Native Americans and the Sullivan Campaign

 

Before the American Revolution, there was a well-established Seneca village near what is now the town of Chemung. The Seneca are members of the Six Nations, also called the Iroquois or Haudenosaunee Confederacy. When the Revolution began in 1775, they allied themselves with the British and Loyalist troops and raided colonial farms in southern New York and northern Pennsylvania. In 1779, General John Sullivan and General James Clinton of the Continental Army were sent to counter the raids. Their forces destroyed native villages and crops throughout the region. On August 29, 1779, General Sullivan’s troops won a decisive victory against the British and their allies at the Battle of Newtown.