Wednesday, August 24, 2016 (7:30pm) to Saturday, August 27, 2016 (5:00pm)
Headquarters: Victor, NY
Led by: Glenn Williams
Registration Fee: $475
The Sullivan-Clinton campaign against the Iroquois in 1779 has been described as implementing a “scorched earth” policy for no useful purpose other than eradicating Indians, or a failed attempt to capture Fort Niagara. No campaign of the American War for Independence has been more inaccurately described or remains more controversial than the Continental Army’s invasion of the Iroquois Confederacy in 1779. This tour is designed to follow the main effort of that offensive as conducted by troops commanded by Major General John Sullivan. Sullivan’s troops took the war to the very heart of the territory controlled by the Six Nations of Iroquois who had allied themselves with the British Crown. At the tour’s end you’ll decide if the campaign was a success or a well-executed failure.
On our first day will travel to the Gonandagan State Historic Site with its reconstructed Iroquois longhouse – near Victor – where we will focus on the political and military structure of the Six Nations, the decision of four of them to side with the British and two to become allies of the United States, with a resulting civil war. We will also stop at Verona Beach State Park where Wood Creek empties into Lake Oneida to discuss Colonel Goose Van Schaick’s expedition and attack on Onondaga in April 1779. We’ll visit Brewerton in Cicero, site of a former French and Indian War fort where patriot troops land before marching cross-country to Lake Onondaga and finally, Pompey at the site of an Onondaga Town that existed prior to the 18th century.
On paper, Union Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick’s plan, approved directly by Lincoln, to release some 13,000 Federal prisoners, “burn the hateful city” of Richmond and capture or kill Confederate President Jefferson Davis, had all the earmarks of success. As one Michigan officer recalled, “The rationale of the raid was a hurried ride, timely arrival, great daring, a surprise, a sudden charge without a moment’s hesitation – success.” Even Confederate cavalry commander Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton felt “the enemy could have taken Richmond” except for some rebel luck. But in execution the Kilpatrick–Dahlgren Raid was a dismal failure; and a major embarrassment to Lincoln when controversial orders were found on the dead body of the expedition’s subordinate commander, the dashing and well-connected Col. Ulric Dahlgren.
America’s History’s bus tour for the Company of Military Historians’ annual meeting will focus on the Civil War’s first major campaign in the East. The call was “On to Richmond” when Union and Confederate armies collided near Manassas Junction, the battle that became known as First Manassas or First Bull Run as it was known in the North.
Our tour this summer will continue the study of Benedict Arnold as one of the foremost combat commanders of the Revolutionary War. Last year we investigated Arnold’s career in Connecticut as both a patriot and a traitor. This year’s tour will follow his career in the first two years of the war when he excelled on land and water. We will also learn about his enterprising relationship with the wily Ethan Allen during their joint venture to capture Fort Ticonderoga and how he handled Horatio Gates when he served under the Northern army commander on two separate occasions during the war.
America’s History is proud to continue its partnership with Fort Ticonderoga by again offering a special one-day Revolutionary War tour. This tour will complete Burgoyne’s 1777 campaign by concentrating on the battles at Saratoga. Led by Eric Schnitzer, historian at the Saratoga National Historical Park and Bruce Venter, we will spend the entire day on the battlefield exploring the first battle at Freeman’s Farm, the second battle at the Wheatfield, Burgoyne’s fortifications, Gates’ line at Bemis Heights, the surrender area and much more. One of the foremost experts of the Saratoga campaign, Eric Schnitzer, will review the strategy and tactics of the opposing leaders in a comprehensive narration, including some new information on Arnold’s conduct based on a recently discovered letter written by an officer serving in the American army. This is a rare opportunity to understand the actions at Saratoga from a leading authority on the campaign. We will return to Fort Ticonderoga in time for you to attend the opening session of Fort Ticonderoga’s American Revolution Seminar.
Many of us will remember the stirring adventures of the “Swamp Fox” portrayed by Leslie Neilson in Walt Disney’s episodic series in the late 1950’s. Again in 2000, Mel Gibson starred in a fictionalized version of a composite Swamp Fox character in the movie “The Patriot.” The real Swamp Fox story, however, is even more exciting than either of its modern day adaptations.