No doubt it was fortunate for the country that the command of the expedition devolved upon some other person than Gates Washington felt somewhat hurt at the tone of the letter he received from Gates, and in a communication to the President of Congress he said, " My letter to him on the occasion I believe you will think was conceived in very candid and polite terms, and merited a different answer from the one given to it." In his instructions to Sullivan Washington wrote as follows : " Sir :-- The expedition you are appointed to command is to be directed against the hostile tribes of the Six Nations of Indians, with their associates and adherents. The immediate object is their total destruction and devastation, and the capture of as many persons of every age and sex as possible. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more." At this time it was supposed that the expedition would reach the Indian country in the early summer, but it was not until August that the work of destruction began. Writing again of the expedition Washington said the purpose was " to cut off their settlements, destroy their crops, and inflict upon them every Other mischief which time and circumstances would permit." The purpose of the expedition was primarily to destroy the crops and villages of the Indians, after which Sullivan was to move forward and capture Niagara, if such action should prove to be practicable. The expedition was to be made up of three divisions. The first was directly under the command of Sullivan ; and the forces of