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While Burgoyne advanced down the Richelieu River and Lake Champlain, a second force commanded by Lt. Col. Barry St. Leger applied pressure to the rebels in western New York. St. Leger proceeded by water via Lake Ontario to the mouth of the Oswego River, eventually moving up the river to Lake Oneida and Wood Creek. His force of 1,600 men encountered its first point of heavy resistance in the Mohawk River Valley at Fort Stanwix. The fort stood astride a critical portage between Wood Creek and the Mohawk River known as the Oneida Carrying Place.

St. Leger’s mixed force of regulars, loyalists, Hessians, and Native Americans arrived at Fort Stanwix after a six-week trek. To intimidate the rebels, he paraded his men before the garrison and called for its surrender. Colonel Peter Gansevoort, commanding the fort, refused. Word quickly spread of the British incursion. Oneida warriors sympathetic to the American cause notified local militia leader Gen. Nicholas Herkimer, who called out the Tryon County militia to bolster the defense of Fort Stanwix.

Herkimer’s column was detected as it moved toward the besieged garrison. St. Leger, hoping to avoid a prolonged siege, could not allow reinforcements to reach the fort. Loyalists from New York, bolstered by Native allies, moved to intercept the approaching militia. This mixed force laid a trap roughly six miles southeast of Fort Stanwix along the road to the fort.

As Herkimer approached, he grew apprehensive. He had expected a signal from Gansevoort before advancing, but none had come. Some militia officers, eager for action, accused him of being a Tory—an especially sharp insult, as one of his brothers did serve with St. Leger. Angered, Herkimer ordered his column of four regiments, about 800 men, to press forward.

As the column entered a narrow ravine, Sir John Johnson’s force prepared to surround and destroy it. Before the trap was fully sprung, Native warriors attacked prematurely, falling upon the Patriots and catching them off guard. Herkimer was struck in the leg but ordered his men to prop him against a tree using his saddle, from which he directed the fight. Though urged to withdraw, he refused to leave the field. Much of the American rear guard was thrown into confusion, though elements of the 3rd Regiment fought their way forward to support the line.

The fighting was brutal and, at times, hand-to-hand, but the Americans managed to form a defensive perimeter. A violent thunderstorm swept over the field, halting the battle. After the storm, loyalists attempted to deceive the Patriots by turning their coats inside out to resemble a relief force from the fort, but the ruse failed.

A sortie from Fort Stanwix struck a nearby Native American camp but did not directly relieve Herkimer’s force. Soon after, Native warriors began to withdraw, and the fighting subsided. Herkimer’s men retreated to Fort Dayton; he died of his wounds ten days later.

A second relief force under Gen. Benedict Arnold then advanced toward Fort Stanwix. Upon hearing of Arnold’s approach, St. Leger abandoned the siege and withdrew. Burgoyne’s western prong had failed to gain ground in the Mohawk River Valley.