Roads to Oriskany by Gil Herkimer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Semi-fictionalized, Herkimer tackles a key demographic in the settlement of the Americas by the British — the attempt of the British to utilize cheap German labor to settle the west. The tactic of bringing in cheap labor (slavery or indentured servitude) was common back then.
To make the history more accessible, Herkimer introduces fictitious characaters over three generations. Some of it is interesting. I think it’s quite entertaining. Towards the end, he signals the arrogance of the British officers (their brilliant military strategy, and their lack of seriousness in the war) through the way they treat their men and the amount of resources they devote simply to their own enjoyment. We can’t help but feel that the British deserve to lose, being so bourgeois and corrupt, but Herkimer could have included some maps and more detail about the campaign in the North East around Fort Ticonderoga, as well as the key battle of Oriskany. It’s only afterwards that we get a sense of the importance of this tiny battle in the overall flow of the war. We also could have used more development of the key characters involved. It’s a little too late after the description of the fighting to start to talk about the character of some of the men involved.
I think Herkimer found a very interesting subject matter, although he could have presented it more from the view of the surrounding political and economic context outside the characters points of view. His attempt to stay focused from within his characters force us to lose perspective on what was only later on understood as being significant. Because his characters did not understand the significance, we do not get the full picture until later. Perhaps this could have worked out, if we had a stronger tie to the human element of in the battle… although the key figures of the battle were not the key figures we were invested in (of course not, since they were fictitious).
In a way, I think you can see how the Germanic-European pattern of civilization repeated and transposed itself despite the British attempt at dominating the people who were brought over. The mercantile system from the point of view of this book, didn’t seem to function or play much of a part — perhaps because Oriskany is so far inland, compared to New York or Boston. Instead, we get through these inland settlements the beginnings of a real different identity being borne, one of settlers living their lives for their own self interest, not really bothering much with the Indians or anyone else. This kind of inward introversion is a big inheritance of what made America America, in terms of foreign policy, as Americans turned their attention inward to develop their own infrastructure and lifestyle.
I did like how he included the many varied relations between the settlers, the British and the Indians. I hadn’t realized how many mixed blood individuals were involved.
