WHO’S WHO: THE KEY PLAYERS

For a “Who’s Who” of the Sullivan/Clinton saga:

SULLIVAN/CLINTON AT-A-GLANCE: THE KEY PLAYERS

• Brant, Joseph (Mohawk) The most prominent Iroquois military leader. Allied through blood ties with the English, Brant led many raids against Yankee frontier settlements and was widely called ‘The Monster Brant’ by his American foes.

• Bolton, Mason (English) Principal commander of Ft. Niagara, the main English outpost which served as a staging and supply area for Iroquois/Tory raids on American frontier settlements, and refugee center in the aftermath of Sullivan-Clinton.

• Boyd, Thomas (American) Lt. Boyd and Sgt. Michael Parker’s controversial capture and death at the hands of the Seneca is arguably the most visible reminder of the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign. There are memorial sites in Groveland, Cuylerville and Rochester’s Mt. Hope Cemetery.

• Brodhead, Daniel (American) Commander ordered by Washington to destroy a series of towns of the Allegheny Seneca and their allies, on his way to link up with Sullivan and Clinton. That link didn’t occur, but a series of towns like Jenuchshadago (Burnt House) was destroyed by Col. Brodhead’s 605 men in August, 1779.

• Butler, John (English) England’s main field operative in Iroquois country. Defeated at Newtown by Sullivan/Clinton, he organized a Loyalist force called Butler’s Rangers. With them, he and his son, Walter Butler, and different groups of Indian allies, attacked Yankee frontier settlements. Dispossessed of thousands of acres in the Mohawk Valley, Butler led the successful English and Indian attack and burning of the American settlement at Wyoming Valley, and its aftermath in the Wyoming Massacre. (See the Main Events page).

• Butler, Walter (English) Joined with Brant and other English forces to successfully attack and burn the American settlement at Cherry Valley. Son of John Butler. He was known for extreme cruelty in his treatment of defeated American settlers.

• Butler, Zebulon (American) The military leader of Wyoming Valley (Pennsylvania) and a survivor of the Yankee defeat and subsequent killings.

• Butler, William (American) During Sullivan/Clinton, Col. Wm. Butler led the revenge burning of the Cayuga villages and capital, Goi-O-Guen. Ever since, the Cayugas continue to press land claims in the courts, but are still landless in New York State today.

• Cayuga Known as “Guyohkohnyoh,” or The People of the Great Swamp. Sided with the English during the American Revolutionary War.

• Clinton, James (American) Born in New Windsor, New York, the General was co-leader of the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign. He was the brother of Gov. George Clinton and father of future governor DeWitt Clinton, the champion of the near-future Erie Canal (1823).

• Cornplanter (Seneca) As a key Seneca war chief, Ganiodieu first fought against the Yankees in the Revolutionary War, then pragmatically adapted to their rule and fought with America against England in the War of 1812.

• Gai-ya-sot-ha (Seneca) Great orator and sage voice at the Council fire of the tribes of the Ohio region. Uncle and mentor to Handsome Lake and Cornplanter. Perhaps the key Iroquois diplomat in councils with English and American officials.

• Haldimand, Frederick (English) The overall commander of English forces in North America during the time of the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign . The General failed to supply the men and materials required to equalize the large Yankee force.

• Haudenosaunee The Indians’ name for the Iroquois Six Nations: it means ‘People of the Longhouse,’ the Iroquois’ signature domicile.

• Jemison, Mary (Scotch-Irish/Seneca) The famed “white woman of the Genesee.” She was captured by Indians, then became wife to a Delaware, then Seneca chief and bore six children. Her accounts of her life and Sullivan-Clinton experiences are covered in James Seaver’s A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison (1824).

• Johnson’s (English) Sir William Johnson, Guy Johnson and John Johnson - had an unrivaled legacy of close ties with the Iroquois. Sir William intermarried with the family of Joseph Brant, and, for years, as Superintendant of Indian Affairs in the Northern Department, was England’s most potent influence on Iroquois politics, until his death in 1774.

• Kirkland, Samuel (American) The Rev. Samuel Kirkland was a Presbyterian missionary among the Iroquois Indians (1764-1808). He helped persuade many Oneidas and Tuscaroras to assist the Americans during the Revolutionary War. He was a guide and chaplain on Sullivan’s Expedition. After the war, he attended several treaty negotiations in which the Iroquois relinquished substantial amounts of their land. (Bio by Christine S. Patrick.)

• Mohawk Known as “Kanienkahagen,” or People of the Flint. They were/remain the designated Keepers of the Iroquois Eastern Door. Sided with the English during the American Revolutionary War.

• Onondaga Known as “Onundagaono,” or People of the Hills. They were/remain the designated Keepers of the Iroquois Central Council Fire. Sided with the English during the American Revolutionary War.

• Oneida Known as “Onayotekaono,” meaning The People of the Upright Stone. Largely sided with the Americans during the American Revolutionary War.

• Red Jacket A principal Seneca sachem (chief) and political rival to Mohawk war leader Joseph Brant. Though Canoga, his home village, was burned by Col. Henry Dearborn’s troops, Red Jacket was fast to accommodate to Yankee postwar rule.

• Schuyler, Philip (American) Son of a noted New York landed and political family, he was an early proponent of the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign, a member of the War Board of the Continental Congress, a US Senator, and a prime mover of postwar Oneida land dispossessions. Also, he was father-in-law to Alexander Hamilton.

• Seneca Known as “Onondowahgah,”or People of the Great Hill. They were/remain the designated Keepers of the Iroquois Western Door. Sided with the English during the American Revolution.

• Six Nations A common name for the members of the Iroqouis League (or Iroquois Confederacy), which Indians call The Haudenosaunee, or People of the Longhouse.

• Sullivan, John (American) Born in Somerville, New Hampshire, the General carried out Washington’s orders to invade and destroy the Seneca, Cayuga and Onondaga homelands. He returned to New Hampshire and became its first president, then served in the new Congress.

• Tuscarora Known as “Ska-Ruh-Reh,” or Shirt Wearing People. Driven out of the Carolinas by losing a war with settlers (1711-1713), they were the last to join the Iroqouis Confederacy. Largely sided with the Americans during the American Revolution.

• Van Schaick, Goose (American) Under Clinton’s command, Col. Van Schaick laid waste to Onondaga villages in April, 1779. It permanently removed the military threat from the east to Sullivan-Clinton’s subsequent operations in September, 1779.

• Washington, George (American) The Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and America’s first president. In 1778, the General first asked Congress for almost $1 million in financing for Sullivan Clinton; then he planned and ordered the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign in 1779.