Proceedings of the New York Historical Association [1906]. New York State Historical Association. Meeting
![Proceedings of the New York Historical Association [1906] - New York State Historical Association. Meeting](limg_read866290.jpg "Proceedings of the New York Historical Association [1906] - New York State Historical Association. Meeting")
"May 31, 1779. Sir:—The expedition you are appointed to command is to be directed against the hostile tribes of the Six Nations of Indians with their associates and adherents. The immediate object is their total destruction and devastation and the capture of as many persons of every age and sex as possible. It will be essential to ruin their crops, now on the ground, and prevent their planting more."
Then followed instructions more in detail, showing that Washington had acquired an almost accurate knowledge of the country not only, but the people as well. His instructions were carried out almost to the letter as far as the army proceeded.
Sullivan concluded when he had driven them from the valley of the Genesee that his mission was fulfilled.
Sensitiveness that is unreasoning may have been shocked at Washington's policy, carried out by Sullivan. The destruction of forty villages, some of them extensive, as reported by Sullivan, sixty thousand bushels of corn, three thousand bushels of beans—in one orchard fifteen hundred peach trees—seemed harsh treatment, but when we consider that a major portion of this would have furnished the Tories with sustenance, another view must be taken.
Humanity, however, dictated the firing of cannon every morning, giving the Indians an opportunity to retreat, which was in strong contrast with the savage, cruel manner of Brant and Butler in their attacks upon peaceful settlers.
When the Senecas returned after peace was declared, their respect for Ha-na-de-ga-na-ars (destroyer of villages), as Washington was called by them, was greatly strengthened.
When Horatio Jones, Major Van Campen and others moved into their territory, they were kindly treated, and gave kind treatment in return.
The record of the Iroquois has been one of unbroken peace and friendship since then, for their last treaty made with General Washington has been kept inviolate.
SULLIVAN'S CAMPAIGN.
By William Wait.
In the campaign of 1779 it was evident that the British intended to confine their operations to pillaging expeditions on the frontiers in the north, and an effort to cripple the Union in the south.
In July of the previous year, Butler and Brant with a force of 1600 Indians and Tories had entered the Wyoming Valley and spread death and destruction in their path, and in November raided the inhabitants of Cherry Valley.
Two years before, St. Leger had made his unsuccessful attempt on Fort Stanwix and the Mohawk Valley, while Burgoyne was attempting to force his way through our northern frontier.
Nor were these raids upon the valleys of the Mohawk and the Wyoming, and the inhabitants of Cherry Valley, the only calamities visited upon the frontiers. By reason of the location and small size of the border settlements and the great distance between detached dwellings, the inhabitants, from the very beginning of the Revolutionary struggle, were subject to constant attack by small bands of Indians, and Tories disguised as such, who murdered those who fell into their hands and burned and pillaged their dwellings until none but the most intrepid dared remain in their homes. The supplicating tears of women and children, and the wail of helpless babes, were unheeded. The tomahawk and war-club fell without pity upon the defenceless heads of all alike, and the scalps of women and children and the silvered locks of the aged mingled with those of manhood to adorn the belt of the savage, and be bartered for British gold. Here and there a heap of ashes and a few putrefying bodies remained to show the location of some unfortunate settler's cabin or frontier hamlet. Desolation was spread from one end of the border to the other, and the wail of despair was not to be resisted by the Congress. That body had received a constant stream of appeals for aid from the sufferers at the front since the very beginning of the war. A large part of the documentary remains of that period consist of such letters to Washington, Governor Clinton, and others in authority.
On the first of April, 1779, Congress, in response to a letter of March 13th, from the Legislature of New York, passed a resolution authorizing an expedition against these marauders. The campaign was planned by the Commander-in-chief. Its execution was first offered to General Gates because of his seniority, but the offer was made in such a way that it could not be accepted, and Gates was obliged to decline in favor of Major-General John Sullivan, whom Washington intended from the first should be its commander.
General Washington's orders to Sullivan for the conduct of the campaign were very explicit, and were in part as follows:
"The immediate objects 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 … parties should be detached to lay waste all the settlements around, with instructions to do it in the most effectual manner, that the country may not be merely overrun, but destroyed. Make rather than receive attacks, attend with as much impetuosity, shouting, and noise, as possible; and make the troops act in as loose and dispersed a way as is consistent with a proper degree of government, concert, and mutual support. It should be previously impressed upon the minds of the men, whenever they have an opportunity, to rush on with the war-whoop and fixed bayonet. Nothing will disconcert and terrify the Indians more than this."
The forces were gathered in three divisions; the principal and central one, rendezvousing at Wyoming, was composed of the three brigades of Maxwell, Poor, and Hand, and proceeded up the valley of the Susquehanna to Tioga, where it was joined by the right division under Gen. James Clinton, whose force, consisting of 1,600 men, was gathered at Canajoharie, and proceeded down the headwaters of the Susquehanna. The left division, consisting of 600 men, under Col. Daniel Brodhead, marched up the Allegheny from Pittsburgh, leaving that place the 11th of August, burned 11 towns, containing about 165 houses, which were for the most part constructed of logs and framed timber; destroyed more than 500 acres of cultivated land then in full crop, and took loot estimated as worth $30,000. This division returned to Pittsburgh the 14th of September, having been too late to join the main body, and never having come under the direct command of Gen. Sullivan.
The main division began to assemble at Wyoming early in April, but it was not until the last day of July, in the afternoon, that they finally began their advance. The artillery, ammunition and provisions were loaded on 214 boats (this is the number stated by Col. Proctor, who was in charge of the fleet; most accounts say 120), while 1,200 pack horses carried the baggage and camp utensils, and 700 beef cattle were driven along for food. Gordon, and some other British writers, have claimed that Sullivan demanded much more than he should in the way of supplies. Some of Sullivan's enemies at home made the same charge; but it is a notorious fact that the commander had great difficulty in procuring the amount that he had and that it fell far short of what prudence required. As it was, some of the pork was packed in barrels made of green staves, and spoiled. Much of the time the army subsisted on short rations, eked out by green corn and other supplies taken from the fields of the Indians which they were destroying.
Tioga was the Iroquois name for the point of land lying between the Chemung River and the north branch of the Susquehanna. Every name that an Indian gave to a place or a person was descriptive, and had a meaning. Most of these as we find them written are corruptions of the names as they sounded when spoken by an Indian, and therefore we find the same word in different documents spelled in as many ways as it could be spelled by illiterate English, Dutch and French settlers, with a few extra letters thrown in. Tioga is said to mean anything between any other two things, a gate, the forks of a river, etc. (from Teyaogen, or Teiohogen). Van Curler in his Journal of 1634 speaks of the Mohawk's name of their great river as Vyoge. Father Jogues gave Oiogue as the Mohawk name for the Hudson, in 1646. Ohio is another corrupted form of the same word, and all seem to be corrupted from the same Iroquois word, meaning a large stream. Many other Indian place-names occur in the various