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Battle of Newtown
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Battle of Newtown
The Battle of Newtown (August 29, 1779) was the only major battle of the Sullivan Expedition, an armed offensive led by Major General John Sullivan that was ordered by George Washington to end the threat of the Iroquois who had sided with the British in the American Revolutionary War. Opposing Sullivan's four brigades were 250 Loyalist soldiers from Butler's Rangers, commanded by Major John Butler, and 350 Iroquois and Delaware (Lenape). Butler and Mohawk war leader Joseph Brant did not want to make a stand at Newtown, and instead proposed to harass the enemy on the march, but were overruled by Sayenqueraghta and other Indigenous war leaders.
This battle, which was the most significant military engagement of the campaign, took place at the foot of a hill along the Chemung River just outside what is now Elmira, New York.
The engagement occurred along a tall hill, now called Sullivan Hill and part of the Newtown Battlefield State Park. The hillside, running southeast to northwest next to the Chemung River, was a mile long at its crest, which rose 600 feet (180 m) above the path at its base leading into the Delaware village of Newtown. The slope of the hill was covered with pine and a dense growth of shrub oak. Hoffman Hollow, a marshy area of small hillocks and thick stands of trees, was just to the east of the hill. A small watercourse, called Baldwin Creek, ran through the hollow and emptied into the Chemung River (referred to as the Cayuga branch in Sullivan's reports). The creek followed the hill northwest on the opposite side from the river and had steep western banks.
In May 1779, in response to rumours of a planned American invasion of Iroquois territory, Butler, accompanied by five companies of Butler's Rangers and a detachment of the 8th Regiment of Foot, left Fort Niagara and established a forward operating base at Kanadaseaga located near the northern end of Seneca Lake. In the middle of August, Butler accompanied by about 300 Seneca and Cayuga warriors led by Sayenqueraghta, Cornplanter, and Fish Carrier moved south to the Chemung River where they were joined by Joseph Brant and Brant's Volunteers, as well as a number of Delaware.
Butler and Brant suggested that, because of the size and composition of Sullivan's forces, harassment raids would be more effective than making a stand. They were overruled by Sayenqueraghta, Cornplanter and the Delaware who selected a position on the north side of the Chemung River for an ambush.
The Rangers and their native allies hastily constructed a horseshoe-shaped camouflaged breastwork of logs about 150 feet (46 m) up the southeast spur of the hill, within musket range of the path. The hill was used as both an observation point and a barrier to the approach of the Continental Army.
On August 26, 1779, Sullivan left Fort Sullivan, where the two columns of his army had converged, with an estimated 3,200 well-armed troops. They marched slowly up the Chemung River with the intention of destroying the towns and crops of the Six Nations in central New York. On the morning of Sunday, August 29, about ten miles upriver from Fort Sullivan, the advance guard, three companies of riflemen formerly with the Provisional Rifle Corps of Colonel Daniel Morgan, drew close to Butler's position. Suspecting an ambush, they halted and scouted the area. They discovered the hidden breastwork and immediately notified Brigadier General Edward Hand. Hand dispatched his light infantry to take up firing positions behind the bank of Baldwin Creek. The defenders made several unsuccessful attempts at luring the Continentals into an ambush. As the extended army continued to arrive and assemble, Sullivan called a council of war with his brigade commanders. Together they devised a plan of attack.
The 1st New Jersey Regiment, commanded by Colonel Matthias Ogden, was detached from Brigadier General William Maxwell's New Jersey Brigade and sent west along the Chemung River to a position on Major Butler's right flank. Similarly, the New York Brigade of Brigadier General James Clinton and the New Hampshire Brigade of Brigadier General Enoch Poor were dispatched together eastward, along a circuitous route through Hoffman Hollow, with the mission of approaching the hill's northeastern flank. At the end of the first hour, the artillery of six three-pounders, two howitzers, and a coehorn posted on a rise near the path, would open fire on the breastwork. The guns would signal Hand to feint an attack upon the center of the horseshoe, at which time the brigades to the northeast would climb the hill and pivot left to attack the rear of the breastwork. When the guns of Poor's and Clinton's attack were heard by Hand, his brigade would storm the works, supported by Maxwell's brigade, putting the defenders in a crossfire.
