History's headlines: Sullivan's march of 1779  Posted: 9:14 PM
EDT Aug 24, 2012   Updated: 5:59 PM EDT Aug 27, 2012  The
American Revolution was based on ideals of liberty and freedom.
But along with being a struggle for independence, it was also a
civil war of Americans against Americans that divided families,
neighbors and communities.  Patriot leader John Adams admitted
that at the start of the American Revolution at least a third of
the colonists wanted to avoid taking sides. But “it is the
special agony of civil wars that such indifference cannot be
allowed by the contending forces,” notes Donald W. Meing in his
book, “Atlantic America 1492-1800.”  map1 Few better examples of
this exist than Sullivan’s March of 1779, a military expedition
by the Continental Army under direct orders from General George
Washington. It was launched from Easton into central
Pennsylvania and New York against the pro-British Tories and
their Native American allies, the Indian federation- known as
the Six Nations or Iroquois.