The Burning of the Valleys

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

By Gavin K. Watt

392 pages, $18.50

Reviewed by Fil Walker

By 1780 the American War of Independance was dragging into its fifth year and the focus of hostilities had shifted to the southern Colonies. The northern front, however, was by no means quiet. The previous season Sullivan's campaigns against the Crown's Iroquois allies in western New York Province had crushed their villages but not the lives or the spirit of their warriors. For them the war was now a blood feud. And in Canada the tough Loyalist frontiersmen, who made up a great part of the Crown's forces, burned for action against the rebels. Many had been turned out of their farms and homes among the valleys of Pennsylvania and New York, forced to abandon their families to an uncertain fate and take up arms in one of the King’s provincial regiments stationed in Canada.

In the spring Sir John Johnson, the son of the late northern Indian Superintendent Sir William Johnson, conducted a daring and devastating raid against the rich farmland of the Mohawk Valley, which was home to most of the men in his King's Royal Regiment of New York. The governor of Canada was encouraged by their success and approved the plan of a hammerblow against the rebel cause. In October of that year, four coordinated raids were launched deep into the heart of rebel-held territory. War-hardened Loyalists and natives were augmented by the pick of professional British and German troops and directed to return to the Mohawk River, a region known as the bread basket of Washington's army, and to put it to the torch.

The Burning of the Valleys, by author and longtime reenactor Gavin Watt, is an in‑depth examination of the organization, conduct and results of these raids (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1997). Although richly detailed, the book moves along at a brisk, no-nonsense pace and is written in the kind of clear language that is too often absent from academic works. Exhaustingly well researched, the book is the outcome of Watt’s 20 years as the much-respected commander of the recreated King's Royal Yorkers. Watt was aided by the research assistance of his counterpart in living history, James Morrison of the recreated Tryon County Militia.

Watt definitely writes from a reenactor's point of view. Landscapes and terrain are described by one who has walked and fought over the original battlefields and pathways. Research tidbits regarding dress, equipment, tactics and mental insights are consistently shared. For instance, Watt includes a small scene of a tired and unwary warrior being taken captive by rebels who, when they search his pack, find eight pairs of moccasins! Also illuminating are Watt's interpretations of events and personalities. An example of this is that, for the first time that I know of in print, an explanation of the political intricacies of the Northern Indian Department is clearly laid out.

Another sign of the author's living history orientation is all the extras. The notes, appendixes (including muster rolls and prisoners lists) and index take up 112 of the book's 392 pages. There are thirteen maps included, as well as 50 black-and-white illustrations, of which many are commissioned works or photos from reenactments. As well, the author includes a fifty-page introduction that includes the preface, time line and two or three paragraph explanations of the major players and places.

The book, while giving those on the side of Congress almost equal attention, definitely has a Canadian and pro-Loyalist perspective. Canadianisms such as the British spelling of “colour” are retained. The contestants are not inaccurately referred to as “British” and “American,” but as “Loyalists” (or the perjorative, “Tories”) and “Rebels.” Even the word “patriot” seems to be avoided. After all, the Loyalists thought that THEY were the real American patriots!

That said, one of the things that I like best about this book is that the author doesn't feel the need to proselytize. Rather Watt emphasizes personalities and allows each one, whether British, Colonist or native to be seen as they were, free of 20th century judgments. The result is a fine read about a complex place and period in the history of the Revolutionary War.