Attack on German Flatts (1778)

Attack on German Flatts
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Fort Herkimer lay on the south side of the Mohawk River. It was a roughly rectangular construction with pointed bastions and indentations in walls. Inside were barracks and other structures.
Fort Herkimer, drawing probably by Benson Lossing
DateSeptember 17, 1778
Location
Herkimer, New York
Result Successful British raid
Belligerents
 United States  Great Britain
Iroquois
Commanders and leaders
Peter Bellinger Joseph Brant
William Caldwell
Strength
Tryon County militia 152 Iroquois
200–300 Loyalists
Casualties and losses
3 killed
719 homeless		 Not reported

The attack on German Flatts (September 17, 1778) was a raid on the frontier settlement of German Flatts, New York (which then also encompassed what is now Herkimer) 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.