As a follow up question, if this was due to a lightning threat, when did battles start to wage on during thunderstorms? Was it the removal of gunpowder that allow soldiers to continue the fight? thunderstorm during the battle that cause all fighting to stop for an hour. During this downtime, the Patriots and Loyalists were able to regroup some. After the storm passed, fighting resumed. Was this because of lightning and the risk holding a metal musket? Was it because gunpowder became unusable during rainstorms? Was it more of a chivalrous thing? And why didn't the Indians continue to fight with their hatchets?
As a follow up question, if this was due to a lightning threat, when did battles start to wage on during thunderstoms? Was it the removal of gunpowder that allow soldiers to continue the fight?
Thank you.
I can’t answer all your questions, but I can tell you some of it comes down to geography and meteorology. If you ever visit the Oriskany Battlefield, you’ll find that it’s just beside a swampy area called the Oriskany Flats. Heavy fog rolls in during the morning and after it rains. Storms also roll up pretty violently in August, sometimes with straight-down rain and 60+ MPH winds. We don’t know that the storm was that intense, but even light rains bring out the fog. In dense forest, it would have been hard to move let alone shoot, especially while trying not to hit your own man. (Neither side was well uniformed.)