When British General Barry St. Leger learned that militia forces were coming to relieve the fort, he sent a strong attack force made up largely of Mohawk and Seneca warriors alongside Sir John Johnson's Kings Royal Regiment, Colonel John Butler, and other loyalist rangers to ambush them at Oriskany and prevent men and supplies from reaching the garrison. British leaders expected an easy victory and promised their native allies the militia would run, but the Tryon County militiamen and the Oneida brought about 800 men, at least one woman, and 15 heavy supply wagons drawn by oxen along a relief train that stretched for more than a mile on the winding military road. Though untested in battle, the colonial force was determined to aid the Continental soldiers in the fort and to keep the British from reclaiming control of the valley for the Crown, knowing that to the east their homesteads were defended only by women and children, the elderly, and the infirm. General Nicholas Herkimer became a Patriot hero by remaining calm and directing his troops' defense after being badly wounded in the opening moments of the battle, though he died 10 days later. Lieutenant Samuel Campbell of the 1st Regiment, Tryon County Militia, eventually led the shattered colonial force from the field after Herkimer was wounded and Campbell's regimental commander was killed. Among the British-allied leaders, Joseph Brant, also known as Thayendanegea, was a Mohawk captain who sided with Britain during the Revolutionary War, Sir John Johnson raised the loyalist Kings Royal Regiment of New York in Canada, also called the Royal Greens, Cornplanter, also known as Gayentwahga, became a chief of the Seneca Nation at age 18, and Colonel John Butler played an important role in persuading the Senecas to fight for the British.