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

Joseph Leydon teaches geography at the University of Toronto.

The American War of Independence was a defining period in the history of
North America. A key element in this war was the British campaign on the
northern frontier of New York. Here, in the region of the Mohawk River,
lay the grainbowl of Washington’s armies. This book examines four
coordinated raids that were part of a British strategy—through the use
of regular troops, Native warriors, and loyalists—to destroy the grain
harvest and thus undermine the enemy’s war effort. The author
identifies the leading personalities on both sides of the conflict and
provides background information on their military and political careers.
Lists of prisoners taken by both sides are included in the appendices.
The book also has numerous maps and illustrations, including some
photographs of military re-enactments.

The events described in this book are subject to two competing
viewpoints. From a British/Canadian perspective, the campaign displays
the military value of the raids, the skill and daring of the leadership,
and the vigor of the Native and regular troops. In strong contrast, the
American perspective stresses the horrors of the Native mode of warfare,
and the sickening revenge that embittered loyalists from New York and
Pennsylvania inflicted on their former neighbors.

Although Watt claims to support the British/Canadian perspective, he
describes in detail the slaughter and disfigurement carried out by
Native warriors, while portraying the European soldiers almost as
gentlemanly. His failure to explore the strategies and underlying
motivations of Native warfare perpetuates the European stereotype of
Native warriors as “savages.”

It is perhaps more appropriate to describe Watt’s interpretation as
“European.” His book, which is based on European records, fails to
recognize that the American War of Independence was a European war
fought for control of territory forcefully taken from Native peoples.