Oriskany Battlefield Monument, (sculpture).

Oriskany Battlefield Monument, (sculpture).

O'Donovan, William Rudolf, 1844-1920, sculptor.

Power, Maurice J., 1838-1902, sculptor.

Mt. Waldo Granite Works, fabricator.

National Fine Art Foundry, founder. (possibly by)

Oriskany Battlefield Monument, (sculpture).

Battle of Oriskany Monument, (sculpture).

Commissioned July 4, 1882. Dedicated Aug. 6, 1884.

Digital Reference:

Reliefs: bronze; Obelisk: limestone; Base: granite.

Overall: approx. H. 85 ft.; Reliefs: approx. H. 6 ft. x W. 4 1/2 ft.

(On Herkimer relief, lower left:) M.J. Power (On Herkimer relief, bottom:) HERKIMER DIRECTING THE ORISKANY BATTLE (On plaque on south side of obelisk:) Here was fought/the Battle of Oriskany/on the sixth day of August, 1777;/Here British invasion was checked and thwarted;/Here General Nicholas Herkimer/Intrepid leader of the American forces/Tho' mortally wounded, kept command of the fight/Till the enemy had fled./The life blood of more than two hundred patriot heroes/Made this battleground/sacred forever./This monument was built/A. D. 1883, in the year of Independence 107,/By grateful dwellers in the Mohawk Valley/under the direction/of the Oneida Historical Society/Aided by the National Government/and the State of New York (Plaque on the north side of the obelisk lists the names of soldiers who fought at Oriskany) signed

Obelisk contains four plaques, two with bas-relief images and two with text. The plaque on the west side depicts a mortally wounded General Herkimer being supported by an aide, as he directs the battle. The relief on the east side depicts an Indian and pioneer engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The pioneer stands over a fallen body. The monument is enclosed within a square metal fence.

History -- United States -- Revolution

Portrait male -- Herkimer, Nicholas -- Full length

Figure group -- Male

State of Being -- Evil -- War

Ethnic -- Indian

Outdoor Sculpture -- New York -- Oriskany

Administered by State of New York, Office Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, Historic Preservation, Agency Building 1, Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12238

Located Route 69, Oriskany, New York

Commissioned in 1882, the monument was erected by the residents of the Mohawk Valley under the auspices of the Oneida Historical Society, the State of New York and the federal government. The limestone for the main shaft of the obelisk was dismatled from the Erie Canal weighlock. IAS files contain a copy of Virginia B. Kelly's article "Building the Oriskany Monument: Marking a Sacred Place," from the Oneida County Historical Society's journal "Mohawk Valley History," vol. 3 no. 1, 2007, pg. 6-41.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, New York survey, 1994.

Kelley, Virginia B., 2008.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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