Cherry Valley Massacre
- When
- 1778–1779
- Where
- Fort and village of Cherry Valley, central New York; Cherry Valley; Upstate New York
- Episodes
- 3
On November 11, 1778, a mixed force of Loyalists, British soldiers, and Haudenosaunee warriors attacked the fort and village of Cherry Valley in central New York during the Revolutionary War. The assault killed more than 40 people, including soldiers and civilians, and became one of the war's most notorious frontier massacres, prompting American reprisals.
Episodes
- Seneca Motivation and Refusal of Quarter
A Mohawk chief justified the massacre by citing American burning of Native houses, and Senecas declared they would refuse quarter in future fights.
- Attack on Cherry Valley
British, Loyalist, and Haudenosaunee forces assaulted the fort and village of Cherry Valley on November 11, 1778, killing over 40 people.
- Calls for Reprisal and the Sullivan Expedition
The massacre, alongside accusations of murder at Wyoming, prompted Washington to commission the 1779 Sullivan Expedition against the Haudenosaunee.
Background and detail
Background. After Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga in October 1777, the war in upstate New York became a frontier conflict. During the winter of 1777–78, Joseph Brant and other British-allied Natives planned attacks on frontier settlements, and Brant established a base at Onaquaga in February 1778.
Prelude to the Attack. After Brant and some of Butler's Rangers raided German Flatts in September 1778, Americans destroyed the villages of Unadilla and Onaquaga in early October. Brant then joined Captain Walter Butler for an attack on Cherry Valley, whose defenders were warned by Oneida spies on November 8 but remained unprepared.
Aftermath and Reprisals. The massacre contributed to calls for reprisals, helping pave the way for the 1779 Sullivan Expedition commissioned by George Washington and led by John Sullivan, which defeated the British-allied Haudenosaunee in Upstate New York. A Mohawk chief justified the action by citing American burning of Native houses. The frontier war nonetheless continued with renewed severity in 1780.
People involved
- Joseph Brant · Mohawk leader allied with the British who planned and joined the attack
- Walter Butler · Loyalist captain who commanded the mixed force alongside Brant
- George Washington · Commander-in-chief who commissioned the Sullivan Expedition in response
- John Sullivan · Major general who led the 1779 punitive expedition
Sources
- Cherry Valley massacre Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-26
- Cherry Valley, New York Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-10
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.