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Battle of Newtown
The Battle of Newtown (August 29, 1779) was the only major battle of the Sullivan Expedition, an armed offensive led by Major General John Sullivan that was ordered by George Washington to end the threat of the Iroquois who had sided with the British in the American Revolutionary War. Opposing Sullivan's four brigades were 250 Loyalist soldiers from Butler's Rangers, commanded by Major John Butler, and 350 Iroquois and Delaware (Lenape). Butler and Mohawk war leader Joseph Brant did not want to make a stand at Newtown, and instead proposed to harass the enemy on the march, but were overruled by Sayenqueraghta and other Indigenous war leaders.
This battle, which was the most significant military engagement of the campaign, took place at the foot of a hill along the Chemung River just outside what is now Elmira, New York.
The engagement occurred along a tall hill, now called Sullivan Hill and part of the Newtown Battlefield State Park. The hillside, running southeast to northwest next to the Chemung River, was a mile long at its crest, which rose 600 feet (180 m) above the path at its base leading into the Delaware village of Newtown. The slope of the hill was covered with pine and a dense growth of shrub oak. Hoffman Hollow, a marshy area of small hillocks and thick stands of trees, was just to the east of the hill. A small watercourse, called Baldwin Creek, ran through the hollow and emptied into the Chemung River (referred to as the Cayuga branch in Sullivan's reports). The creek followed the hill northwest on the opposite side from the river and had steep western banks.
In May 1779, in response to rumours of a planned American invasion of Iroquois territory, Butler, accompanied by five companies of Butler's Rangers and a detachment of the 8th Regiment of Foot, left Fort Niagara and established a forward operating base at Kanadaseaga located near the northern end of Seneca Lake. In the middle of August, Butler accompanied by about 300 Seneca and Cayuga warriors led by Sayenqueraghta, Cornplanter, and Fish Carrier moved south to the Chemung River where they were joined by Joseph Brant and Brant's Volunteers, as well as a number of Delaware.
Butler and Brant suggested that, because of the size and composition of Sullivan's forces, harassment raids would be more effective than making a stand. They were overruled by Sayenqueraghta, Cornplanter and the Delaware who selected a position on the north side of the Chemung River for an ambush.
The Rangers and their native allies hastily constructed a horseshoe-shaped camouflaged breastwork of logs about 150 feet (46 m) up the southeast spur of the hill, within musket range of the path. The hill was used as both an observation point and a barrier to the approach of the Continental Army.
On August 26, 1779, Sullivan left Fort Sullivan, where the two columns of his army had converged, with an estimated 3,200 well-armed troops. They marched slowly up the Chemung River with the intention of destroying the towns and crops of the Six Nations in central New York. On the morning of Sunday, August 29, about ten miles upriver from Fort Sullivan, the advance guard, three companies of riflemen formerly with the Provisional Rifle Corps of Colonel Daniel Morgan, drew close to Butler's position. Suspecting an ambush, they halted and scouted the area. They discovered the hidden breastwork and immediately notified Brigadier General Edward Hand. Hand dispatched his light infantry to take up firing positions behind the bank of Baldwin Creek. The defenders made several unsuccessful attempts at luring the Continentals into an ambush. As the extended army continued to arrive and assemble, Sullivan called a council of war with his brigade commanders. Together they devised a plan of attack.
The 1st New Jersey Regiment, commanded by Colonel Matthias Ogden, was detached from Brigadier General William Maxwell's New Jersey Brigade and sent west along the Chemung River to a position on Major Butler's right flank. Similarly, the New York Brigade of Brigadier General James Clinton and the New Hampshire Brigade of Brigadier General Enoch Poor were dispatched together eastward, along a circuitous route through Hoffman Hollow, with the mission of approaching the hill's northeastern flank. At the end of the first hour, the artillery of six three-pounders, two howitzers, and a coehorn posted on a rise near the path, would open fire on the breastwork. The guns would signal Hand to feint an attack upon the center of the horseshoe, at which time the brigades to the northeast would climb the hill and pivot left to attack the rear of the breastwork. When the guns of Poor's and Clinton's attack were heard by Hand, his brigade would storm the works, supported by Maxwell's brigade, putting the defenders in a crossfire.
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