American soldier, born near present-day Herkimer, New York, USA. 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, NY (Aug 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 16 August.
Nicholas Herkimer (circa 1728 – August 16, 1777) was a militia general in the American Revolutionary War, who died of wounds after the Battle of Oriskany. He had served as a militia captain in the French and Indian War.
In 1775 he headed the Tryon County Committee of Safety, and became Colonel of the county militia. After the split in which loyalist militia members from the area withdrew to Canada, he became a Brigadier General in the State militia. When he learned of the siege of Fort Stanwix to the west in late July of 1777, he ordered the county militia to assemble at Fort Dayton.
He then marched them out to relieve Fort Stanwix, about 28 miles to the west. His force was ambushed on August 6 by a mixed force of British regulars, Tory Militia rangers, and Mohawk Indians in the Battle of Oriskany.
His home, in what is now Danube, New York, is preserved as a state historical park.
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