Nicholas Herkimer

Nicholas Herkimer (1728 - 1777) was a militia officer from German Flatts, a settlement in the Mohawk Valley of New York Province. When the settlement was attacked on 12 November 1757 by a force of 300 French soldiers and Indians, Herkimer avoided death or capture but was unable to prevent the settlement's destruction and the population's capture. He was made a militia captain the following January and repelled a second attack in April 1758. The captured settlers were later exchanged for prisoners taken by the British and returned to rebuild German Flatts.

During the North American Rebellion the revolutionary government of New York promoted Herkimer to general and placed him in command of the Tryon County militia. When Lt. Col. Barry St. Leger laid siege to Fort Stanwix on 3 August 1777 Herkimer called up his militia and led them to relieve the fort. His militia were attacked by a force of Loyalists and Indians on 6 August and forced to turn back. Herkimer was injured when his horse was shot, and he died of his wounds on 16 August.