George Washington: War Hero Or War Criminal?

Weston Traub
FSEM 103
Professor Hess
11/2/10
Researched Story Assignment
War Hero or War Criminal?
George Washington is often considered the “Father of our Country” to most historians and schoolteachers. However, there is one event in history that remains untaught in most public schools, in order to preserve his reputation, that can make even the most patriotic Americans see their first president in an entirely different light. How do you perceive this man, as an initiator of Independence, or a town-destroyer?
Native American raids on the frontier alerted state officials to take immediate action during the Revolutionary War, and in 1778 Governor George Clinton of New York vowed to exert all effort into preserving the “protection and
A historian notes that the campaign assembled three brigades at Easton, PA, on May 7th, and did not commence until July 31st. Despite these delays in the months of June and July, the three-pronged charge against the Indians was back to full stride in no time, burning crops, slaughtering livestock, capturing innocent prisoners, and desecrating orchards (Whittemore 121-132). By August Commander John Sullivan, who lead the main strike, was making great time plowing his way through the abandoned Iroquois villages of upstate New York (Timothy 563). Archives suggest that Indians were given word of Sullivan’s lurking presence and fled quickly, causing Sullivan to rarely encounter opposition by the time he reached Seneca Lake in early September (U.S. Archives 202). However, one skirmish did take place near the present day city of Elmira, but causalities were meager on both sides. Just because lives weren’t being lost doesn’t mean Washington’s cruel aim of eradication wasn’t functioning in full force however. According to a journal by one of Sullivan’s men, on September 7th his troops reached the “exceedingly beautiful” Seneca Lake, where they carelessly destroyed the old Iroquois settlement of
When the smoke cleared and troops dispersed, upwards of 40 villages had been devastated, along with 160,000 bushels of corn burnt to a crisp. Washington was pleased with this mass carnage against the six-nation tribes, and although casualties were low, this so called “war against vegetables” had been a noteworthy success in Sullivan’s mind as well (Adamiak). Now let us revisit the question proposed earlier, as to the public view of George Washington as a whole. According to a study, George Washington is ranked as the third most popular president in our nations history (Imbornoni). However, doesn’t this seem odd when most people are unaware of his destructive attitudes during the Sullivan Campaign of 1779? An article provides insight that Washington was not only aggressive in his military tactics, but went so far as to advise Sullivan to not even consider offerings of peace until after destruction of settlements had taken place (Adamiak). Other texts support this by saying that even if the enemy offered aid in capturing Britain’s hold of Fort Niagara (one of the campaign’s underlying objectives), Washington proclaimed these offerings were “illusory” and ordered Sullivan to immediately proceed in abolishing the towns (Whittemore 134). Great job Mr. Washington. Although the goal of extinguishing Iroquois settlements was met, the protection and comfort of settlers was still at risk. Joseph Fischer writes that the British hold of