The Burning of the Valleys: Daring Raids from Canada Against the New York Frontier in the Fall of 1780

by Gavin K. Watt

In the fifth year of the War of Independence, while the Americans focused on the British thrust against the Carolinas, the Canadian Department waged a decisive campaign against the northern frontier of New York. Their primary target was the Mohawk River region, known to be the "grainbowl" that fed Washington’s armies. The Burning of the Valleys details the actions of both sides in this exciting and incredibly effective British campaign. General Frederick Haldimand of Canada possessed a potent force, formed by the deadly alliance of toughened, embittered Tories, who had abandoned their families and farms in New York and Pennsylvania to join the King’s Provincial regiments in Canada, and the enraged Six Nations Iroquois, whose towns and farmlands had been utterly devastated by Continentals in 1779. The Governor augmented this highly motivated force with British and German regulars and Canadian Iroquois. In October, without benefit of modern transportation, communications or navigational aids, four coordinated raids, each thoroughly examined in this book, penetrated deeply into American territory. The raiders fought skirmishes and battles, took hundreds of prisoners, burned forts, farms, and mills and destroyed one of the finest grain harvests in living memory.

Genres: History

392 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Gavin K. Watt is the author of eleven books about loyalist military history, including Burning of the Valleys and Rebellion in the Mohawk Valley. He lives in King City, Ontario.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good local history. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in learning more about the Mohawk Valley region!!

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Burning of the Valleys" by Gavin K. Watt describes the coordinated Autumn 1780 attacks on New York State by three columns of English regulars and their loyalist and Native American allies. The attacks were designed to remove all of New York north and west of Albany from playing any further part in the American Revolutionary War. And in that, they were fairly successful.

Gavin K. Watt is a Canadian historian noted for his expertise on and passion for the history of the Lake Champlain, Lake George, and Mohawk River Valleys. He has written a number of excellent books on the History of the American Revolution in those regions. A Canadian, he provides a well thought-out and reasoned view-point that occasionally seems a bit revisionist to this United States reader. His books are well written and excellently sourced with original documents. This region and its history is clearly a life-long love for him

The book itself covers the British Autumn 1780 attack on the region. The attack consisted of three columns composed of English Regulars, supplemented with Loyalist and Naive American allies. The columns basically moved at will, destroying Patriot fortifications, settlements and harvests. Because the columns were light and fast moving, the Patriots generally were unable to respond quickly and mass sufficient military power to oppose the invading forces. It wasn't until the very end of the campaign that the Patriots brought up sufficient militia to attack the English column in the Mohawk valley. By that point the English column had already pretty much burned everything to the ground and was returning home. The responding militia had all of the problems that any newly formed and deployed unit experiences. In the end, the militia was unable to successfully close and destroy the retiring English.

I would recommend this book for anyone interested in the military history, particularly of the American Revolutionary War period. Additionally, the book would be of interest to those who are curious about the problems faced by a militia army when facing regulars.