Sullivan Expedition Against the Iroquois Indians, 1779 - Tunkhannock (PLAQUE)
Tunkhannock, Wyoming County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Twelve miles from Quialutimack on the march from Wyoming to Teaoga August 3, 1779 Lay on lowlands between this point and the river.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In the summer of 1779, at the height of the American Revolution, General John Sullivan led a punishing campaign up the Susquehanna Valley against the Iroquois nations allied with the British. This plaque marks a waypoint on that march from Wyoming to Teaoga, where on August 3 the army camped on the lowlands between here and the river. The relentless expedition burned Iroquois towns and crops, breaking the military power of the Six Nations in the region.
Why it matters
Sullivan's Expedition was a turning point on the Revolution's frontier, opening the way for postwar settlement while dealing a devastating blow to the Haudenosaunee homeland.
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Related people
- · John Sullivan
Related events
- · Sullivan Expedition of 1779
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Sullivan's March
Tunkhannock, PA · est. 1947
In the summer of 1779, General John Sullivan led thousands of Continental soldiers up the Susquehanna Valley in a scorched-earth campaign ordered by George Washington against the Iroquois Confederacy, allies of the British. On August 3, that army made its third camp above Fort Wyoming here by the river as it pushed north toward Tioga. The march devastated Iroquois towns and croplands, breaking the power of the Six Nations on the New York–Pennsylvania frontier.
Wyoming County
Tunkhannock, PA · est. 1982
Formed in 1842 from Luzerne County, Wyoming County takes its name from an Indigenous word for extensive meadows, describing the broad Wyoming Valley. Tunkhannock, settled in 1790, became the county seat. Decades before the county existed, General Sullivan's army marched through this country in August 1779 during the Revolution's campaign against the Iroquois.
Sullivan's March
Exeter Township, PA · est. 1947
During the Revolution's Sullivan Expedition of 1779, General John Sullivan's Continental army moved north up the Susquehanna from Fort Wyoming at Wilkes-Barre toward Tioga. On August 1–2 the troops encamped on the lowland across the river here — the second stop on a grueling march through frontier country. The campaign was Washington's answer to raids on the frontier, aimed at the Iroquois Confederacy allied with the British.
Sullivan's March
Meshoppen Township, PA · est. 1947
On August 4, 1779, General John Sullivan's Continental army made its fourth encampment on the lowland here as it marched from Fort Wyoming toward Tioga Point. The column was part of a coordinated Revolutionary War campaign against the Iroquois Confederacy, whose warriors had raided settlements along the frontier. The soldiers' northward advance up the Susquehanna would culminate in the destruction of dozens of Native towns.