New York | Aug 29, 1779
The Battle of Newtown occurred on August 29, 1779, and was the only major battle of the Sullivan Expedition. The Sullivan Expedition (sometimes referred to as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition) was a military campaign against the Iroquois Nation in western New York. The goal for the American army was to destroy as many Iroquois villages and burn as many of their fields and crops and force them from the area. This expedition occurred not long after many Americans had been massacred by British backed Iroquois warriors at Wyoming Valley and Cherry Valley in 1778. Although some Iroquois Indians were either neutral or somewhat supportive of the Americans, the effects of the expedition would be felt by all the Iroquois. The expedition was an early example of the use of total war by the American military.
After preparing for months, General George Washington gave his orders to advance into the Iroquois territory in the summer of 1779. Brig. Gen. James Clinton’s men marched from the Mohawk valley in the east to join up with Maj. Gen. John Sullivan’s force coming up from Easton, Pennsylvania. Sullivan’s and Clinton’s forces combined at Fort Sullivan on August 25, 1779 and then began a march up the Chemung River when they encountered their first major resistance near the village of Newtown.
How It Ended
American victory. American General John Sullivan was tasked with destroying as many villages and crops in Iroquois territory and driving them from the area. Finally on August 29, 1779, the Iroquois and a group of Loyalist militia stood their ground against the Patriots at Newtown, New York, where American success drove many of the Iroquois from western New York and allowed Sullivan to burn more than forty Indian villages. Many of the Iroquois were forced to seek shelter at Fort Niagara on Lake Ontario. While many of their towns had been destroyed, the Iroquois would continue to raid Americans on the frontier for the remainder of the war.
In Context
In the state of New York were six tribes that formed a confederacy known as the Iroquois Confederacy (or Six Nations). This confederacy was made up of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora. During the Revolutionary War, four tribes ended up siding with the British (the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca), while two sided with the Americans (Oneida and Tuscarora). In 1778, as the war in the east was grinding to a stalemate after the Battle of Monmouth, Indian raids on American settlements increased on the western frontier. The most notable of these, the Wyoming Valley and Cherry Valley Massacres, incensed the Americans. Already planning on attacking the Iroquois before these atrocities, the Americans finally put their campaign into motion in the summer of 1779. With the stalemate in the east, George Washington finally had the opportunity and resources to send a large force into the Iroquois territory.
On August 29, 1779, on the crest of a hill along the banks of the Chemung River, near present-day Elmira, New York, the most crucial engagement of the Sullivan Expedition took place.
Washington was clear to Sullivan that “the immediate objects [of the expedition] are the total destruction and devastation of their settlements and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.” He further stated that he wanted to ensure that the area not be “merely overrun but destroyed.” The Iroquois, supported by limited numbers of British and Loyalist troops, avoided pitched battles wherever possible. As a result, most of the Expedition’s clashes included small skirmishes or ambushes, with one exception at Newtown, New York. In August 1779, after nearly 2 months of destroying Indian settlements, Sullivan and his men reached Newtown, New York.
Newtown, situated near the border of New York and Pennsylvania, had a challenging terrain to navigate with a large sloping hill, covered in trees and thick growth. At the base of the massive hill were marshes and a creek. The terrain was beneficial for the Iroquois and their few loyalist allies, who had constructed an earthwork for their defensive position on the slope of the hill in anticipation of an American attack. The Iroquois, British and their Loyalist allies built a horseshoe-shaped redoubt on the slope of the hill to provide a view of the river valley and approaching roads. Nearly 350 Iroquois, 200-250 loyalist militiamen, and about a dozen British regulars waited in their fortification on the huge hill, hoping to ambush and stop the Continental expedition.
Sullivan’s column left Fort Sullivan on August 26, 1779, and slowly proceeded up the Chemung River. On August 29, the Patriot forces approached Newtown. Sullivan’s forces numbered about 3,200 fresh, well-armed, seasoned troops and at the front of Sullivan’s column were veteran frontiersmen who had served with Daniel Morgan earlier in the war. These men knew the signs of an ambush, and they were wary as they approached the hill. Just before noon, the Patriot troops discovered the hidden breastworks and reported to General Edward Hand, who deployed his light infantry to fire into the earthworks. The defenders tried repeatedly, though unsuccessfully, to lure the Continentals into an ambush before a lull fell over the field.
At 3 pm, Sullivan called a council of war to determine the best plan of attack. With the advantage of greater numbers, Sullivan and his fellow commanders devised a complex, two-pronged attack against the earthwork. With 3,200 Continentals, Sullivan outnumbered his opponent, a factor he decided to use to his advantage. The 1st New Jersey would proceed along the river and attack the enemy right flank. At the same time, the New York and New Hampshire Brigades would attack the enemy left. To hold the enemy in place, Hand would feint in the center. Ten artillery pieces would bombard the earthworks and signal the general assault. Once the flanking units engaged, Hand’s feint would turn into a full assault.
The plan was complex but skillfully executed by Sullivan’s well-trained troops. The swampy terrain slowed the New York and New Hampshire Brigades, which allowed the Iroquois and Loyalists just enough time to escape encirclement and destruction. A brief counterattack by Joseph Brant almost cut off the 2nd New Hampshire, but quick thinking by Henry Dearborn and his 3rd New Hampshire, supported by the 3rd and 5th New York, drove the Indians back. Although some British allies escaped, the Americans emerged victorious after storming the breastworks and deploying significant artillery.
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Total losses were relatively small for both sides. Eleven Continentals were killed and thirty-two wounded. Twelve Iroquois were killed and another nine wounded, with the Loyalists suffering five killed, seven wounded, and two captured. Historian Allan W. Eckert wrote that the battle was not one of significant bloodshed when compared to others in the war. However, the battle was a crushing defeat for the Iroquois who were left demoralized. Sullivan operated virtually unopposed for the next month, allowing him to complete his expedition. Iroquois settlements were destroyed, and the Iroquois dispersed, suffering from famine after the destruction of their crops in search of new homes, just prior to one of the worst recorded winters of that time.
While the large-scale war occurring was the American Revolution, some historians will also say that within this larger war, an Iroquois civil war emerged. The Iroquois Confederacy was divided in its alliances between the British and the Americans. Most of the Mohawks, Cayugas, Onondagas, and Senecas allied themselves with the British, while the Oneidas and Tuscaroras joined the Americans. Most of the Iroquois land was situated on the frontier between Quebec and the borders of New York and Pennsylvania. Therefore, even after the British lost at Saratoga and moved south, the Iroquois homes remained in the area. British-allied Iroquois and Loyalists led raids against the American settlements, and the Americans often retaliated by doing the same. What ensued over the next 2 years was essentially an Indian war until Washington sent more Continental troops to intervene.
When Gen. Washington wrote to Gen. Sullivan instructing him to begin the expedition against the Iroquois, he explained that he wanted battles waged at their homes in order to not only defeat them but to break their morale. Washington was seeking to relieve the Continental troops that were continuously having to fight in the north when they could better be utilized in other areas. By destroying the towns and crops, Sullivan was ensuring that the Iroquois would be unable to remain in the area. Extreme violence was exacted, and after the towns and villages were destroyed, many displaced Iroquois families migrated to Canada seeking protection under the British. Washington’s great-grandfather had been given the name of Conotocaurius, which meant “Town Destroyer.” Because of his great-grandfather, Washington himself was called this during the French and Indian War. After the Sullivan Expedition, Washington would long be remembered by many of the Iroquois as the “Town Destroyer.”
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