Fate In Mythology

Local history: The Battle of Wyoming - A loyalist's view

History is written by the victors, and no other victory was as significant in our nation's past than that of the Continental Army's against the British Redcoats, considered to be the finest fighting force in the world during the eighteenth century. But that doesn't mean those colonists who remained loyal to King George III weren't entitled to their own version of the War for American Independence and the frontier battles that were part of it.

American historians have often referred to the Battle of Wyoming and the bloody massacre of the Connecticut militiamen that ensued on July 3, 1778 as the "surpassing horror of the Revolution." Their interpretations, though based on primary source accounts of the militiamen, women and children who survived the carnage, have been influenced by patriotic mythology spun from paintings, popular histories and poetry composed for more than a century after the event.

As a result, American history portrays the 400 British Rangers under the command of Colonel John Butler as "Tory villains" who overwhelmed a "patriotic force of 380 Connecticut Yankees" during the battle. Five hundred Iroquois, also under Butler's command, are depicted as "bloodthirsty savages" who ignored his orders to desist. Instead, the Indians pursued the Connecticut militiamen and "massacred them, taking 227 scalps" and later "spread terror and destruction" throughout the Wyoming Valley.

Richard McGinnis, a British Ranger who fought under Colonel John Butler's command, gives a very different version of the event. McGinnis kept a journal during his military service and the entries for May 2 through July 3, 1778 indicate that the British and their Iroquois allies conducted themselves with "loyalty and order," which enabled them to "triumph over the treasonous rebels who inhabited Wyoming."

McGinnis' background is sketchy at best. He was a carpenter by trade and had at least a rudimentary education as evidenced by the literary quality of his journal writing. Like most of the men in Butler's Rangers - an irregular unit of eight companies that fought on the northern frontier - McGinnis was a British Loyalist who fought alongside Indian allies.

His commander, Colonel John Butler, was a veteran of the French Indian War and an expert in guerilla warfare. During the Revolutionary War, Butler was assigned to the New York frontier because of his familiarity with the Iroquois nation and his previous military success. In the summer of 1777, he led the Indians and a small number of Loyalists in a successful ambush at the Battle of Oriskany. Shortly after, Butler was commissioned a lieutenant colonel and given authority to raise his own regiment called "Butler's Rangers.

Mythology: The role of fate in Norse Mythology

Part 1: Are we victims of inescapable fate, or do we have the power to create our own destiny? Some believe that fate leaves them with feelings of helplessness, while others believe that a belief in fate gives them a sense of reassurance and comfort. What do you believe? Thoroughly explain your response.  Indicate your impressions of the Norse belief in fate, specifically in relationship to the "power" and "lack of power" it provides the Norse gods.

Celtic mythology

The Mythology of all races ...

The Library of Greek Mythology

The Iliad, action as poetry

Academic Dictionary Of Mythology