Book description
By 1781, the sixth year of the American rebellion, British strategic
focus had shifted from the northern states to concentrate in the
south. Canada's governor, Frederick Haldimand, was responsible for the
defence of the Crown's largest colony against the threat of
Franco-American invasion, while assisting overall British strategy. He
cleverly employed his sparse resources to vigorously raid the rebels'
frontiers and create anxiety, disruption, and deprivation, as his
Secret Service undermined their morale with invasion rumours and
threatened their Union by negotiating with the independent republic of
Vermont to return to the British fold.
Haldimand flooded New York's Mohawk and Schoharie valleys with
Indian and Loyalist raiders and, once the danger of invasion passed,
he dispatched two coordinated expeditions south. One was launched onto
Lake Champlain to alarm Albany and further the secret talks with
Vermont. The second struck deep into enemy territory, fought a battle
at Johnstown, and retreated precipitately. The rebels effectively
countered both expeditions.
Gavin K. Watt is a founding member of the Museum of Applied
Military History. His previous histories of the American Revolution
are Rebellion in the Mohawk Valley: The St. Leger Expedition of
1777 and The Burning of the Valleys: Daring Raids from Canada
Against the New York Frontier in the Fall of 1780. He lives in
King City, Ontario.
