Battle of Cobleskill

Battle of Cobleskill
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Map detail showing the western frontier of New York. Cobleskill and Cherry Valley are marked in red, Unadilla and Onaquaga (spelled "Oghwaga" on the map) are marked in blue.
Date May 30, 1778[1] Location Cobleskill, New York 42°40′45″N 74°29′8″W / 42.67917°N 74.48556°W / 42.67917; -74.48556 Result British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain Iroquois	United States
Commanders and leaders
Joseph Brant	William Patrick † Christian Brown
Strength
200–300 Loyalists and Iroquois	30–40 regulars 15–20 militia
Casualties and losses
Unknown	22 killed 8 wounded 5 captured

The Battle of Cobleskill was an American Revolutionary War raid on the frontier settlement of Cobleskill, New York on May 30, 1778. The battle took place in what is now the hamlet of Warnerville, New York, near the modern Cobleskill-Richmondville High School. The raid marked the beginning of a phase in which Loyalists and Iroquois, encouraged and supplied by British authorities in the Province of Quebec, attacked and destroyed numerous villages on what was then the western frontier of New York and Pennsylvania.

A small party of Iroquois entered Cobleskill and drew the local defenders into a trap set by a much larger party of Iroquois and Loyalists under the command of Joseph Brant. After killing a number of the regulars and militia, and driving off the remainder, Brant's forces destroyed much of the settlement. Months later, regulars and militia commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William Butler retaliated against Brant's actions against Cobleskill and other communities by destroying two Iroquois villages on the Susquehanna River. A year later, Continental Army forces razed 40 Iroquois villages during the Sullivan Expedition.