View of the Chemung Valley from Newtown Battlefield State Park

One of the largest military campaigns of the Revolution is often ignored by history–the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign in the Finger Lakes region of what is now NY State. In the late summer of 1779, several thousand Continental Army troops marched through the lake country burning 40 or more villages and destroying crops of the Iroquois or Haudenosaunee people, most of whom were aiding the British. This campaign led to the US’s claim on the area at the end of the war. The Finger Lakes and what is now central and western NY had been Iroquois territory and never was part of colonial America. See our more detailed post about this from February, 2012.

Scene from a re-enactment of the Battle of Newtown. Source: I Love NY

The only full battle in the march occurred near what was then called Newtown, southeast of present-day Elmira. The clash is commemorated at Newtown Battlefield State Park on top of a big hill with beautiful views of the valley, a picnic area, and a small camping/cabin area. Find out more at the state park website.