Saturday, September 7, 2024 (8AM to 5PM)
Led by: Jeff O’Connor and Bruce Venter
Departure: Amsterdam, NY
Tour Registration: $165.00
This tour will feature the raids, forts, and battles in the Schoharie Valley during the American Revolution.
Many contributing factors made living on the western edge of Albany County, near the frontier, a very dangerous place during the war. Events here are indelibly linked to the people and events of the Mohawk Valley, as well as New York State and beyond. What happened in the Schoharie Valley region was part of a particularly brutal civil war that erupted on New York’s frontier.
Many of the opposing participants knew each other, as German, Dutch, and Mohawk friends, neighbors, and family members who chose sides and suffered often tragic consequences.
Along with a discussion of the violent history of the war in this region, there will be a rich narrative about the people who it impacted, their backgrounds, and what they had built and lost. This included the resident Mohawk community known as Wilden der Hoeck that was forever impacted.
The American Revolution in Schoharie County (formerly part of Tryon County) played out in a very condensed geographic area when compared to events in the Mohawk and Hudson Valleys. Numerous battles and skirmishes are among the tour stops, highlighted by the 1778 Battle of Cobus Kill (now Cobleskill), the culmination of a 1777 Loyalist uprising at the Battle of the Flockey, and the Battle of Cedar Swamp (now Sharon) in 1781.
We will also trace the path of Sir John Johnson’s army as it traveled through the Schoharie Valley on October 17, 1780. Loyalist and Mohawk raid sites along the way include the 1780 Vrooman’s Land “massacre,” at the base of Vrooman’s Nose, the attack on Fort DuBoise in Cobleskill in 1781 and the murder of Catharine Merckley and others at New Dorlach in 1780.
Forts visited or discussed will include the Upper, Middle and Lower Forts of the Schoharie Valley, the Fort at Kniskern’s Dorf, the “Blockhouse” at old Hartman’s Dorf, and Fort DuBoise in Cobleskill. Colonial-era structures that survived will also be part of the tour like Swart Tavern (1772) and the Old Stone Fort (1772). Other 18th century buildings of post-war construction that you’ll see on the tour are the Col. Peter Vrooman House (1791), the Dutch Reformed Church in Middleburgh (1786), the former Lutheran Church of Schoharie (1796) and a reconstructed German farmhouse of the Schoharie Valley (ca. 1786). On the grounds of the Old Stone Fort is the burial place of David Williams, one of the three men who captured Major John Andre and exposed Benedict Arnold’s treason at West Point. This tour will be a chance for Revolutionary War enthusiasts to see sites that they may not have seen before and hear about a remarkable, yet unfamiliar aspect of the American War for Independence.
Departure information: Bus leaves Amsterdam at the NY State Thruway Park n Ride at 8 AM. We will return by 5 PM. More details will be provided to participants regarding departure location for this tour.
What’s Included: Motor coach transportation, lunch, snack and beverage breaks, all admissions and gratuities, a map and materials package and the services of tour leaders selected for their knowledge and expertise.
Our Tour Leaders: Jeff O’Connor is the author of The Old Stone Fort: Guardian of Schoharie County History Since 1772 and an experienced tour guide specializing in Revolutionary War Schoharie County.
Register Online: $165.00
Register by phone, e-mail or postal mail:
- Phone: 1-703-785-4373
- Email us at: info@AmericasHistoryLLC.com
- Postal mail: America’s History LLC, P. O. Box 1076, Goochland, VA 23063
Visa, Master Card and Discover accepted. We take checks too!
If paying by check, payments should be made out to America’s History LLC and mailed to PO Box 18, Diamond Point, NY 12824 for this tour only.
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