Sullivan Expedition
The
Sullivan Expedition, led by Major General
John Sullivan, was commissioned by the
Continental Congress to end the threat of the four nations of the
Iroquois who had sided with the
British in the
American Revolutionary War. It occurred during the summer of
1779 and only had one major battle, at Newtown, where the
Tories and Iroquois were decisively defeated. Sullivan then methodically destroyed Iroquois homes and farms throughout what is now upstate
New York, effectively neutralizing the threat against the fledgeling American nation.
For more information see the Upstate portion of History of New York.