Battle of Johnstown

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.

Background

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.