Battle of Newtown

On August 29, 1779, forces clashed at Newtown in what stands as the single major engagement of the Sullivan Expedition, a campaign that Major General John Sullivan led under orders from George Washington. The goal of the offensive was to break the power of the Haudenosaunee, who had allied themselves with the British during the American Revolutionary War.

Sullivan brought four brigades to the field. Facing them stood a much smaller force: 250 Loyalist troops belonging to Butler's Rangers under Major John Butler's command, alongside 350 Haudenosaunee and Lenape (Delaware) fighters. Neither Butler nor the Mohawk leader Joseph Brant favored holding ground at Newtown; both men preferred a strategy of harassing Sullivan's advancing troops rather than risking a direct confrontation. Sayenqueraghta and the other Indigenous commanders rejected this approach, however, and insisted on making a stand.

As the campaign's most consequential clash, the fighting unfolded near the base of a hill beside the Chemung River, in the area now known as Elmira, New York.

Terrain

The fighting took place on a lofty ridge, today known as Sullivan Hill, which lies within Newtown Battlefield State Park. Oriented from southeast to northwest and bordering the Chemung River, this elevation stretched a full mile along its summit, towering 600 feet (180 m) over the trail beneath it that led into Newtown, a Delaware settlement. Pine trees and a thick tangle of shrub oak blanketed the hill's slope. Just east of this rise sat Hoffman Hollow, a boggy stretch marked by small mounds and heavy timber. Through this hollow flowed a modest stream known as Baldwin Creek, which drained into the Chemung River, a waterway Sullivan's own accounts called the Cayuga branch. On the side away from the river, the creek traced the hill's northwestern edge, its western banks rising sharply.

Haudenosaunee and British preparation

Word reached Fort Niagara in May 1779 that the Americans might be planning to push into Haudenosaunee lands, and Butler responded by marching out with five companies of his Rangers along with a detachment drawn from the 8th Regiment of Foot. This force set up a forward base at Kanadaseaga, near the top end of Seneca Lake. By mid-August, Butler had moved south toward the Chemung River together with roughly 300 Seneca and Cayuga fighters under the command of Sayenqueraghta, Cornplanter, and Fish Carrier. There, Joseph Brant arrived with his Volunteers, and a group of Delaware joined the gathering force as well.

Given how large and varied Sullivan's army was, Butler and Brant argued that hit-and-run tactics made more sense than a direct confrontation. Sayenqueraghta, Cornplanter, and the Delaware disagreed, however, and their view won out. They chose ground on the Chemung River's north bank where an ambush could be staged.

Working quickly, the Rangers and their allies built a hidden, horseshoe-shaped log breastwork roughly 150 feet (46 meters) up the hill's southeast spur, close enough to the trail below to be within musket range. This high ground served a double purpose, letting them watch for the Continental Army's approach while also blocking its way forward.

Expedition and battle

Sullivan set out from Fort Sullivan on August 26, 1779, the point where his two columns had joined together, commanding roughly 3,200 troops equipped for combat. Their march carried them slowly along the Chemung River, aimed at wiping out the settlements and harvests belonging to the Six Nations across central New York. Roughly ten miles from Fort Sullivan, on the Sunday morning of August 29, the leading element of the force approached Butler's position. This vanguard consisted of three rifle companies that had once served under Colonel Daniel Morgan's Provisional Rifle Corps. Wary of a possible trap, they stopped to survey the terrain and soon spotted the concealed breastwork, passing word immediately to Brigadier General Edward Hand. Hand responded by sending his light infantry to positions along the bank of Baldwin Creek. The defenders tried repeatedly, without success, to draw the Continental soldiers into a trap. Once the full army had gathered, Sullivan convened his brigade commanders for a council of war, and together they worked out a battle plan.

Colonel Matthias Ogden's 1st New Jersey Regiment was pulled from Brigadier General William Maxwell's New Jersey Brigade and moved westward along the Chemung toward Major Butler's right flank. At the same time, Brigadier General James Clinton's New York Brigade and Brigadier General Enoch Poor's New Hampshire Brigade set out together heading east, taking a winding path through Hoffman Hollow toward the northeastern side of the hill. After the first hour had elapsed, artillery consisting of six three-pound guns, two howitzers, and a coehorn, positioned on elevated ground near the trail, was to begin firing on the breastwork. This bombardment would cue Hand to launch a diversionary strike against the center of the horseshoe formation, while the brigades approaching from the northeast climbed the hill and swung left to hit the rear of the fortification. Once Hand heard the guns marking Poor and Clinton's assault, his troops would rush the works, backed by Maxwell's brigade, catching the defenders in crossfire from two directions.

Though hastily assembled and intricate, the scheme ultimately succeeded in defeating Butler's Rangers and their Indigenous allies. However, the marshy ground in Hoffman Hollow, which Sullivan described as a "morass," slowed Poor and Clinton's advance and threw off the plan's timing, giving Butler and the Haudenosaunee just enough opportunity to slip away along the hill's crest. The artillery began firing before Poor and Clinton had reached their positions, which pushed the Rangers and Haudenosaunee away from the breastwork before the encirclement could be completed. Although some defenders broke and fled, most of Butler's force fought a running skirmish with the Americans as they pulled back.

Almost every casualty suffered by the Continentals came during a counterstrike against Lieutenant Colonel George Reid's 2nd New Hampshire Regiment. Positioned at the far left of Poor's attacking line, this regiment had to scale the steepest part of the slope and fell well behind the rest of the brigade as a result. Joseph Brant directed the assault and came close to surrounding Reid's men entirely. In response, the neighboring 3rd New Hampshire Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Henry Dearborn reversed direction, delivered two volleys, and pushed back down the hill to relieve Reid, joined by two regiments from Clinton's brigade. Though this counterattack succeeded in repelling the assault, it gave most of Butler's forces the chance to get away.

Following the destruction of two Delaware villages and the surrounding crops, Sullivan's army pushed northward. Over the following three weeks, they wiped out at least 40 Seneca and Cayuga settlements that had been hastily deserted, before finally making their way back to Fort Sullivan.

Legacy

The federal government designated the site a National Historic Landmark in 1973, formally acknowledging its importance to history. This designation covers close to 2,100 acres (850 hectares) spread across the towns of Ashland, Chemung and Elmira. Interstate 86's Wellsburg exit and New York State Route 17 now cut through and partly hide the battle's original location, though a scattering of roadside markers near the interchange still indicate where various troops once stood.

When the battle's centennial arrived in 1879, a modest plot on what would come to be called Sullivan Hill was given as a gift, leading to the founding of Newtown Battlefield Park. A fieldstone tower rising 40 feet (12 m) was constructed there, only to be destroyed when a thunderstorm struck on August 30, 1911. That same year saw 15 acres (6.1 hectares), including the park itself, transferred by deed to New York State, at which point it became known as the Newtown Battlefield Reservation. Dedicated in 1912, a granite obelisk standing 80 feet (24 m) tall replaced the fallen tower. Subsequent growth of the property eventually produced today's Newtown Battlefield State Park, spanning 372 acres (1.51 km2).

Beyond the state park's boundaries, the American Battlefield Trust, working alongside its partners, has secured and safeguarded another 68 acres (28 hectares) of the surrounding battlefield. Congressman Randy Kuhl introduced Congressional resolution H.R. 6866 in hopes of bringing the Newtown Battlefield under the umbrella of the National Park System. The measure called on Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne to undertake a special resource study assessing both the site's historical significance and whether folding it into the National Parks System would be practical and appropriate. However, the legislation stalled after being sent to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands in January 2009.