The year is 1779 and the setting is the Revolutionary War in New York State. The historical event is the Sullivan Clinton Campaign in 1779 against the Iroquois Indians and the British fortresses at Oswego and Niagara. This campaign was the result of frontier conditions in New York which had progressively been getting more hostile and violent.
In 1777 the British General Burgoyne had faced defeat at Bennington, Oriskany and Saratoga. As a result, Tories, or Loyalists and their Indian allies of the Six Nations had retaliated throughout Upstate New York. This was war. The years of 1777 and 1778 saw many attacks on villages and farms. Houses and barns were burned, crops destroyed and carried off, and livestock killed or driven away. Men, women and children were slain and taken away as prisoners. Patriots were crying out for protection and defense. Certain attacks by loyalists and Indians such as Wyoming and Cherry Valley were magnified as war propaganda and justification for retaliation.
This situation throughout upstate New York during the Revolutionary War was heard by many prominent men in the revolution including the New York Governor George Clinton and General George Washington. Plans for a campaign were discussed in 1778, later called "The Indian Expedition" by Washington. In March of 1779 the New York Legislature had recruited 1,000 men to defend and protect the frontier. Meanwhile Washington's plan for an "Indian Expedition" was approved by the Continental Congress and in June nearly $1 million was allocated towards this plan.
General John Sullivan was appointed to lead the campaign along with second in command awarded to General James Clinton, brother of New York Governor George Clinton.
General Clinton assembled an army to march from the Mohawk Valley and move southward to join with General Sullivan's army in Tioga Point in Northern Pennsylvania. This Sullivan Clinton Campaign against the Six Nations and their British and Loyalist leaders held tremendous interest by all Americans. Newspapers discussed it at great length and it was a hot topic of conversation throughout all the colonies during 1779.
A preliminary drive in the spring of 1779. General Clinton ordered troops from the Schoharie and Mohawk valleys, joined by the Oneida and Tuscarora tribes, who followed a path across Lake Oneida, up Onondaga Creek and Onondaga Lake to Onondaga Indian Villages. Thirty to forty houses were burned and pillaged, 15 Indians were killed, 34 captured, livestock killed, and provisions destroyed.
General Clinton's march from the Mohawk with the intent of meeting General Sullivan's units at Tioga Point. Orders were given to meet at Canajoharie with 250 flat-bottom bateaus filled with provisions. During June and July they were carried over land to Lake Otsego — present-day Cooperstown — where approximately 1,600 troops assembled. This location is known at Cooperstown today. The lake was dammed and the water was raised sufficient to float these boats down to Tioga Point. After a delay of a month to prepare for this trip , the dam was cut and the boats, heavily laden with supplies, were floated down the Susquehanna. Few Indians were encountered down the Susquehanna. A number of abandoned Indian towns were destroyed along with gardens and fields of corn.
Colonel Daniel Broadhead left Fort Pitt and marched north to invade the Seneca Country in Western New York, planning to join with Sullivan and Clinton in the Genesee Country. At least that was the plan. No fighting occurred and the Indian villages on the northern Allegany River were deserted just before the arrival of American troops. Broadhead had probably made it just over the border of Pennsylvania and New York but never met up with Sullivan and Clinton. With is troops, barefooted and naked and with messages not getting through to Sullivan, Col Broadhead decided to return to Fort Pitt.
The major force of the expedition. Starting in Easton Pennsylvania with 3500 troops reaching Tioga and joining with General Clinton on August 22nd, the expedition proceeded to the battle of Newtown on August 29th 1779 just outside of the city of Elmira. Although a dramatic battle, the fatalities on both sides were not large. A small victory for the American Patriots being the only battle of the expedition. The expedition continued to Horseheads, Montour Falls, Seneca Lake, Canandaigua, Hornell and ending in Genesee Castle eventually returning to Tioga. The expedition did not capture the forts of Oswego and Niagara but for the most part achieved all its other objectives.
A simple interpretation of the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign was predicated on an act of revenge — a retaliation for the outrages committed on the border frontier. Washington had ordered that the homes of the Indians and their means of sustenance be destroyed so that they would have to rely on the British for food and clothing.
What were the causes and purposes of this campaign and what was the situation prior to the campaign? The Iroquois at the outbreak of the revolution had a very strong history of peace and cooperation in war with the British for over 100 years. The six nations federation of tribes across New York territory were for the most part loyal to the Crown. When the American Patriots made a plea for neutrality, they were only successful in swaying the Oneidas and Tuscarora’s. Thus, it was inevitable that the remaining Indians would be active allies with the British in warfare and against the colonists and would naturally employ their harsh barbarous practices. This would lead to retaliation and utilized as propaganda for war by the American Patriots.
Tories and loyalists were another factor in this situation of 1779. Every person had to take a stand whether for or against the Revolution and the Declaration of Independence. Thousands of New Yorkers choose to remain loyal to the King. Many of these loyalists joined military companies and regiments. They knew the land and colonies and fought with the Indians on many forays against the frontier settlements. All the hatred and misrepresentations of a civil war were prevalent throughout New York State with families and neighbors divided against each other. The result was that not one individual or settlement felt safe. As a matter of fact, even Albany and other fortified cities did not feel safe which is a testament to the success of the British allied war to protect its interests. There is no doubt that the direct cause of this expedition was to destroy the Indians and white loyalists primarily throughout central New York.
Another purpose of the campaign was to destroy the corn fields, vegetables and fruit orchards which fed the loyalist and Indians in hopes that they would flee to the British fortifications and become a burden. Another reason was the food produced in this region of New York was a major source of sustenance for the British Army and Navy. The Indians often sold surplus vegetables, dried fruits, meats and corn to the British at Niagara, Oswego, Montreal and Quebec. This was known to the Patriot military leaders including Schuyler and Washington. To capture, cut off or destroy a militaries food source has always been an effective military strategy.
New York was also recognized during the Revolutionary War as one of the most strategic areas on the Atlantic. With its super water highways of the Hudson, Mohawk, Susquehanna, and Saint Laurance rivers the state provided easy access to the great lakes and interior of North America. Whoever controlled these waterways would control the continent and the revolution. The British military based much of their strategy on this. Washington’s Sullivan Clinton Campaign would counteract this British objective.
As one of the most offensive campaigns in the American Revolution, the causes and purposes of the campaign must be understood to recognize the importance to the history of New York, America and the Iroquois.
The Senecas and Cayuga’s were terribly punished, homes burned, crops, fruits and gardens destroyed. Although retaliation from the Indians and British continued for years after, they never recovered from this expedition and when peace was signed within a few years, it opened up this area to thousands of settlers.
Why name the Bainbridge Canoe Regatta after General Clinton? The race founders thought it was only natural that a canoe race would be named after this historical event as the start of the race is the start of the Clinton expedition (Cooperstown) and a finish in Bainbridge is fitting as it falls on the route of General Clintons trip down the Susquehanna River.
The importance of this event in the American historical War of Independence cannot be understated. It is a testament and reminder of the horrors of war. It is important to preserve our American historical past so that we can learn from our mistakes and right or wrong, learn from those decisions of our forefathers.
Peter Bauerle
General Clinton Canoe Regatta Race Historian