Historical Background
The campaign season for 1757 had been a successful one for authorities in New France. The British had failed in an expedition against Louisbourg, and defeated at Fort William Henry by the French and their Indian allies. New France’s governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, had attempted to convince German settlers in the Mohawk River valley to support the French cause. When the Germans failed to support the French in the assault on Fort William Henry in August, Vaudreuil decided to send a punitive expedition against them. He attacked the settlement called German Flatts, on the north side of the Mohawk River west of Little Falls. (This settlement is where present-day Herkimer, New York, is located, and not the modern German Flatts on the south side of the Mohawk River.)
Vaudreuil assembled a force of about 300 at Lachine under the command of François-Marie Picoté de Belestre, an experienced commander in the troupes de la marine. On October 20, this company left Lachine and traveled up the Saint Lawrence River and along the shore of Lake Ontario to the mouth of the Oswego River, site of another French victory in 1756. From there they traveled up the river, crossed the Oneida Carry to the Mohawk River, and descended to German Flatts. They arrived near the settlement on November 11.
At the time, German Flatts consisted of about 60 homes and 300 settlers, with five fortified blockhouses. Although friendly Oneida had warned of the attack, the settlers had made no defensive preparations. On November 12, 1757, at around 3 am, Belestre’s force launched an attack on German Flatts from the hills north of the village.
The five blockhouses quickly surrendered before the superior force. Forty people were killed or drowned, all the buildings were destroyed, and more than 150 of the inhabitants, men, women and children, including the mayor, the surgeon, and some militia officers were captured and taken back to Montreal. Some of the inhabitants fled across the Mohawk to Fort Herkimer for safety. The fort’s commander sent out a detachment of fifty men, but they retreated after a brief exchange of gunfire with Belestre’s force. The next day Belestre departed, his canoes loaded with prisoners and plunder; he returned to Montreal on November 20.
The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn and you are in command. The rest is history?
Battle Notes
French Army
• Commander: Belestre
• 6 Command cards & 4 Combat cards
• Move First
British Army
• Commander: Petrie
• 4 Command cards & 2 Combat cards
Victory
7 Victory Banners
Special Rules
- Indian War Cry is in effect.
- Burning a Building is in effect.
- The five blockhouses (outlined in brown) are worth one Victory Banner each for the French player when burned.
- The three buildings/church that form the town (outlined in red) are worth one Victory Banner for the French when all three are burned.
- The town is worth one Temporary Victory Banner for the British when at least one of the buildings are not burned. (British start with one Temporary Victory Banner.)
- The Mohawk river is impassable except at the four fords (outlined in blue.)
- Brisish Provincials do not hit on crossed swords.
- British gain one Victory Banner for each lone leader or unit that enters Fort Herkimer (represented by the three fence hexes.) Once entering the fort the lone leader or unit is removed.
- A lone leader may enter the fort via the default combat card action.
- British Light units do not gain a victory banner for rentering the fort.
- The Indian Scout does not count as a victory banner for entering the fort. - Indian Warriors
- Indian War Cry
- Indian Scout
- Burning a Building