|
|
|
Apr |
04 |
The Massachusetts Congress asks missionary Samuel
Kirkland
to recruit Oneidas to the Patriot cause; they refuse and remain neutral. |
May |
10 |
Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold capture Fort Ticonderoga |
|
12 |
Seth Warner captures a garrison of 1 sargeant
and 11 men at Crown Point. |
|
14 |
Guy Johnson is warned of a plot to kidnap him,
and fortifies his home, Guy Park. |
|
|
Ethan Allen sends a messenger to recruit Indians
at Caughnawaga to the American cause; they turn the message over to Governor
Carleton. |
July |
|
Guy Johnson, the Butlers, Daniel Claus, Joseph
Brant, and other Loyalists gather together to leave the Mohawk Valley. |
|
17 |
Guy Johnson arrives at Oswego, calls the Iroquois
there for a council |
Sept |
06 |
Walter Butler, with Peter Johnson and Gilbert
Tice, ambushes an American force attacking St. John's. The Loyalists suffer
heavy losses, but drive off the Patriots. |
|
25 |
Ethan Allen attacks outskirts of Montreal; his
force is outflanked by Rangers and Indians led by Walter Butler and Peter
Johnson, and is forced to surrender. |
|
Jun |
27 |
Burgoyne arrives at Crown Point |
|
30 |
Burgoyne begins seige of Fort Ticonderoga |
July |
02 |
Arthur St. Clair abandons Ticonderoga's outer works. |
|
04 |
Mount Hope and Sugar Loaf Hill occupied by British artillery,
able to fire down on Fort Ticonderoga. |
|
07 |
St. Clair evacuates his troops from Ticonderoga at 3 am. |
|
|
Seth Warner's men beaten by British advance force at Hubbardton. |
|
29 |
Gansevoort reports that two young girls were scalped and killed
while picking berries outside Fort Stanwix |
Aug |
04 |
Nicholas Herkimer gathers the Tryon County militia at Fort
Dayton, and sets out to relieve Fort Stanwix. |
|
06 |
Oriskany,"The bloodiest battle of the Revolution".
A mixed force of regulars,Loyalists, and Indians ambush the Tryon County
militia on its way to relieve Fort Stanwix. After hours of fighting,the
militia withdraw,taking their mortally wounded leader Nicholas Herkimer
with them. |
Sept |
15 |
John Butler is authorized to raise five companies of Butler's
Rangers; recruiting is very succesful, drawing Loyalists who were mistreated
by their Patriot neighbors. |
|
16 |
Battle of Bennington. Baum's column runs into John Stark's
Vermont militia, and is practically wiped out by the Vermonters; Baum is
mortally wounded. Breymann's relief column beats Stark back, but suffers
twenty five percent casualties. |
|
19 |
First Battle of Saratoga. Continentals under Horatio Gates
try to turn back Burgoyne's advance at Freeman's Farm. The day ends with
the British holding the field. |
Oct |
06 |
Attack of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton. General Sir Henry
Clinton attacks in the Hudson Highlands, hoping to force a connection to
Albany and relieve Burgoyne. British,Loyalist and Hessian troops overrun
the forts, forcing both garrisons to surrender. Governor George Clinton,
Col. John Lamb, and others flee in the chaos and avoid capture. |
|
07 |
Second Battle of Saratoga. Benedict Arnold leads a fierce
counterattack during the Battle of Bemis Heights. Arnold is wounded in the
leg; the same leg that was wounded during the assault on Quebec. Brig. Gen
Simon Fraser is shot by a sniper (allegedly Timothy Murphy), and dies from
the wound. |
|
16 |
Burning of Kingston,NY by a British force led by General John
Vaughn.The attack on New York's seat of government is part of Sir Henry
Clinton's attempt to relieve Burgoyne. |
|
17 |
Burgoyne surrenders his army to Gates. The unusual surrender
terms of the "convention" keep most of the British force as prisoners
of war in America until the Revolution's end. |
|
Apr
|
21 |
Van Schaick's 1st NY (with elements of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th
NY),accompanied by Willett and Cochran of the 3rd NY, attack the Onondaga
