Battle of Johnstown The Battle of Johnstown was fought in Johnstown , New York . It was one of the last battles in the Northern theatre of the American Revolutionary War , with approximately 1400 engaged at Johnstown on October 25 , 1781 . Local American forces , led by Colonel Marinus Willett of Johnstown , ultimately put the British forces under the command of Major John Ross of the King ' s Royal Regiment of New York and Captain Walter Butler of Butler ' s Rangers to flight . This was the first time so many British regular army troops participated in a border raid in this area . The British retreated northwards and Marinus Willett marched to German Flatts to cut them off . Background . New York ' s Mohawk Valley had been a major area of internecine warfare throughout the American Revolution . By 1780 , raids conducted by British soldiers , mercenaries , loyalist militia , and their Mohawk allies had devastated the valley . The 1780 fall crop had been destroyed before harvest , and a number of small settlements had been abandoned as settlers sought safety from the attacks . In addition to the hundreds of buildings burned and the civilian casualties , amounting to 197 dead in 1780 alone , these raids threatened the American supply routes to Fort Plain and Fort Stanwix on the frontier . Repeated raids further depleted the ranks of the local militia , already decimated by the Battle of Oriskany , by desertions , abandonment of the valley , and occasional casualties . In response to these increasing threats , the Governor of New York , George Clinton , sent Colonel Marinus Willett to take charge of the militia and organize the defense of the valley . That spring and summer , there were a series of small clashes between the opposing forces . On July 9 , a Mohawk raiding party attacked Currytown ( also known as Corrystown ) , but was later chased down and defeated by Willett ' s men . Another raiding force soon after was forced to retreat after one of its members warned local settlers . Willett ' s militia was successful in warding off these and other attacks . In the fall , however , a much larger force made up of British regulars , loyalists , and Mohawk warriors entered the valley , several hundred strong . On October 24 , 1781 , they once again captured Currytown , but did not burn it to prevent rising smoke from warning Willett and the militia of the raid . The raid was discovered by a pair of militia scouts and warning of their presence was spread throughout the county . Before Willett was able to organize the valley ' s defense , the raiding party attacked a number of small towns and homesteads , burning buildings and killing settlers along the way . Battle . On October 25 , 1781 , the raiding party made up of British soldiers led by Major John Ross , loyalist militiamen led by Walter Butler , and Mohawk warriors traveled through the Mohawk Valley and approached the village of Johnstown . Colonel Willett had gathered a force of patriot militiamen and begun pursuing the raiding party . Willett ' s force caught up with the British at Johnstown itself after noon . As the forces approached each other , a series of small skirmishes broke out in and around Johnstown . Willett was outnumbered , but divided his forces and sent a small group of men around the enemy flank to attack them from the rear . He advanced his men across an open field towards the British , who withdrew into the edge of a forest . There followed an intense fight , and the only artillery piece on the field , which began in the possession of Willett ' s men , was captured and recaptured repeatedly . For unknown reasons , the militia on Willett ' s right flank suddenly turned and fled in a panic , and Willett tried to halt the retreat and turn his men . Willett was saved by the arrival of his flanking force , which arrived and attacked the British rear when they were on the verge of capitalizing on the collapse of the American right flank . The battle then broke up into small groups on both sides fighting each other . Surrounded , the British began retreating from the area towards a nearby mountaintop . Each side suffered a number of killed and wounded , though the British lost more men to capture than the Americans . Willett and the patriot militia pursued the British forces towards their landing on Lake Oneida over the days following the battle . This pursuit continued despite the arrival of a snowstorm which slowed his forces . They caught up with the British forces near West Canada Creek , and in the ensuing skirmish the captain of the Tory militia , Walter Butler , was killed . That portion of the river was later named Butler ' s Ford . Following this skirmish , satisfied at their victory , Willett and his forces turned around and headed for their homes . Aftermath . Willett ' s victory at Johnstown occurred at about the same time that word reached the area of the British surrender at Yorktown . The success of Willett ' s forces effectively ended fighting in the Mohawk Valley . These were among the final material conflicts of the war in North America , as after Yorktown large scale hostilities largely ended . The combatants eventually concluded the war with the Treaty of Paris in 1783 .