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Why did the Iroquois win'? The answer is that they won the last battle. the
campaign of 1649. However, the more important question. of course. is why
did they win the campaign as well as many of the previous battles. Of the
several explanations which have been offered (Hunt 1949: Tooker 1963:
Otterbein 1964) I find the most convincing to be that the Iroquois ( 1) had access
to guns and ammunition. (2) had a strategic position between the western fur
supply and the eastern market. and (3) used superior tactics at critical times
during the 17th century. The 1649 victory is another example of the use of
superior tactics. In these battles. as well as earlier in the 17th century. the
Iroquois show a military ability greater than that possessed by their enemies. It
appears that. in the case of the Huron and Iroquois. a military analysis of the
wars they fought provides evidence that superior military ability was a major
factor in "Why the Iroquois Won" (Otterbein 1964). Such an analysis does not
deny, of course, that social, political, and economic factors underlie military
organizations. Quite the contrary - such factors are of extreme importance.
Nevertheless, the manner in which a military organization fights and its
fortunes in war do play an important role in determining whether that nation or
people will survive, or whether it will vanish from the earth.
In conclusion, speculation concerning the battles of March 17 leads to an
interesting scenario. If other Atinniaoenten villages had sent their armies to St.
Marie and St. Louis at any time on March 17, the main body of the Iroquois
army that lay seige to St. Louis would have perished. The remainder of the
Iroquois army at St. Ignace could have easily been defeated that night or the
next day by the victorious Huron army. Even if the garrison at St. Ignace had
escaped, the large Huron army at St. Michel would have been able to effectively
pursue the retreating Iroquois. Thus, an Iroquois army of 1,000 warriors
would have been annihilated. Since this was early spring, the Huron would
have had the entire summer to raid and beseige Iroquois villages. The Iroquois
might then have panicked, as did the Huron, and abandoned Iroquoia. If the
Huron had won, then the history of the North American continent would have
been different. This is why I regard these battles of 1649 as being among the
most important fought on this continent.