Battle of Johnstown
Who Fought
416
Haudenosaunee: 707
History & Significance
The Battle of Johnstown was one of the last battles in the northern theater of the American Revolutionary War, with over 1,100 men engaged at Johnstown, New York on October 25, 1781. British regulars, Loyalist soldiers and Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) warriors, commanded by Major John Ross of the King's Royal Regiment of New York and Captain Walter Butler of Butler's Rangers, had destroyed the Mohawk Valley settlement of Warrensborough earlier that morning. Local American forces, led by Colonel Marinus Willett, caught up with Ross at Johnstown late that afternoon. After several hours of fighting, the British withdrew, but Captain Butler was killed five days later on October 30, fighting a rear-guard action at West Canada Creek.
New York's Mohawk Valley had been a major area of conflict throughout the American Revolutionary War. In 1780, raids conducted by Loyalist soldiers and Britain's Indigenous allies had devastated the valley. The fall crop of 1780 had been destroyed before harvest, and a number of settlements had been abandoned as settlers sought safety from the attacks.
In addition to the hundreds of buildings burned and 197 civilian deaths, these raids threatened the American supply route to the remaining outposts in the valley. The raids had also depleted the ranks of the local militia—decimated years earlier at the 1777 Battle of Oriskany—through desertions, casualties, and families abandoning their homes. In response to these threats, the Governor of New York, George Clinton, appointed 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 British and American forces. On July 9, a Haudenosaunee and Loyalist war party under Lieutenant John Doxtader raided Currytown. Colonel Willett immediately pursued the raiders, routing them the following day and forcing them to abandon their plunder.
In the fall, however, a much larger force, several hundred strong, made up of British regulars, Loyalist provincial units and Haudenosaunee warriors entered the valley from the west. On October 24, they once again plundered Currytown, but did not burn any buildings to prevent rising smoke from warning Willett and the militia of their presence. Although Ross's men captured a pair of militia scouts, their disappearance and subsequent sightings by local settlers quickly spread the alarm through the valley. But before Willett was able to organize the valley's defense, the raiding party attacked Warrensborough on the south side of the Mohawk River. Major John Ross later reported that "before 12 O’clock the whole Settlement for seven miles was in flames, near 100 farms, three Mills and a large Granary for Public Service were reduced to Ashes, the Cattle and Stock of all kinds were likewise destroyed. The Inhabitants fled precipitately in the Night."
The ground they fought on
The site of Battle of Johnstown lies on Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation And South Wales Middle Coal Measures Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Moscovian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.
- * Total Losses:41 **12 killed **24 wounded **5 captured
- Haudenosaunee: * Total Losses: 54 **11 killed **11 wounded **32 captured
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- Battle of Johnstown · Wikipedia