On This Day in History > October 8, 1778: William Butler raids Onaquaga and Unadilla
On This Day in History > October 8, 1778: William Butler raids Onaquaga and Unadilla "On October 8, 1778, William Butler raids Onaquaga and Unadilla, two Iroquois villages used as a base of operations against patriots on New York's frontier during the American Revolution. Onaquaga and Unadilla were ancient Indian villages, but were some of the most advanced Iroquois cities, complete with "good houses, Square logs, Shingles & stone Chimneys, good Floors, glass windows &c." The two towns had 700 residents between them and even had a grist mill and a saw mill. Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant, who was educated in the colonies and had family ties to the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, led allied Indian and Loyalist attacks on the frontier during the Revolution. One such attack on German Flatts (modern Herkimer), drew a request from New York's Governor George Clinton asking George Washington for the use of Continental Army soldiers to retaliate. Washingt...