Herkimer, Nicholas

Herkimer, Nicholas

(1728–77) soldier; born near what is now Herkimer, N.Y. A veteran of the French and Indian War, he was made brigadier general of militia when the American Revolution began and was given responsibility for defending the Mohawk Valley of upstate New York against the British troops, the Loyalists, and their Indian allies. Wounded in an ambush near Oneida, N.Y., in August 1777, he rallied sufficiently to cheer his men on during the subsequent battle near Oriskany; but his force had to retreat and he died of his wounds at home on August 16.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.