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The Battle of Cobleskill (also known as the Cobleskill massacre) was an
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
raid on the frontier settlement of Cobleskill, New York on May 30, 1778. The battle, having taken place in the modern-day hamlet of Warnerville, New York, near the modern (2019) Cobleskill-Richmondville High School, marked the beginning of a phase in which
Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
s and
Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
, encouraged and supplied by British authorities in the
Province of Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...
, raided and destroyed numerous villages on what was then the United States western frontier of
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
and
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. 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 Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk people, Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York (state), New York, who was closely associated with Kingdom of Great Britain, Great B ...
. After killing a number of the
militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
and driving off the remainder, Brant's forces destroyed much of the settlement. New York's defenders retaliated against Brant's actions against Cobleskill and other communities by destroying Iroquois villages later in the year, and
Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...
forces destroyed more Iroquois villages in the Sullivan Expedition of 1779.


Background

With the failure of British General John Burgoyne's campaign to the Hudson after the
Battles of Saratoga The Battles of Saratoga (September 19 and October 7, 1777) marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. British General John Burgoyne led an invasion ...
in October 1777, the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
in upstate
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
became a frontier war. British leaders in the
Province of Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...
supported
Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
and Native American partisan fighters with supplies and armaments. During the winter of 1777–78 Brant and other British-allied Indians developed plans to attack frontier settlements in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
and
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. In February 1778 Brant established a base of operations at
Onaquaga Onaquaga (also spelled many other ways) was a large Iroquois village, located on both sides of the Susquehanna River near present-day Windsor, New York. During the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Army destroyed it and nearby Unadill ...
(present-day Windsor, New York). He recruited a mix of Iroquois and Loyalists estimated to number between two and three hundred by the time he began his campaign in May.Graymont, p. 165 One of his objectives was to acquire provisions for his forces and those of John Butler, who was planning operations in the
Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...
valley. In 1778 the settlement of Cobleskill, New York consisted of twenty families living on farms spread out along
Cobleskill Creek Cobleskill Creek is a river in Otsego and Schoharie counties in the state of New York. It starts at Pine Mountain west of West Richmondville and flows east-northeast before converging with Schoharie Creek in Central Bridge. The creek flows th ...
. It was part of the
Schoharie Creek Schoharie Creek is a river in New York that flows north from the foot of Indian Head Mountain in the Catskills through the Schoharie Valley to the Mohawk River. It is twice impounded north of Prattsville to create New York City's Schoharie ...
area which was a significant source of food for the Patriot war effort. Its principal defense was the small local militia under Captain Christian Brown. When attacks by the Iroquois were rumored to be coming in the spring of 1778, the militia appealed for additional defenses.
Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...
Colonel Ichabod Alden sent a company of thirty to forty men from his
7th Massachusetts Regiment The 7th Massachusetts Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Continental Army. It was constituted on 16 September 1776, and was originally known as Alden's Regiment after its first colonel, Ichabod Alden. It was organized as seven companies ...
under Captain William Patrick to reinforce the militia.''Proceedings of the New York Historical Society'', p. 37


Battle

On the morning of May 30 Brant laid a trap for Cobleskill's defenders. He sent forward a small number of natives as a lure. Captain Patrick's force and the local militia spotted them near the southern edge of the settlement. Despite Captain Brown's warning that the Indians might be setting a trap, Patrick pressed forward as the natives withdrew, engaging them in a running battle. After about one mile (1.6 km) Brant sprung his trap, and Patrick's company was engulfed by Brant's larger force. Both Patrick and his second in command were killed in the battle, as was about half of their force. Brown organized the remaining forces into a fighting retreat back into the settlement. Five men took refuge in the house of George Warner which the attackers set on fire, killing all five men.Graymont, p. 166 A total of 22 settlers were killed, eight were wounded, and five captured by Brant's men, while Brant's force suffered an estimated 25 casualties.


Aftermath

Brant and his men burned ten houses and associated outbuildings before withdrawing, killing any cattle they could not take. Brant took five
even Even may refer to: General * Even (given name), a Norwegian male personal name * Even (surname) * Even (people), an ethnic group from Siberia and Russian Far East ** Even language, a language spoken by the Evens * Odd and Even, a solitaire game w ...
prisoners, [which the Indians prepared to burn at the stake as retribution for a previous group of captives effecting an escape from the Indians, killing several Indians to do so. This group of seven prisoners were made to gather wood for their own funeral pryer, and the fire was actually lit, before one of the captives, Lt. Maynard, a freemason, gave the mason signal of distress. Chief Brant noticed this, and stopped the execution. All of the seven captives were then made to march 40 days, first to Montreal, then to Quebec, obtaining only the sustenance they were able to gather while on the forced march. On the journey the Indians forced these seven captives to repeatedly "run the gauntlet" and forced them at times to keep their fingertips pushed into hot glowing pipe bowls for the Indians' amusement. They were never given a choice of their future or lives by the Indians, or Chief Brant at any time. At Quebec these seven were ransomed by the Iroquois to the British authorities, and were kept at Quebec as prisoners of war until the treaty of 1783. The account of Lt. Maynard is related in "1000 Famous Freemasons" along with stories of an additional five masons, other revolutionary patriots, who were likewise saved by Brant. The groups capture and journey is chronicled in "Forests and Clearings by BF Hubbard, Montreal, 1874 pp. 62–63-64.] Brant continued to build his forces and raid frontier communities in the Mohawk valley. He considered following up the attack on Cobleskill with one on Cherry Valley, but because the militia was on high alert, he instead withdrew back to Iroquois territory. Cherry Valley was the scene of a massacre the following November by forces led in part by Brant. New York Governor George Clinton, who had been considering operations against Onaquaga, enlarged those plans after the raid on Cobleskill and Brant's attack on German Flatts in September. In October 1778 Continental and militia forces
destroyed Destroyed may refer to: * ''Destroyed'' (Sloppy Seconds album), a 1989 album by Sloppy Seconds * ''Destroyed'' (Moby album), a 2011 album by Moby See also * Destruction (disambiguation) Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a ...
Onaquaga and Unadilla, another Indian village that supported Brant and Butler. The settlers of Cobleskill who were rendered destitute by the action received £200 in compensation for their troubles. Settlers from many area communities began withdrawing to larger, better fortified communities like Cherry Valley (which began construction of a fort after the raid) and
Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...
. This action and later ones by Brant and Butler contributed to the decision by the
Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...
to authorize a major Continental Army expedition into Iroquois territory. Commanded by Generals John Sullivan and James Clinton, the 1779 expedition systematically destroyed the villages of Iroquois tribes fighting for the British, but did little to stop the frontier war.Graymont, pp. 194–223


Notes


References

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External links


Three Rivers History
{{New York in the American Revolutionary War 1778 in the United States Cobleskill Cobleskill Cobleskill Cobleskill Cobleskill Cobleskill Schoharie County, New York 1778 in New York (state) Cobleskill Massacres in 1778