Caughnawaga, New York

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Caughnawaga, New York

CAUGHNAWAGA, NEW YORK. 22 May and 18 October 1780. A small settlement located in what is now the eastern part of Fonda in Montgomery County was one of several locations with this name. It had been established by Douw Fonda, whose home was probably the so-called Fort Caughnawaga. It was raided twice during 1780 by Loyalist and Indian forces controlled by Sir John Johnson. Fonda was killed when Joseph Brant surprised the settlement on the morning of 22 May and burned it to the ground. On 18 October Johnson passed through again and destroyed everything that had been built since the earlier visit. The more important Caughnawaga was the Christianized Mohawk settlement nine miles from Montreal.

SEE ALSO Border Warfare in New York; Brant, Joseph; Johnson, Sir John.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Roberts, Robert B. New York's Forts in the Revolution. Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1980.

                              revised by Robert K. Wright Jr.