The real William Caldwell (c. 1750-1822), who is played in the film by John Carradine, is based on a Scots-Irish immigrant who settled initially in Pennsylvania and fought in several wars on the British Indian side. He is noted as having fought in the Battle of German Flats in the Mohawk Valley as part of the loyalist Butler's Rangers, although nothing is known about his participation, if any, in the Battle of Oriskany. During the Revolutionary War he also fought in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Although it is suggested that Blueback killed him in this film, he survived to fight on the British side in the War of 1812.