Sullivan's March
Meshoppen Township, Wyoming County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Gen. John Sullivan's army camped on the lowland here Aug. 4, 1779. The fourth encampment between Fort Wyoming and Tioga Point.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
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.
Why it matters
The chain of marked campsites preserves the day-by-day path of one of the Revolution's decisive frontier campaigns, a turning point in the long struggle over the Pennsylvania and New York backcountry.
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Related people
- · John Sullivan
Related events
- · Clinton-Sullivan Campaign of 1779
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Sullivan Expedition Against the Iroquois Indians, 1779 - Vanderlip's Farm (PLAQUE)
Meshoppen Township, PA · est. 1929
As General Sullivan's army pushed north against the Iroquois in August 1779, it made its fourth encampment on the fertile bottomland here, remembered locally as Black Walnut Flats. The soldiers rested on the nights of August 4 and 5 before continuing the march from Wyoming toward Teaoga. The campaign systematically destroyed the towns and food stores of the Six Nations across this valley.
Indian Hill Battlefield - PLAQUE
Tuscarora Township, PA · est. 1928
During the Revolutionary War, Pennsylvania's northern frontier was ravaged by raids from British-allied Native war parties. In September 1778 Colonel Thomas Hartley led an expedition up the Susquehanna, burning Tioga and Queen Esther's Town before fighting a sharp engagement near this spot on September 29. His campaign broke the momentum of raids in the region and cleared the way for the massive Sullivan Expedition the following year.
Indian Hill
Tuscarora Township, PA · est. 1947
The hill southeast of this marker saw sharp frontier fighting on September 29, 1778, when Colonel Thomas Hartley's soldiers from Fort Muncy clashed with Native warriors here. Two days earlier Hartley's raid had burned Queen Esther's town near present-day Athens, part of the brutal back-and-forth of Revolutionary warfare along the Susquehanna. These running fights pitted Pennsylvania militia against the Iroquois and their British allies in a contest for the northern borderlands.
Sullivan's March
Wyalusing Township, PA · est. 1947
In the summer of 1779, at the height of the Revolution, General John Sullivan led a Continental army up the Susquehanna Valley, camping near here on August 5-7 as it pushed north. The expedition, ordered by George Washington, aimed to break the power of the Iroquois nations allied with the British and to end the devastating raids along the frontier. Over the campaign Sullivan's troops burned dozens of Haudenosaunee towns and their harvests.