Battle of Minisink

The Battle of Minisink was one of the most complete destruction of a militia force of the entire war. Joseph Brant led Mohawk warriors in a raid on Minisink on the Delaware River, burning several settlements and escaping northward before sufficient Patriot militia could mobilize.

Colonel John Hathorn assembled about 149 militia and gave chase, ignoring warnings from experienced officers who suggested the pursuit was too aggressive. Brant recognized that he was being followed and laid a careful ambush at a ridge on the Delaware River. When Hathorn's militia advanced, they walked into the trap.

The battle was a slaughter. The militia fought bravely and desperately but could not break out of the encirclement. Nearly three hours of fighting reduced the force steadily. Colonel Tusten, a physician, organized a medical station for the wounded but was killed along with his patients when the perimeter collapsed. When it was over, only about thirty of the 149 men escaped. Hathorn himself barely survived. The dead lay on the battlefield for years before a formal burial was conducted.

The disaster at Minisink demonstrated the danger of poorly organized militia pursuits of highly mobile Native American forces, and the battle became a symbol of frontier vulnerability in New York.