Castle(near modern Syracuse). 50 houses were burnt, 12 Indians killed, and
33 taken prisoners. |
|
28 |
Raiding parties reported in Schoharie, Stone Arabia, and near Fort Plank. The 2nd Regiment, Albany County militia Gansevoort's 3rd NY, and elements of the Tryon County militia march to Johnstown in response. |
|
|
|
May |
01 |
The 2nd and 4th NY regiments leave the Hudson River Valley
to join the Sullivan Expedition forming near Easton, PA |
|
04 |
Several houses "were burnt at the Fantine Kill" (Ulster County), 6 civilians killed. |
|
10 |
A raiding party hits Fort Dayton, five men killed outside the fort, 1 taken prisoner. Seperately, 24 Indians "discovered about ten miles from the Old Indian Castle." |
July |
|
Lt. Henry Hare and Sgt. Newbery of Butler's Rangers are captured
and courtmartialed as spies. Both men are held responsible for their roles
in the Cherry Valley Massacre, and are hanged at Canajoharie. |
|
31 |
The Sullivan Expedition leaves the Wyoming Valley for New
York Indian country. |
Aug |
28 |
Continental troops raid and burn the village of Chemung. |
|
29 |
John Butler, his Rangers,and Brant and his warriors make a
stand at Newtown(present day Elmira). Nine Indians and Three Continental
soldiersare killed; 34 Continentals are wounded. |
Sept |
03 |
Sullivan burns Catherine's Town. |
|
20 |
Col.Gansevoort of the 3rd NY ordered to destroy the lower
Mohawk castle. Local settlers, who are now homeless, ask that Gansevoort
turn the Indian's homes over to them; he complies. The entire action is
later criticized by General Philip Schulyer, due to the fact that this particular
Mohawk village supported the rebel cause. |
Nov |
27 |
Captain Jelles Fonda, 2nd Albany, is brought before a court martial. Fonda is charged with ordering his men to fire on men from Capt. Stephen J. Schuyler's regiment as they mutinied at Fort Plank. Fonda is tried and acquited of the charges. |
|
Apr
|
|
Third raid on Cherry Valley. 79 Indians and two tories burn
the deserted fort, and all buildings still standing - the town ceases to
exist. |
May |
21 |
Sir John Johnson raids the valley. His force burns every building
except the church in Caughnawaga. Legend has it that Sir John returns to
Johnson Hall to recover the family silver he had buried there prior to his
flight to Canada. |
July |
|
A force of Mohawks and Senecas burn the Oneida castle. The
Oneidas finally pay the price for siding with the Americans at Oriskany
and for their continuing support of the rebel cause. The Oneidas flee to
Fort Stanwix for protection. |
Oct
|
|
The Burning of The Valleys.A two pronged raiding force sweeps
down into the Mohawk and Scoharie Valleys. Sir John Johnson leads a force
from Oswego; Maj. Christopher Carleton's party comes south from Fort. St.
Johns. |
|
02 |
Johnson's raiding force leaves Oswego. His troops consist
of men from the 8th, 34th, and 84th regiments, his Royal Greens, Rangers,Artillery
and Indians totaling about 600 men. |
|
17 |
Johnson's raiders arrive outside the walls of the Upper Fort
at Scoharie. They burn outlying farms, then swing around the fort to attack
the next defense - the Middle Fort. The severely under garrisoned Middle
Fort faces a seige; according to legend, Johnson sends out a parley flag
to demand surrender. The flag bearer is fired upon by frontiersman Timothy
Murphy. This happens three times. The legend concludes that Johnson finds
the resistance too strong, and abandons the seige. |
|
18 |
The raiders burn the settlements as far as Fort Hunter. |
|
19 |
Battle of Stone Arabia. Also known as the battle of Klock's
field. Colonel Brown's militia force is supposed to rendezvous with more
troops led by General Robert van Rennselear; they will catch Johnson in
a pincer move. Rennselear delays linking up; Brown meets Johnson's troops
in the fields near Stone Arabia, and is severely mauled. Brown is shot down
and scalped. The raiders now move on to burn Stone Arabia. |