Memory Wars

Settlers and Natives Remember Washington's Sullivan Expedition of 1779

Named a 2024 Choice Outstanding Academic Title


Memory Wars explores how commemorative sites and patriotic fanfare marking the mission of General John Sullivan into Iroquois territory during the Revolutionary War continue to shape historical understandings today. The 1779 expedition was planned and ordered by General George Washington. It was a massive enterprise composed of four forays involving thousands of men who were sent on a scorched-earth campaign, obliterating nearly sixty Iroquois and other Native villages, including homes, crops, and stored foodstuffs. For Indigenous residents it was a brutal invasion. For settlers who eventually moved onto razed village sites, it meant land and fortunes beyond measure.

The Sullivan Expedition has long been fixed on the landscape of Pennsylvania and New York by a cast of characters, including amateur historians, newly formed historical societies, and local chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Asking how it is that people continue to "celebrate Sullivan" in the present day, Memory Wars underscores the symbolic value of the past as well as the dilemmas posed to contemporary Americans by the national commemorative landscape.

UK Delivery:

• Free delivery on all orders of £10 or more.
• £1.49 delivery fee on orders below £10.
• UK orders are shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class.

International Delivery:

• Flat rate delivery charges vary by country.

Dispatch and Delivery Times:

• All orders are shipped from our warehouse in Northampton, UK as soon as stock is available.
• UK mainland orders typically arrive within 3-7 working days via Royal Mail 2nd Class.
• International estimated delivery times:
• Europe & Channel Islands: 7 to 10 working days
• USA: 7 to 15 working days
• Rest of the World: 9 to 30 working days

View our full delivery infomation here.