. Charles Corn-
wallis’s surrender at Yorktown in October
1781 canceled further negotiations.
After the war, St. Leger remained in
Canada and briefly succeeded Haldimand as
commander of British forces in 1784. The fol-
lowing year he resigned his commission on
account of poor health and was dropped from
the army list. He died in Canada in 1789, a
contributing factor to Burgoyne’s defeat and
the loss of the American colonies.See also
Arnold, BenedictBibliography
Edgar, Gregory T. Liberty or Death: The Northern
Campaigns of the War for Independence.Bowie,
MD: Heritage Books, 1994; May, Robin. The British
Army in North America, 1775–1783.New York:
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Saratoga, 1777.Oxford: Osprey, 2000; Patterson,
Gerard A. “The Battle of Oriskany.” American His-
tory Illustrated11, no. 4 (1976): 8–17; Scott, John A.
Fort Stanwix and Oriskany.Rome, NY: Rome Sen-
tinel, 1927; Stone, William L.The Campaign of
Lieut. Gen. John Burgoyne and the Expedition of
Lieut. Col. Barry St. Leger.New York: Da Capo
Press, 1970.ST. LEGER, BARRY