page_title: Attack on German Flatts (1778)
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Attack on German Flatts (1778) / Background
caption_attribution_description: Map detail of New York's western frontier in 1778. Annotated on the map are markings showing points of interest related to the Attack on German Flatts. The approximate locations of the Forts Dayton and Herkimer on either side of the Mohawk River are marked in red, as is the community of Cherry Valley. The Indian towns of Unadilla and Onaquaga (the latter spelled "Oghwaga" on the map) are marked in blue.
context_page_description: The Attack on German Flatts was a raid on the frontier settlement of German Flatts, New York during the American Revolutionary War. The attack was made by a mixed force of Loyalists and Iroquois under the overall command of Mohawk leader Joseph Brant, and resulted in the destruction of houses, barns, and crops, and the taking of livestock for the raiders' use. The settlers, warned by the heroic run of Adam Helmer, took refuge in local forts but were too militarily weak to stop the raiders.
  Brant's attack was one of a series executed under his command or that of Loyalist and Seneca leaders against communities on what was then the frontier of western New York and northern Pennsylvania. New York authorities responded by ordering an expedition that destroyed Brant's forward operating bases in Iroquois territory.
context_section_description: With the failure of British General John Burgoyne's campaign to the Hudson after the Battles of Saratoga in October 1777, the American Revolutionary War in upstate New York became a frontier war.  British leaders in the Province of Quebec supported Loyalist and Native American partisan fighters with supplies and armaments.  During the winter of 1777–78 Brant and other British-allied Indians developed plans to attack frontier settlements in New York and Pennsylvania.  In February 1778 Brant established a base of operations at Onaquaga (present-day Windsor, New York).  He recruited a mix of Iroquois and Loyalists estimated to number between two and three hundred by the time he began his campaign in late May.  One of his objectives was to acquire provisions for his forces and those of John Butler, who was planning operations in the Susquehanna River valley.  His first expedition was a raid on Cobleskill, and he raided other frontier communities throughout the summer.
  When he raided settlements at Springfield and Andrustown (present-day Jordanville) in July, Brant left the survivors with warnings that German Flatts would soon also be attacked.  The settlement of German Flatts (now known as Herkimer due to a survey error in 1788 that reversed the names of Herkimer and what is now German Flatts on the south bank of the Mohawk River) was founded in 1723 by Palatine German immigrants.  The district was defended by a local militia regiment under the command of Colonel Peter Bellinger. There were two main forts, Fort Dayton and Fort Herkimer, on either side of the Mohawk.
caption: Map detail showing the New York frontier.  The two forts are marked in red on either side of the Mohawk River, as is Cherry Valley.  The Indian towns of Unadilla and Onaquaga (spelled "Oghwaga" on the map) are marked in blue.
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