midnight
It cost the British and Colonial Government two hundred and sixty-six thousand four hundred dollars and was a strong post of resistance to attack from the French in Canada , with whom , as you all know , I think , the colonists were often at war , on their own account or that of the mother country , and a powerful protection to the Indian trade . It commanded the portage between Lake Ontario and the Mohawk valley , the theatre of many stirring events during the War of the Revolution . Indians and Tories kept in terror the people who lived there and were loyal to the cause of their country . There were daylight struggles and stealthy midnight attacks in such numbers that Tryon County came to be spoken of as ` the dark and bloody ground . ' `` Congress perceiving the importance of defending the northern and western frontiers of New York from incursions by the British and Indians , sent General Schuyler to strengthen old Fort Stanwix , which had been allowed to fall into a state of decay so that it was little more than a ruin , and , if he found it necessary , to erect other fortifications . `` General Phillip Schuyler was a gentleman of fortune , of military skill , experience , sound judgment , and lofty patriotism . Lossing tells us that , ` for causes quite inexplicable , he was superseded in effect by Gates in March 1777 , but reinstated in May , and that no appointment could have been more acceptable to the people of northern New York , who were at that time in a state of great excitement and alarm . '