Attack on German Flatts (1757)
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The attack on German Flatts was the successful assault on the British colonial settlement of
German Flatts, New York German Flatts is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The population was 13,258 at the 2010 census. The town is in the southern part of Herkimer County, on the south side of the Mohawk River, across from the village of Herkimer. T ...
by a combined
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
-
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
force on November 12, 1757 during the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
. Inhabited by Palatine colonists, the settlement's defenders (consisting of 75 militiamen) were defeated by the 300-strong force of attackers, and German Flatts was captured and destroyed. Between 40 and 50 of the colonists were killed, and 150 were captured; in comparison, the French-Indian force only suffered 5 wounded.


Background

The campaign season for 1757 had been a successful one for authorities in
New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
. The British had failed in an expedition against Louisbourg, and defeated at Fort William Henry by the French and their Indian allies. New France's governor, the
Marquis de Vaudreuil The Marquis de Vaudreuil may refer to: *Philippe de Rigaud de Vaudreuil (1643–1702), governor of Montréal then of New France * Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil (1698–1778), last governor-general of New France * Louis-Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis of ...
, had attempted to convince German settlers in the
Mohawk River The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk f ...
valley to support the French cause. When the Germans failed to support the French in the assault on Fort William Henry in August, Vaudreuil decided to send a punitive expedition against them. He attacked the settlement called German Flatts, on the north side of the Mohawk River west of Little Falls. (This settlement is where present-day
Herkimer, New York Herkimer is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States, southeast of Utica. It is named after Nicholas Herkimer. The population was 10,175 at the 2010 census. The town contains a village also called Herkimer. Herkimer County Community ...
, is located, and not the modern
German Flatts German Flatts is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The population was 13,258 at the 2010 census. The town is in the southern part of Herkimer County, on the south side of the Mohawk River, across from the village of Herkimer. T ...
on the south side of the Mohawk River.) Vaudreuil assembled a force of about 300 at Lachine under the command of
François-Marie Picoté de Belestre François-Marie Picoté, sieur de Belestre II (17 November 1716 – 30 March 1793) was a colonial soldier for both New France and Great Britain. As a soldier in the French troupes de la marine, Belestre fought against British and American co ...
, an experienced commander in the '' troupes de la marine''. On October 20, this company left Lachine and traveled up the
Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
and along the shore of
Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...
to the mouth of the Oswego River, site of another French victory in 1756. From there they traveled up the river, crossed the Oneida Carry to the Mohawk River, and descended to German Flatts. They arrived near the settlement on November 11. At the time, German Flatts consisted of about 60 homes and 300 settlers, with five fortified
blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...
s. Although friendly
Oneida Oneida may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Oneida people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy * Oneida language * Oneida Indian Nation, based in New York * Oneida Na ...
had warned of the attack, the settlers had made no defensive preparations.


Attack

On November 12, 1757, at around 3 am, Belestre's force launched an attack on German Flatts from the hills north of the village. The five blockhouses quickly surrendered before the superior force. Forty people were killed or drowned, all the buildings were destroyed, and more than 150 of the inhabitants, men, women and children, including the mayor, the surgeon, and some militia officers were captured and taken back to Montreal.A History of Herkimer County: Including the Upper Mohawk Valley, by Nathaniel Soley Benton p.52 Some of the inhabitants fled across the Mohawk to
Fort Herkimer Fort Herkimer was a colonial fort located on the south side of the Mohawk River, opposite the mouth of its tributary West Canada Creek, in German Flatts, New York, United States. It should not be confused with Fort Dayton, which was located on the ...
for safety. The fort's commander sent out a detachment of fifty men, but they retreated after a brief exchange of gunfire with Belestre's force. The next day Belestre departed, his canoes loaded with prisoners and plunder; he returned to Montreal on November 20.


Aftermath

News reached
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 ...
the day after the attack. General George Howe immediately came up the river with the 42nd Regiment, but found nothing more than the smoking ruins of the settlement. Most of the prisoners were later exchanged for those held by the British. Gradually the German residents returned and rebuilt the settlement. During 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 ...
, German Flatts was attacked in 1778, with considerable loss of life and crops. Fighting on the frontier in the valley was fierce during those years.


Notes


References

*
Francis Parkman, ''Montcalm and Wolfe''

Nathaniel Soley Benton, ''A History of Herkimer County''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Attack On German Flatts (1757)
German Flatts German Flatts is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The population was 13,258 at the 2010 census. The town is in the southern part of Herkimer County, on the south side of the Mohawk River, across from the village of Herkimer. T ...
German Flatts 1757 1757 in the Province of New York German Flatts 1757 Pre-statehood history of New York (state) German Flatts 1757