Battle of Big Sandy Creek The Battle of Big Sandy Creek was fought in northwestern New York on May 29 – 30 , 1814 , during the War of 1812 . The battle was an American victory in which American militia and Oneida Indians launched a surprise attack on British soldiers who were chasing them inland from Lake Ontario . Background . After the successful attack on Fort Oswego on May 5 – 6 , 1814 , the British withdrew to the Galloo Islands in northern Lake Ontario where they could monitor and intercept any supplies on their way north to Sackets Harbor , New York . At the American ship yards in Sackets Harbor , two brig s , the USS " Jefferson " and the " Jones " , and a frigate , the " Superior " , waited for armament and rigging necessary for their launch . The supplies needed to outfit the ships had been transported from the Brooklyn Naval Yards in New York City to Albany , New York , and from Albany up the Mohawk River to Wood Creek and Oneida Lake , finally arriving at the Oswego River . These supplies still needed to be transported from Oswego to Sackett ’ s Harbor , but it needed to be done without alerting the British . On April 21 , 1814 , Commodore Isaac Chauncey sent orders from Sackets Harbor to Lieutenant Melancthon Taylor Woolsey directing him to choose five officers and twenty - five men to proceed in the USS " Lady of the Lake " to Oswego and then bring the shipbuilding supplies north to the shipyards . Battle . On the rainy evening of May 28 , Woolsey set out with 150 riflemen under the command of Major Daniel Appling in 19 boats loaded with supplies . On the morning of May 29 , they arrived at the mouth of the Big Salmon River having mysteriously lost one of their boats . This boat , discovered by the British forces , eliminated the secrecy of Wooley ’ s mission . At Big Salmon , the American forces met up with the Oneidas ( estimates range from 120 to 130 Indians ) , who Woolsey had dispatched the previous day . The Oneidas marched north along the shore as the boats proceeded in the lake . At noon on May 29 , they reached the mouth of the Big Sandy Creek . All the boats were sent as far inland as possible . Woolsey then sent a lookout to scout for British ships . The lookout discovered that a gunboat and three barges were headed for the location of the American forces . Woolsey set out a call for the neighboring militia and hastily prepared for battle . At 8 a . m . , the British began to cannonade the American forces from the mouth of the Big Sandy Creek . The American forces hid along the shoreline of the creek and waited for the British to advance inland . At about 10 a . m . , when the British forces had progressed up the creek , the American forces rose from their concealment , and a brief ten - minute battle ensued . The British officers quickly surrendered to avoid further casualties . Losses . The Americans suffered 2 wounded : an Oneida Indian and a U . S . rifleman . Appling wrote to Brigadier General Edmund P . Gaines on May 30 , listing the British casualties as 13 killed ; 2 lieutenants of the Royal Marines and 28 sailors and marines wounded and captured ; 7 officers and 133 others taken prisoner . Also captured were three gun - boats ( one with a 24 - pounder and a 63 - pounder ) , two cutters and one gig .