The battle so vividly described by Gil Martin (Henry Fonda) is the bloody Battle of Oriskany, which had one of the highest casualty rates of any battle in the war. It took place on August 6, 1777, and involved only North American troops--Tory, Patriot and Indian--and was part of what became the overall Battle of Saratoga, as the Tory and Indian troops were commanded by a subordinate of Gen. "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne. Gen. Nicholas Herkimer, who was wounded in the battle, did not receive adequate medical attention. His leg became infected and he died ten days later from blood loss after amputation on August 16. He was 49. Despite Gil's claim that the colonials gave them a "licking," the Tories and Indians suffered only 150 casualties while the Patriots sustained 450.
Henry Fonda is a direct descendant of the Fondas that settled in the Mohawk Valley in the mid 17th Century.
Henry's fifth Great-Great Grandfather, Douw Jellis Fonda, who was too old to fight in the Revolutionary War, was killed and scalped in 1780 by an Indian that supported General Sir John Johnson and the Tories. At the same time, Henry's fourth Great-Grand Father Adam Douw Fonda and his brother John Fonda were taken as prisoners and held in Canada for two years.
Henry's fifth Great-Great Grandfather, Douw Jellis Fonda, who was too old to fight in the Revolutionary War, was killed and scalped in 1780 by an Indian that supported General Sir John Johnson and the Tories. At the same time, Henry's fourth Great-Grand Father Adam Douw Fonda and his brother John Fonda were taken as prisoners and held in Canada for two years.
The real William Caldwell (c. 1750-1822), who is played in the film by John Carradine, is based on a Scots-Irish immigrant who settled initially in Pennsylvania and fought in several wars on the British/Indian side. He is noted as having fought in the Battle of German Flats in the Mohawk Valley as part of the loyalist Butler's Rangers, although nothing is known about his participation, if any, in the Battle of Oriskany. During the Revolutionary War he also fought in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Although it is suggested that Blueback killed him in this film, he survived to fight on the British side in the War of 1812.
The Iroquois Confederation was split in its loyalties during the Revolution. The Oneidas sided with the Americans while the Mohawks and Senecas joined with the Hurons and Nipissing First Nation (Ojibwas and Algonquins) on the side of the British.