The Ambush

Parched and exhausted by heat and humidity on their march to Fort Stanwix, some of General Herkimer’s men broke ranks and ran to this creek for water. Although Sir John Johnson had instructed his Indian allies not to attack until all of Herkimer’s men had entered the ravine, they seized this opportunity instead. As the militiamen laid down their muskets and bent to the water, the Indians attacked. Tradition holds that an hour into the battle, the creek ran red with blood, and the battle of Oriskany thus also came to be called the battle of bloody creek.

Whitestown, New York · United States