Schenectady massacre The Schenectady Massacre was a Canadien attack against the village of Schenectady in the colony of New York on 8 February 1690 . A party of more than 200 Canadiens and allied Mohawk nation , Sault and Algonquin warriors attacked the unguarded community , destroying most of the homes , and killing or capturing most of its inhabitants . It was in retaliation to the Lachine massacre , and related to the Beaver Wars in North America and King William ' s War between France and England . Background . In much of the late 17th century , the Iroquois and the colonists of New France engaged in a protracted struggle for control of the economically important fur trade in northern North America . In August 1689 , the Iroquois launched one of their most devastating raids against the French frontier community of Lachine . This attack occurred after France and England declared war on each other , but before the news reached North America . New France ' s governor the Comte de Frontenac organized an expedition from Montreal to attack English outposts to the south , as punishment for English support of the Iroquois , and as a general widening of the war against the northernmost English colonies . The expedition was one of three directed at isolated northern and western settlements , and was originally aimed at Fort Orange ( present day Albany ) . The leaders were Jacques Le Moyne de Sainte - Hélène and Nicolas d ' Ailleboust de Manthet and the second in command was Pierre Le Moyne d ' Iberville , who later founded Louisiana . The raiding expedition consisted of about 160 Canadien s , mostly frontier - savvy " coureurs de bois " , with 100 Indian warriors , primarily Catholic Mohawk , Sault and Algonquin s . They made their way across the ice of Lake Champlain and Lake George toward the English communities on the Hudson River . Fort Orange appeared to be well defended , and a scouting reported on February 8 that no one was guarding the stockade at the small frontier community of Schenectady to the west . Schenectady and Albany were so politically polarized in the wake of the 1689 Leisler ' s Rebellion that the opposing factions had not agreed on the setting of guards . Attack . Finding no sentinels other than two snowmen and the gate ajar according to the tradition , the raiders silently entered Schenectady and launched their attack two hours before dawn . The invaders burned houses and barns , and killed men , women and children . Most were in night clothing and had no time to arm themselves . By the morning of February 9 , the community lay in ruins - more than 60 buildings were burned . Most of the residents were dead or taken prisoner , with some survivors managing to flee as refugees to the fort at Albany . Symon Schermerhorn was one of these . Although wounded , he rode to Albany to warn them of the massacre . In commemoration of this , the mayor of Schenectady repeats the ride every year . Most mayors have done so on horseback , though a few have preferred the comfort of an automobile . The 60 dead included 38 men , 10 women and 12 children . The raiders departed with 27 prisoners and 50 horses . Dominie Petrus Tessemacher , pastor of what became the First Reformed Church of Schenectady and the first Dutch Reformed Church pastor ordained in the new world , was killed in his house . The community took many years to recover from the attack . John A . Glen , who lived in Scotia , across the river from Schenectady , had shown previous kindness to the French . In gratitude , the raiding party took the Schenectady prisoners to him , inviting him to claim any relatives . Glen claimed as many survivors as he could , and the raiders took the rest to Canada . Typically those captives who were too young or old or ill to keep up along the arduous journeys were killed along the way . As was the pattern in later raids , some of the younger captives were adopted by Mohawk and other Indian families in Canada ; others were ransomed by communities in New England . Aftermath . Reynier Schaets and his son were among those killed in the Schenectady raid . Schaets was a son of Gideon Schaets , " dominie " of the Dutch Reformed Church at Albany . Reynier was a surgeon , who had been appointed Justice at Schenectady by Governor Leisler on December 28 , 1689 . His wife Catharina Bensing and three other children : Gideon , Bartholomew and Agnietje , survived . The attack forced New York ' s political factions to put aside their differences and focus on the common enemy of New France . As a result of the attack , the Albany Convention , which had until then resisted Jacob Leisler ' s assumption of power in the southern parts of the colony , acknowledged his authority . With the assistance of Connecticut officials , Leisler organized a retaliatory expedition from Albany to attack Montreal . Led by Connecticut militia general Fitz - John Winthrop , the expedition turned back in August 1689 due to disease , lack of supplies , and insufficient watercraft for navigating on Lake Champlain . Popular culture . In 1990 , the city of Schenectady commissioned composer Maria Riccio Bryce to create a musical work to commemorate the tricentennial of the massacre . The resulting piece , Hearts of Fire , followed the lives of Schenectady townspeople through the seasons of 1689 , set against the ominous backdrop of the French march from Montreal to Albany . The settlers , though they find their home in ruins , elect to stay and rebuild , honoring the memory of their fallen relatives .