Battle of Newtown
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Battle of Newtown | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
|
|||||||
Combatants | |||||||
United States | British | ||||||
Commanders | |||||||
Gen. John Sullivan | John Butler, Walter Butler, and Joseph Brant | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
3,462 regulars and milita | 600 to 1,200 regulars and Iroquois natives | ||||||
Casualties | |||||||
Three dead 39 wounded |
12 dead |
Northern theater after Saratoga, 1778–1781 |
---|
Rhode Island – Wyoming Valley – Carleton's Raid – Cherry Valley – Stony Point – Minisink – Penobscot expedition – Sullivan expedition – Newtown – Springfield – Groton Heights |
The Battle of Newtown (29 August 1779), was the only major battle of the Sullivan Expedition, an armed offensive led by General John Sullivan that was ordered by the Continental Congress to end the threat of the Iroquois who had sided with the British in the American Revolutionary War.
[edit] Battle
The battle took place on the hillside just outside of what is now Elmira, New York, along the Chemung River.
Sullivan led the brigade of General Edward Hand, with that of General William Maxwell in reserve, against the Loyalists and Iroquois at this site. He ordered the brigade led by Colonel Matthias Ogden to flank the enemy along the Chemung River to the west, and those led by James Clinton and Enoch Poor to secure the hillside on the eastern flank.
The battle ended with a sound defeat for the Iroquois (led by Joseph Brant) and Loyalists (led by Major John Butler and his son Walter Butler).
[edit] Legacy
Several roadside signs in the vicinity of the interchange mark various troop locations. A tall monument now stands in a state park on a hillside near the position taken by Clinton and Poor's brigades. This hillside area, which overlooks the interchange, is now known as Newtown Battlefield State Park.
The site of the battle is today the Wellsburg exit of Interstate 86 and New York State Route 17.