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
THE ORGANIZATION OF SULLIVAN S EXPEDITION. 31
which it was composed assembled at Easton, Pa., from whidh point they marched to Wyoming on the Susquehanna, and from there to Tioga Point. Here they waited for the second division under the command of General Clinton, who had sent an expedition into the Onondaga country, after which he was to assemble his forces at Canajoharie and march across the country to the head of Otsego Lake and then come down the Susquehanna River to join Sullivan at Tioga. The third division was under the command of Colonel Daniel Brodhead, who started from Pittsburgh, Pa. He never directly co-operated with Sullivan, but no doubt aided him by his movement. He left Pittsburgh on the nth of August with a force of six hundred and fifty men.
He followed the Allegany river and passed up into the seneca country, where he destroyed more than one hundred and fifty houses and about five hundred acres of corn. His presence in the southern portion of the Seneca country kept some of the Senecas from joining in the movement to oppose Sullivan and so lessened the Indian force at the battle of Newtown and possibly somewhat affected the expedition. The original intention was to have Brodhead join Sulhvan at Genesee and aid in the movement against Niagara, but as for some reason no movement was made against Niagara there was no occasion for him to do more than he did, and no further attention need be given his movement as a part of the Sullivan expedition.