The Battle of Newtown occurred on August 29, 1779, and was the only major battle of the Sullivan Expedition. The Sullivan Expedition (sometimes referred to as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition) was a military campaign against the Iroquois Nation in western New York. The goal for the American army was to destroy as many Iroquois villages and burn as many of their fields and crops and force them from the area. This expedition occurred not long after many Americans had been massacred by British backed Iroquois warriors at Wyoming Valley and Cherry Valley in 1778. Although some Iroquois Indians were either neutral or somewhat supportive of the Americans, the effects of the expedition would be felt by all the Iroquois. The expedition was an early example of the use of total war by the American military.