At the 1777 Battle of Oriskany, General Nicholas Herkimer had his leg shattered, then had himself propped against a beech tree, lit his pipe and rallied his militia. This episode traces the life of the trilingual son of Palatine German immigrants who built wealth and influence in New York’s Mohawk Valley.

Herkimer spoke English, German and Mohawk, defended German Flats in the French and Indian War and ran a lucrative portage business relying on enslaved and indentured labor. In the Revolution he led the Tryon County Committee of Safety while his own brother became a Loyalist, and Joseph Brant rejected his plea for neutrality. He survived the Oriskany ambush only to die after a botched amputation.

• Why the British settled Palatine Germans as a buffer on the New York frontier
• How language skills and the portage trade made Herkimer a regional power
• The 1776 meeting at Unadilla and why Joseph Brant sided with the Crown
• The cascade of medical failures that led to his death on August 16, 1777
• His legacy in place names, schools and the film Drums Along the Mohawk