| Reading Guide for Week 9 | |
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Tuesday George Washington to John Sullivan (1779) This letter ordered John Sullivan to undertake a military campaign against the “Five Nations” in upstate New York, as retribution for a military defeat in western Pennsylvania in July 1778, and as retribution for a massacre in upstate New York in November 1778, both at the hands of a combined loyalist and Native American force. Sullivan was given a massive force of several thousand troops to execute his orders. Transporting that force to upstate New York required many wagons and packhorses. John Sullivan report to Congress (1779) Sullivan’s report to the Continental Congress was among many reports reprinted in numerous American newspapers about the progress of the military campaign against the “Five Nations.” In this report, Sullivan summarized the army’s actions after it defeated the loyalist and Native American force on August 29th, the lone battle in the campaign. The scorched-earth tactics continued for another month. Israel Evans sermon (1779) Evans delivered this sermon to mark the return of victorious units of the Continental Army after the military campaign against the “Five Nations.” While Sullivan summarized the army’s military actions, Evans gave what he believed to be moral meaning to those actions. |