Barry St. Leger was a British officer in the American Revolutionary War. He led a British advance into New York's Mohawk Valley in the summer of 1777. Hoping to join the British army of General John Burgoyne at Albany, St. Leger was halted by American militia in Fort Stanwix. His forces were nearly destroyed while repelling an American relief unit at Oriskany, and the approach of additional American troops forced St. Leger to retreat to Canada.