Battle of Newtown

Battle of Newtown
Part of the American Revolutionary War
View from the summit of Sullivan Hill, looking into Hoffman Hollow
Date August 29, 1779 Location Town of Ashland / Town of Elmira, Chemung County, New York between the present-day city of Elmira, NY and the village of Waverly, NY 42°02′43″N 76°44′00″W / 42.045278°N 76.733333°W / 42.045278; -76.733333 Result American victory
Belligerents
United States	Great Britain Iroquois
Commanders and leaders
John Sullivan James Clinton Enoch Poor Edward Hand William Maxwell	John Butler Walter Butler Sayenqueraghta Cornplanter Joseph Brant Fish Carrier
Strength
3,200 Continental regulars 2 companies of militia 9 artillery pieces	200–250 Butler's Rangers 300–350 Seneca, Cayuga, Mohawk, and Munsee Delaware 14 British regulars (8th Regiment of Foot)
Casualties and losses
8 killed 31 wounded	12 Iroquois & 3 British killed 9 Iroquois & 3 British wounded 2 British captured

The Battle of Newtown (August 29, 1779) was the only major battle of the Sullivan Expedition, an armed offensive led by Major General John Sullivan that was ordered by George Washington to end the threat of the Iroquois who had sided with the British in the American Revolutionary War. Opposing Sullivan's four brigades were 250 Loyalist soldiers from Butler's Rangers, commanded by Major John Butler, and 350 Iroquois and Munsee Delaware. Butler and Mohawk war leader Joseph Brant did not want to make a stand at Newtown, and instead proposed to harass the enemy on the march, but were overruled by Sayenqueraghta and other Indigenous war leaders.

This battle, which was the most significant military engagement of the campaign, took place at the foot of a hill along the Chemung River just outside what is now Elmira, New York.